Page 93 of Shattered Souls
“I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you in person, sweetheart,” he says, and I’m momentarily caught off guard. What happened to the one-word grump I first bumped into on campus?
Smothering a smile, I shift so she can see Grayson. I don’t think he’s blinked once since Aurora entered the kitchen. He stares at her the same way I imagine I did last night—like he can’t believe she’s real.
I kiss the top of her head. “Sweetheart, this is Grayson.” I want to say more. To tell her he’s her brother, but she’s already been through enough change. Now isn’t the time. Biting on his lip, Grayson gives her a soft smile.
“It’s nice to meet you, Aurora.”
She stares at him with wide eyes, nerves keeping her quiet until Logan jumps in. “What do you want for breakfast, Aurora? We’ve got pancakes, bacon, eggs. Or if you want all of the above, I can make you a pancake smiley face with bacon and eggs.”
A slow smile steadily grows across her face. “Smiley face,” she declares in a small voice.
Logan beams at her. “I knew you had good taste. That’s what I would have picked, too.” He points at Royce. “Mr. Grump over here never chooses the smiley face option.”
Aurora stares at Royce curiously as he glowers at Logan before realizing she’s watching, and that glare dissolves into a chagrined smile.
The guys plate up the food, and the five of us sit around the table. We keep the conversation light while we eat, the guys filling the silence with random chatter deliberately aimed to set Aurora at ease. Royce discusses an upcoming match of his. Grayson gripes about balancing work and his senior year course load while Logan discusses the team’s travel plans for their away games next weekend.
Aurora’s eyes bounce between them the entire time, drinking everything in, even if she doesn’t understand what they’re discussing.
Only when everyone is finished eating, and she’s had time to relax do they bring her into the conversation, and the topic switches to her favorite TV show, her gymnastics class, and something called a Sparkle Squirt—whatever that is.
Nursing my coffee, I watch the entire scene unfold with a serene smile.
It’s peaceful. Homey.
The sort of breakfast I could get used to having every morning for the rest of my life.
“You wanna come shopping with me today?” Logan asks while the others begin clearing away the plates.
Aurora’s eyes narrow on him from across the table, and she stares at him suspiciously. I’m fully expecting her to say no. Logan is so easy to get along with, but she’s barely spent any time with him.
“Can I get the new Princess Barbie?”
Logan chuckles. “You can get anything you want, Pumpkin.”
“Logan,” I groan as Aurora’s face lights up like Christmas morning. “You can’t say things like that to her.”
“Why not?” He pouts at me, and I’m not sure whether to roll my eyes or laugh.
“Because she’s three. She’ll pick out everything in the store.”
“So?”
Okay, now I do roll my eyes. “Logan, you can’t buy her everything in the store.”
With a smirk that makes me believe everything I just said went in one ear and out the other, he responds, “Whatever you say, mama.”
26
LOGAN
I. Am. In. Love.
So freakingin lovewith this little girl sitting opposite me, face covered in ice cream as she talks my ear off, just like she has been all day.
She is just the cutest thing. We’ve had the best day together. She hasn’t asked me to buy her a single thing. Of course, she hasn’t had to. If she so much as glanced at it, it miraculously found its way into the shopping cart.
If Riley asks, I have no idea how it got there!
