All Stars Fall (Seaside Pictures #3.5)(35)

And that was it.

I sent Trevor back to the couch and played with the kids. By the time we were done with the cookies, cleanup, and the board game, it was dinnertime. Trevor had fallen asleep at some point.

I ordered pizza.

He slept through it all, so hard in fact, that I walked by several times to make sure he was still breathing. The guy was exhausted, and I wondered if it had more to do with him being a single dad trying to do it all than the fact that he was feeling sick.

The guy probably hadn’t truly slept in years.

I pulled a blanket up over his body and gave a jolt when Bella appeared in front of me. “Are you going to marry my daddy?”

“Uhhhh.” I kept my voice low and smiled down at her. “Honey, your daddy’s wonderful, but we aren’t getting married.”

“Oh.” Her brows furrowed. “But you like him, right?”

“Of course,” I said slowly. “But your daddy and I are just friends.”

“Ohhhhh.” She nodded. “Does that mean I can kiss friends at school like you did Daddy today?”

I gaped. “No, no, no, no, you see your daddy was…not feeling well and kisses make people feel better but only when you’re…sixteen.”

Trevor grunted in his sleep.

“Or thirty-five. Yes, that was my…first kiss, and even then, I’m clearly not old enough to be doing that. I’m sorry.” I lied through my teeth. I was only 27 and had my first kiss at fifteen.

Yup, I was apologizing to an almost four-year-old.

Great.

Perfect.

“I guess that makes more sense.” She beamed up at me. “You’re not leaving us, are you?”

“No, why would you think that?”

“People leave.” She looked down at her feet.

“I’m not most people.” I pulled her in for a hug. “Now go brush your teeth and get your PJs on, and I’ll be up in a bit to tuck you in.”

“Can we sing Twinkles?”

“At least four times!” I winked. “Maybe five, if the guys join in with instruments that don’t resemble farts.”

“Boys are gross.”

“That’s why we don’t kiss them,” I added, scrunching up my nose.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and whispered, “But Daddy isn’t gross. Maybe I’ll marry him one day?”

“Maybe.” I kissed her forehead. “I’ll be up in a few minutes.”

She scampered off and raced up the stairs.

“You’re so good with her.” Trevor’s voice was thick with sleep as his eyes opened and stared right through me to the center of my existence. I was sucked into his universe, into his vortex, and there was no escaping, was there? “Thanks for making her wait until thirty-five. Guess I should be more careful.”

“We need to be more than careful. We can’t…” I sighed. “That can’t happen again.”

“It can.” He moved to his feet so fast I stumbled backwards. “It will.”

“So sure of yourself?” I teased, my body already pulsing in anticipation.

“Absolutely.” He didn’t look away from me. Instead, he stood, leaned close, and pulled me into his embrace, then left me as he slowly walked up the stairs. “I’ll put the kids to bed. Why don’t you go take a bath and relax?”

“I don’t have a tub in my bathroom.” I frowned at his retreating form.

He looked over his shoulder and gave me the sexiest smile ever. “I know. But I do.”

“Trevor—”

“You know where it’s at.”

“I don’t think—”

“Don’t think,” he interrupted again once he made it to the top of the stairwell. “And if you’re being really adventurous, you can use the princess bubble bath. Bella swears by it.”

How could I say no to his smile?

To the princess bubble bath?

To the heated looks he gave me?

“Okay,” I said, whispering my answer like a coward.





Chapter Eighteen



Trevor




Bella made me sing Twinkle Twinkle at least a dozen times before she finally fell asleep, still holding her mom’s black T-shirt like it was her teddy bear. Irrational anger coursed through me.

Because how dare she.

How. Dare. She.

It played on repeat over and over again in my head until I was sick with it, and when I walked by Malcom’s room and noticed that he was already crawling out of bed, I crooked my finger toward him. “Let’s go, buddy, you’re sleeping in Eric’s room tonight.”

He froze and then, “Really?”

“Yup. We’re going to try to keep the smell minimal, and the only way to do that with you two boys is to keep you in the same small, controlled environment.”

Malcom sniffed under his arms. “I smell like Batman Blueberry Wash, Dad.”

“Now.” I grinned. “Just wait until tomorrow morning when it smells like a rat straight up sacrificed its entire family on the altar of your underwear.”

He let out a giggle. “Rat farts.”

“I asked for that one, didn’t I?”