Page 106 of Kane's Awakening
I shook it. “Cool. I’m Kane.”
“Ginger,” Ryker said with a cough.
Confused, I looked at him. He and I’d playfully harassed each other all the time, but seeing him joke with someone else was a side of him I hadn’t seen yet. I liked it.
“Since this little guy’s in the room,” Brian said, grabbing Theo and messing up his hair, “I can’t call you what I’d prefer to, Ryker, but you just wait until later.”
Theo growled and used his hand to flatten back down his dark mop of hair. Poor kid.
Dinner was ready about ten minutes later, and we made our way into the dining room. It was a separate area from the kitchen with one of those long, hardwood tables and heavy chairs. Fancy china was placed behind protective glass of a curio cabinet along one wall, and paintings of flowers and scenery hung beside it.
When we took our seats, Ryker leaned over and whispered, “You doing okay?”
Meeting his anxious stare, I nodded. “It’s weird seeing you as a family man. Hearing about your kids and seeing you with them are different. But it’s awesome.”
I just don’t know if I fit into the picture, I thought to myself.
One of my worries had been getting there and freaking out at realizing how serious Ryker and I were in our relationship, going back to my old self who feared commitment. However, the opposite happened. Witnessing his love for his kids, and the way they looked at him like he was super dad, made me grasp how much I wanted that, too. A family.
I just didn’t know if they’d wantme.
I was as far from a family man as a guy could be, and I wasn’t exactly a good influence on kids with my sailor mouth and overallfuck youattitude.
Isabella plopped down in the seat next to me. “Sorry for farting in your face.”
I laughed. “It’s all good. It wasn’t a real fart.” Peering down at her, I stuck out my hand. “Truce?”
She smiled, revealing a dimple in her cheek that I was certain got her out of trouble a lot, and took my hand. “Truce.”
Theo came up to the table and glowered at his sister. “Izzy! I wanted to sit by him.”
“Too bad, so sad,” she taunted before sticking her tongue out. “Slowpoke.”
I sat there, not knowing how to act. I’d never had kids fight over me before.
Ryker saved the day by letting Theo take his seat on the other side of me, and he moved to the chair across from me. It worked out better, in my opinion, because I could actually see him then.
“Who’s ready for some meatballs?” Anna said as she entered the dining room, holding a pan that carried with it a mouthwatering aroma. I exchanged an amused look with Ryker, and I knew his mind was right where mine was: on the night he made us meatballs. She noticed us. “Why are y’all grinning like two school boys up to something?”
“No reason,” Ryker said, wiping the humor from his face and focusing on her with such a serious expression, it nearly fooled me. “This looks great, Anna.”
I tilted my head down to hide my smile.
Fuck, I think I loved that man. The realization scared me, but it also feltright. I knew I wasn’t ready to tell him, though.
Throughout dinner, Isabella and Theo battled for my attention. She would say something, and as I was talking to her, Theo would tap my arm and ask me more questions: why am I so big, can I pick up a car like the superheroes on TV, do I like vegetables?
Ryker smiled at me across the table each time I met his eyes. It was one of those strange feelings, too. People were talking all around us, but as we held each other’s gazes, everything just drifted away, almost like all sound muted and all I heard was the steady thumping of my heart and the blood rushing in my ears.
I was happy. The happiest I ever remembered being.
Once we ate, Anna and Brian cleaned up the mess while Ryker and I took the twins into the living room.
“Guess what I’m doing!” Theo asked, hanging on my arm.
The kid weighed nothing, so when he gripped my bicep, I lifted him up and down, making him squeal. The boy on my arm was so different than the one I’d met when first getting there. All the shyness had left him and he was hyper and carefree.
“Well, right now you’re hanging on me like a little monkey,” I said with a grin.
