Back to You(87)

“Hey!” a little voice called.
They both whipped their heads up to see Erin standing at the edge of the incline above them, hands on her hips, her expression stern.
“Sorry! We’re coming!” Lauren called up before she turned to Michael. “Stop distracting me. You’re getting me in trouble,” she scolded, and she could hear his laughter behind her as she made her way toward the ladder.
They spent the next hour playing in the foam pit and practicing cartwheels. When it was time to leave, Michael knelt in front of Erin, helping her on with her coat.
“So what do you think? Do you want to do this? You can take classes here.”
“Yes, please. Can Miss Lauren be my teacher?”
“Well, you’ll have a different teacher,” Lauren said. “But I’ll come here and practice with you some days if you want.”
“Okay!” Erin exclaimed, stepping into her shoes.
As they exited the lobby, Michael grabbed a pamphlet with class information and folded it into his jacket.
Once outside, he turned toward Lauren, stuffing both hands in his pockets. “So…”
“Can we get hotdogs, Daddy?” Erin asked, pointing to a vendor on the corner. “I’m hungry.”
Michael glanced at his watch before looking at Lauren. “We didn’t eat dinner yet. I didn’t think filling her up with food and then bringing her here to turn upside down was the best order of operations.”
Lauren laughed. “Probably a good call.”
“You want to grab a bite with us?”
“Sure.”
Michael smiled as he reached down to take Erin’s hand. “Okay, birthday hotdogs it is.”
They walk { display: block; text-indent: 0%; font-size: 0.88rem; margin-top: a"> shouldered down the street toward the vendor, and Lauren zipped her jacket all the way up to her chin, crossing her arms in front of herself against the cold.
By the time they ordered their hotdogs, Lauren’s teeth were chattering. She could barely uncross her arms long enough to reach for the hotdog Michael handed her.
She looked down at Erin, standing next to her father, taking small, unhurried bites of her hotdog, and then back up to Michael, whose casual posture mirrored his daughter’s. His jacket wasn’t even zippered.
“My God, aren’t you freezing?” Lauren said through her tight jaw, curling her hands around the warmth of the bun.
Michael smiled. “I work outside, remember? I’m kind of immune to it.”
“Right,” Lauren said, a shudder ripping through her shoulders as she took a bite of her hotdog.
She heard Michael laugh, and then suddenly he was behind her, wrapping his arms around the front of her body.
For the slightest second, Lauren felt herself hesitate. But his body was shielding her from the cold wind, his chest broad and comfortable behind her, and when he began rubbing his hands up and down her arms, she lost the battle.
She dropped her head back onto his shoulder, pressing herself farther back against his chest.
Damn muscle memory.
“Better?” he asked softly, and she nodded.
“Much.”
He wrapped one arm tightly around her waist, holding her against him while he ate his hotdog with the other, and Lauren allowed herself to be enveloped by him as Erin skipped around them, singing to herself while she finished her dinner.
Eventually, Michael released her to throw his napkin in the trash can, and she immediately mourned the loss of his warmth behind her.
“Okay baby,” he said, glancing down at his watch again. “We have to get home and get you in the tub. Say thank you to Lauren.”
“Hold on,” Lauren said. “I have her present in the car.”
“I get a present?” Erin asked excitedly. “I thought my present was the flips!”
“Well, there’s a little something else.”
“Daddy, can I go get my present? Please?”
Michael was looking at Lauren. “You know you didn’t have to do that.”
“I know. I wanted to. Is it okay?” She realized too late that maybe she should have run it by Michael first.
He smiled as Erin grabbed his hand and started towing him toward Lauren. “Yes, it’s okay. Where are you parked?”
“Right at the end of the street,” she said, starting to walk in the direction she indicated, and she felt Erin take one of her hands. She looked down at Erin, walking in between her and Michael with one of their hands clasped in each of hers, and then she looked up at Michael.
He was smiling down at his daughter with the same level of adoration that Erin had looked at him with earlier, and Lauren swallowed hard against the lump in her throat.