Page 79 of John Wilder Gets Schooled
“Gracie, do you want any more garlic bread?” Avery asked, holding the plate out to her.
She took a piece and ate it happily, the kitten temporarily forgotten.
See? That was some quality goddamn teamwork right there.
“Anyway, the job’s great,” I said, addressing Miller’s earlier question. “It’s a lot to learn, but I’m enjoying it, and hell, who knows? One day I might even have my own business.”
Avery flashed me a proud smile.
“That’s great,” Miller said with a smile. “Hey, and when you need an attorney to help set everything up, you know where to find me.”
I raised my beer in his direction.
We finished off the last of the spaghetti and had a couple of beers, and by the time we’d eaten the brownies Avery had made for dessert, both Chase and Gracie were yawning. “Someone needs to go to bed,” I said.
Danny laughed and said, “Yeah. Me.” He winked at Miller. “You coming?”
Miller stood, grinning, and started stacking the plates.
Between the lot of us, it didn’t take long to clear the table and clean the dishes. Gracie helped by wiping the table down, then looked pointedly at her chore chart until Avery added a sticker to the column for cleaning up.
Chase rolled his eyes, and Avery caught him doing it and pressed a sticker to his shirt. Chase rolled his eyes again, but he left the sticker there.
“Can I have one?” Cash asked softly.
Avery blinked, obviously shocked at hearing Cash use his words, and then he smiled. “Of course. Pick whatever one you like.”
Cash gave Avery a tiny smile, and after a minute he picked the one with a cartoon dinosaur that said, “Awesome!”
The guys all fussed over Gracie when it was time to leave, and she stuck out her bottom lip stubbornly as though it didn’t bother her in the least that she was having a sleepover at Avery’s tonight. She’d brought her purple sleeping bag and Mr. Peanut Butter, and she’d been excited by the idea all week, but I could tell she was a little worried now the big moment was finally here.
I was pretty sure that stubborn bottom lip was going to start wobbling any second now.
“Oh, Gracie,” Avery said. “Would you like to take your things to the spare room?”
She nodded and set off down the hallway.
Avery flashed me a grin, grabbed me by the hand, and followed.
We were right behind Gracie when she opened the door, but even if we’d been at the other end of the house, we would have heard her squeal.
My jaw dropped as I saw what she was seeing. Avery’s spare room, which last time I’d seen it had been a kind of storage and crafts space with a twin bed tucked in the corner as an afterthought, had been transformed. All his plastic storage crates had been moved out, the twin bed had aBlueycomforter, there was a fuzzy rainbow rug on the floor, and fairy lights twinkled softly where they were strung around the room.
“Is this—” Gracie’s eyes were as wide as an owl’s. “Is this forme?”
“It sure is, sweet pea,” Avery said, and oomphed as she tackled him with a hug a linebacker would be proud of. “If we’re going to have sleepovers, you need a room fit for a princess, right?”
Holy shit, I loved that he’d done this.
I loved that he loved my kid.
I loved—I lovedhim.
I let that sink in for a minute, expecting the revelation to be jarring somehow. It was big, you know? But it didn’t scare me, because it wasn’t a new feeling. It was just finally discovering the word that explained what I’d been feeling for a while now. What had been building since that first time I couldn’t stop thinking about him, or that first kiss, or the first time he’d called me Johnny and it had felt so right.
I was in love with my boyfriend.
“Can I go to bed right now?” Gracie asked, bouncing excitedly on her toes and dragging me back to reality.
