Ask Me Why(83)

I ghost my mouth over her lips. “Is that even a valid question?”

“You already know how to make me break. Let’s see if you can put me back together.”

I palm her ass and press us together. “Want me to smooth the hurt? Mend the cracked edges?”

“Mm-hmm, I think you already have. But we can test that theory. Maybe later we can put your tie collection to use.”

My cock gets hard just thinking about her squirming against those silky bonds. She gasps when noticing my reaction.

Ollie chooses that exact moment to collide into our duo. But there’s no denying him. He’s proven the power of this trio. This is our new normal. I’m more than ready for it.

“Did you guys make up yet?”

I wink at Braelyn. “Yeah, buddy. We sure did.”

His grin is full of mischief. “Took you long enough.”

“Well, you weren’t quite persuasive enough. I had to beg Braelyn to give me another chance.” I can’t go giving him all the credit. I’ll never live it down.

He gawks at us. Little fists notch on his hips. “Do you need another timeout, Daddy?”

I give him a blank stare. “For what?”

Braelyn sucks air through her teeth. “No, Ollie. Your dad said sorry. And I apologized too. No more timeouts.”

He yips. “Forever?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I tell him. Braelyn winces and mouths something about making it up to me. That’ll do just fine.

Ollie shrugs. A second later, his face lights up. “Daddy?”

“Yeah, buddy?”

“Can I sleep at Uncle Jordy’s house tonight?”

Ollie blinks at us. Braelyn laughs. I smirk at my son. “I already have it taken care of.”





Brance



Fences



Ollie wiggles in his seat while I finish adjusting the straps. This kid needs to stop growing. It seems like yesterday he was facing backwards in the carrier. I’ve learned my lesson about the value of time. A few hours can change so much, as in a life’s worth of poorly executed decisions.

I started this day with a massive chip on my shoulder. Selfish motivation was in the driver’s seat. I set out to prove everyone wrong, including that damn soft spot that refused to shut up. Turns out I should have been listening all along. I rub a thumb over the smooth glass in my pocket. Lucky for my stubborn ass, Braelyn is crafty enough for the two of us.

That woman has every reason to be guarded and jaded. But she’s not. Her inner strength persevered in spite of the shit hand she was dealt. Braelyn has given me the ass-kicking I needed to be a better man. And I’m far overdue on proving myself.

“Daddy?” The little voice interrupts my rapid planning.

“What’s up, buddy?”

“Why’d we leave Thicket? I was having fun.”

I smirk at my son in the rearview mirror. Ollie was having a blast singing and dancing around Braelyn’s legs. A tune that sounded an awful lot like The Wedding March had been humming off his lips. I’m certain he’s already planning the big event. A slight pause gives me a moment to digest that. There’s a tingling sensation spreading through my chest. The space reserved for Braelyn blooms and swells. The thought isn’t unpleasant or terrifying. Hell, maybe my kid is onto something.

First step is getting Braelyn into my bed on a nightly basis. Waking up to her gorgeous face is how I want to begin each morning from now on. We’ll see what happens from there. I gave her the key. She’s opening the damn floodgates.

A chuckle escapes me. “We can’t stay at Thicket forever, Ollie. I think you love that store more than anywhere else.” Although, it’s the woman behind the counter he really cares about. Leaving her behind will no longer be an issue. “Braelyn has to close the place up. She’s gonna meet us at the park.”

He stretches to glance out the window. “Which one are we going to?”

“You’ll see. Uncle Jordan is meeting us there.”

“But where?” His huff borders on the type of annoyance I’m very familiar with.

“How does batting practice sound?”

Ollie’s pinched lips burst into a wide grin. “We’re going to Otter’s Grove? Yay!”

His legs flail all about. I imagine him tearing it up around the bases. He’s going to kill it in Little League. All the more reason to smack some balls around.

Jordan is leaning against the chain link when we pull into the lot. His smile is cocky and too knowing. I’m sure he had this all figured out with Ollie and Sadie. I can’t even be mad about them going behind my back.

He straightens and waves at us. “Hey, guys. All went better than expected, huh? I figured Ollie was just restocking his taffy supply.”

The teammates exchange a wink. Real covert. Great sneaking skills, right there.

“Uh-huh. My daddy swooped in and saved the princess. Miss Braelyn is happy again.” My son has quite the active imagination.

Jordan gives him a high-five. “I’m sure you slayed the dragon, little man.”

Ollie nods. “Yep, it was really big and scary. I had to use my super-sharp sword.” He stabs the air with this newfound weapon.

“I knew you could do it,” Jordan roots.