AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Bring her next time,” Aiden says. “We have a spare bedroom. You can set up shop for her there when it’s time for her to go to sleep.”
“We’d love it if she were here,” Maggie agrees. “She’s your family which means she’s our family now, too.”
I don’t know why those words feel so important, but they do. They make me squeeze Maven’s hip and take a step back from everyone.
“Do you have a restroom I can use?” I ask.
“I’ll show you,” Maven says, and I think she understands I need a minute. She leads me down the hall to a door on the left and pauses. “Do you want to be alone?”
“No. I want to be with you. That just made me kind of emotional.”
“Why?” she asks, and she rests her head on my chest. “Is it a good kind of emotional?”
“Yeah. For so long, I thought I was doing this parenting thing alone. And I thought I was doing it really poorly, too. I thought people would call me a burden because I have to bring my daughter places, but then your family tells me she’s welcome here—my kid with another woman who will never biologically be yours—and it’s a reminder that good people exist and I have an army of friends to help me when I need it.”
“You do.” Maven kisses my shirt, and I sigh at the feel of her lips through the thin cotton. “And I hope you know June might not be mine, but sheismine. I’ve never had the experience of holding a kid of my own, maybe I will one day, who knows, but I imagine it’s a lot like how I feel when I look at her.”
“Like the most magical and terrifying thing in the world?” I ask, and her laugh settles me.
“Exactly.” She hums and wraps her arms around my waist. “I’m so glad you’re here, Dallas. And they’re glad you’re here, too. My people are your people, and I hope I can meet your family one day soon.”
“The Super Bowl. My sister, January, and her daughter Lilah are coming. My parents will try to be there, but they’re halfway across the world right now, so I’m not sure it’s going to work out. They’re all going to love you.”
“Hang on. Your sister’s name is January?”
“Have I not told you that? Yeah. She’s older than me and lives in Georgia.”
“Do your parents have an infatuation with calendars and cities in Texas?”
“If you think that now, you really don’t want to know our middle names.”
“You have to tell me.” Maven pinches my side, and I laugh. “Please?”
“Fine. But only because you’re so cute,” I say, and drag my thumb across her bottom lip. “Her middle name is Austin. Mine is August.”
“Forget infatuation. It’s a whole ass kink.”
“Stop.” I groan and try to cover my ears. “Please don’t ever mention my parents andkinkin the same sentence ever again.”
“I can’t wait to meet them.” She kisses the hollow of my throat and plays with the necklace sitting there. “I love you, Dallas. I’m so lucky you’re mine.”
“I love you, too, sunshine.” I pause, and an idea comes to me. “Do you think your dad would be happy if I got a NERF gun and surprised him with some sort of NERF war in a warehouse or something? Like paintball, but less painful.”
“God. You’re going to replace me as favorite kid, aren’t you?”
“Hey, you can play too, Mae. It would give you a chance to redeem yourself after losing at the art room.”
“I didnotlose at the art room. I reached the table first. You’re the one who decided to knock it over,” she says, and she twists out of my grip. The fiery look she gives me is one of my favorites, and I grin. “Maybe you really did lose some of your memory with that concussion.”
We argue all the way to the kitchen, and as we settle around with the people she loves, I feel it in my heart how much I already love them, too.
FIFTY-ONE
DALLAS
“Canyou believe we’re back here?” Jett asks. He props his foot on the wood bench between us and adjusts his socks. “Third Super Bowl in four years. We’re a fucking dynasty, man.”
I pull my jersey over my head and fix my shoulder pads. “Feels just like yesterday we had a losing record.”
