Page 118 of Heart Strings & Hotlines
“I do like having a boss in the bedroom.” Her face is tilted toward the ceiling as though she’s considering her words. “But I’m glad to see I haven’t lost my touch out of the bedroom too.” She presses one hard squeeze into my aching dick and then flees the room, leaving me with a raging hard-on.
“That’s payback for the lake,” she calls over her shoulder. Her feet thump down the stairs too quickly.
“Slow down before you break your neck.”
“Yes,sir.” Her voice changes on the word sir and my cock that was previously at half-mast now tents my trousers like a steel beam.
Payback. Oh, sweet, misguided Charlotte. Two can play this game.
“You coming, Thane? Mr. Carver’s waiting to take you to the airport.” Thank you, Mrs. Perez, for killing my boner in record time.
Sliding everything from my desk into my backpack, I walk into Kara’s room to grab her suitcase and freeze.
On her wall are photos hanging by clips that are attached to tiny lights. Photos of her with Rafe and Lottie. Photos with her friends at library. Even a selfie she took next to me while we were watching a movie. Lottie’s leaning forward and smiling straight into the camera.
I hadn’t known she’d taken it, but the smile on Kara’s face as she peers over her shoulder at me hits me square in the chest.
She’s staring at me like she loves me too. Like she’s happy, but most importantly, she’s the most content I’ve ever seen her.
Did I do this? Did I give this to her?
“Brad!”
Removing the photo of us from the wall, I slip it into my shirt pocket, then lift her suitcase, and leave the room.
This is us, all of us, exactly as we’re meant to be—together.
* * *
We enterthe outdoor pavilion a few minutes late. People are sitting everywhere, but Lottie drags me toward the front. I hated this kiddie camp the last time I was here. It’s marginally better this time, and that’s only because I’m not chasing after Lottie. She’s here with me.
Why the hell couldn’t we have found a nice place to sit in the back, away from all these assholes?
A kid stands on stage doing a comedy bit that lacks humor. I almost pity him, but he owns every word and somehow is making it work.
I settle in next to a dad who’s holding a toddler in his lap, and even though I should be watching the stage, I find myself staring at the kid, waiting for the goo to escape.
Three performances later, and the child next to me still hasn’t exorcised any demons from its mouth or diaper.
I wasn’t around much when Kara was this age. My father was afraid she’d catch my…odd tendencies. It wasn’t until she started walking, and after her mother had run off, that I made more of an effort to be in the same room as her.
But I do remember the first time I saw her. She was about three days old. I was leaving my father’s apartment on the Upper East Side to go to Brooklyn to buy some old pieces of a motherboard I needed for my latest experiment when they’d come home from the hospital.
Kara smiled, big and gummy at me as though I were her own personal sunshine. No one had ever looked at me like that before. Her mother said she couldn’t actually see me, and that it was just gas, but I still don’t believe that.
When I returned home, I had a yellow Care Bear with me, and I set it on a shelf in her room while they were out.
I didn’t want anything to do with her per se, but it felt right giving her something. It felt important that she knew I was there.
Lottie stands next to me, cheering loudly, and I fight the urge to flinch while also wanting to cover the child’s ears. How irresponsible of this asshole dad that he didn’t do it himself.
There’s applause all around us, and a girl Kara’s age is on stage with Rowan. Thankfully, I missed the entire show, lost in thoughts of my past that don’t make me want to burn something down.
“Ready?” Lottie smiles up at me. Kara’s next to her, wearing a matching expression, and something shifts in my chest.
It might be a heart attack, or at least what I expect a heart attack to feel like. But I nod and usher them out of the row ahead of me.
The sensations in my chest don’t lessen as we head toward Sebastian and Rowan’s home. It doesn’t ease when Lottie sits next to the fire, chatting with her friend. And it certainly doesn’t fade when Kara throws her head back and laughs next to Seren.
