Spin My Love (My Love #1)(7)

“Uncle Levi!” The little kid laughs gleefully. Uncle Levi? This must be Keira’s kid; Giselle must have dropped him off here instead.

“Levi, look who I found,” Gage calls out. Levi tickles the kid a few times before looking up.

“Damn, man, when Gage told me you’d called I was in shock,” Levi says, standing up so that he could give me a clap on the shoulder. Levi looks a little different; his blond hair is longer, and he too is built bigger. However, his eyes are the same, both gentle and friendly. “Welcome home.”

“Ummm … thanks,” I mutter ungracefully. I wasn’t expecting this. I don’t know why, but I’d expected them to be angry and demand answers. I mean, I had left. I’d never sent them so much as a postcard.

“What brings you back?” Levi asks me. He takes a seat on the couch, so I follow suit and take the seat opposite him. The kid jumps up onto his lap and looks at me curiously, half his face hidden by a mop of black hair.

“I’m taking a six-month break, so I’ll be home for a while,” I say.

Both of them grin. “Sounds good, man, we can catch up,” Gage says.

“You both live here?” I ask them.

“Yep,” Levi responds.

“So, what are you guys doing with yourselves these days?” I ask, genuinely curious. I find myself realizing how much I’ve missed these two. It’s not every day you meet friends like them. Hell, I don’t have any friends in my life that I can trust like I can Levi and Gage, even after all this time.

“We own and run a security business,” Gage says. “Boring compared to you, but it’s doing us good.”

I laugh. “You’d be surprised. I’m jealous that you get to stay in one place. This break is much needed.”

The little boy comes and sits next to me, checking me out. I smile when I notice he’s dressed in the same black pyjama pants and white singlet as Gage.

“Hello,” I tell him, feeling like shit that I was about to bang his mother earlier. Again. Apparently while he was in the house too.

Fuck, I’m a bad person.

“Hi, I’m Parker,” he says, extending his hand to me. I take his tiny, chubby hand in mine and shake it.

“I’m Tane. Nice to meet you.” I feel awkward. I’ve never really spent any time with kids but Parker seems like a cool little guy. Gage and Levi must be good to him, because I don’t imagine his mother is winning any parenting awards.

When Parker looks up at me, I still. His eyes; pale green. It’s like looking into a mirror. For a moment I wonder whether I have slept with Keira before now. Maybe I didn’t remember? Surely not; Keira would have mentioned it. It hits me how f*cked up it is that I have to question whether I’d slept with someone or not. There have been so many women that I might not even remember.

I’m so messed up.

“So, how are your families?” I ask, trying to be smooth. Two pairs of eyes snap to mine. I guess that didn’t come out as I’d hoped “I’m guessing you mean Giselle,” Gage says with his eyebrow raised. “She went home; she was just here.”

“How is she these days?” I ask, not bothering to deny it. Gage smiles fondly. He always did have a soft spot for his little sister.

“She’s good, man. She works at the library when she’s not with Parker.” So she must take care of him often, then. No wonder he’s such a cool little kid.

“Man, it’s been years since I spoke to her,” I say. I’m technically not lying. I did say “spoke to” not “saw”.

“Well you probably wouldn’t recognise her. She’s changed a lot over the years,” Levi says, rubbing his thumb and index finger over his chin. Gage slaps him on the back of his head. I mentally agree with him. Giselle didn’t look anything like I remembered. Hell, I almost didn’t recognize her.

“What? She’s beautiful,” Levi defends himself adamantly, rubbing where Gage had hit. I bite my lip, not liking the way his eyes twinkle when he talks about her.

“She’s always been beautiful,” I blurt out. I clear my throat and ignore their pointed looks. “Is she married?”

Gage stares me down. “No, she’s not married.”

Levi gives me a searching look. Am I being that obvious?

“She’ll be here tomorrow morning. Where are you staying?” Gage asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

“I’ve bought a house near the beach,” I tell them. I’d considered renting, but I had the money and my financial advisors said a house in Perth would be a decent investment.

“Sweet, man, that’s cool,” Gage says, nodding.

“Can we play PS4?” Parker interrupts.

“Sure, buddy, what do you wanna play?” Levi asks.

“A shooting game,” he says cheerfully.

“You want your mum to kill us?” Gage asks with a chuckle. Somehow I can’t imagine Keira caring about whether the games the kid played were child-appropriate.

“I won’t tell! I’m no snitch!” Parker insists, his eyes huge on his small face. I can’t stop the laugh that escapes me. I can’t remember the last time I’ve laughed. This kid is a riot.

“You gonna stay and play, Tane?”

“Sure,” I answer. “Why not.”