The Hot Mess and the Heartthrob(94)

I like to think I’m a good enough boyfriend to make up for all the hassle, but I know it’s probably also the number of adopted grandmas who call and check her schedule every week and demand to know which one of the kids they can take to which activity.

Plus, I got pretty good at phone sex this year.

That definitely didn’t hurt.

She meets my eyes and gives me the I know what you’re thinking about and you have to wait until the kids are in bed smile, followed by the and they’re never going to bed tonight grimace.

Ah.

Zoe’s right behind her.

Makes sense now.

Once all three kids get out of the apartment at bedtime, it’s basically game over for the night.

And I mean for the two of us.

Not them.

Three on two.

The kids win.

Every time.

“And Piper, I’m sorry, but it’s shower time. You can practice more in the morning if you’re up early enough.”

Piper sets the guitar aside, but she doesn’t move to get off my lap.

Neither does Hudson.

Ingrid makes the you are all two seconds from seeing my head spin face at all three of us.

I pat Piper’s knee. “C’mon. Your mom’s right. Time to shower.”

She ignores me and signs something to Ingrid. I miss whatever it is, because I’m whispering to Hudson that he’s going to get both of us in trouble if he doesn’t scoot toward bed too.

But I look up when Ingrid sucks in a surprised breath.

She signs back, that’s up to him—I know that one pretty well—and then she blinks fast and wipes her eyes.

Zoe leans into Ingrid.

“I got a rock too.” Hudson reaches into his pants.

Piper huffs and climbs off my lap, then turns and faces me.

She doesn’t speak, but instead uses her hands.

And she asks me a question that makes my lungs malfunction and my eyes get hot too.

I look at Ingrid, verifying I understood what Piper just asked.

Then back to Piper.

I don’t know the signs for I’d be honored.

But I know nothing in the world has ever felt quite as amazing as being asked if she can call me dad.

I blink hard a couple times, and I nod. “Yes. If that’s what you want. Yes.”

She smiles, makes jazz hands, and then launches herself at me for a hug. “I love you, Dad.”

“Love you too, Piper.”

“Are you my dad now?” Hudson asks.

Fuck. Talking is hard. “If you want me to be.”

He frowns. “Can I have Beck instead?”

“Shut up, Hudson.” Zoe crawls onto the couch next to him and leans in for a hug too. She’s almost as tall as Ingrid, and she can reach all the way around me. “It was my idea.”

“You three are the best.”

“I remember my last dad.” Zoe snuggled closer. “You’re better.”

Fuck.

These kids.

“I’m the best!” Hudson crows.

“We all are, Hudson. Not just you.”

“No, Hudson’s second-best.”

Ingrid curls up on my other side and buries her face in my arm.

I kiss her head, because it’s all I can reach.

Biggest argument we’ve had this past year?

Which one of us is getting more out of our relationship. She thinks it’s her.

But she’s wrong.

She just got me.

I got all four of them.

She always counters with I got your whole family, but we don’t get them twenty-four hours a day.

Not the way I get her and her kids.

“Does this mean you all approve of me marrying your mom?” I ask the kids when I can talk again.

“Can I be a bridesmaid?”

“Can I be a flower girl?”

“Can I eat cake?”

Ingrid smiles at me, and once again, I lose my breath.

She’s my everything. She and her kids.

Our kids.

And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life making sure they know it.





Hey, awesome reader! Ingrid here to say thank you for reading my and Levi’s story! We hope you loved it. Also, I wanted to let you know that Ares Berger, Piper’s most favorite hockey player in the ENTIRE UNIVERSE, has his own story in the Copper Valley Thrusters series! But to really fully appreciate him, start with his twin brother Zeus’s story, The Pilot and the Puck-Up. Trust me. It’s the best way to enjoy Ares. Get The Pilot and the Puck-Up on Amazon HERE!





P.S. If you’d like to see the epic prank I helped pull on Levi during our wedding reception, CLICK HERE to grab a bonus epilogue! You’ll also get the opportunity to sign up for the Pipster Report, a weekly newsletter about all things in the Pippaverse that makes me snort out loud with laughter every time it lands in my inbox.





P.P.S. If you’re the awesome type of person who likes to leave reviews, here’s a quick link for you to Goodreads. I’ll update with Amazon and BookBub if I ever get five minutes to myself!





P.P.P.S. Team Pippa left a spelling error in this book on purpose, as a fun little game, after Pippa’s readers noticed she’d made a public-pubic error in Real Fake Love. If you spotted the spelling error, send us an email at [email protected] for a special reward!