Wren: Hope you had a good day. I’m picking up pizza for dinner. I’ll grab you a Giada, unless you text me something else.
It was as if she’d known I was thinking about her. Honestly, she was never far from my mind. And as hard as I tried to stay away, as much as I knew I should, I couldn’t.
I told myself it was because pizza sounded good. She’d ordered my favorite after all. But I knew it was about more than pizza. I wanted to see her at the end of the day, especially a hard one. I wanted to hug River and read him stories. I wanted to watch TV with Wren, even if it took everything in me not to touch her. Even if we’d never be anything more than friends.
So, I typed out my response.
Me: Thank you. See you soon.
I drove back to her house. When I trudged up the stairs to the back door, I stilled at the sound of…was that music? I opened the door, and a catchy pop tune had me wondering what was going on.
Wren and River were dancing around the living room. I leaned against the wall and watched them with a smile. River was standing on the coffee table, singing along in sync with the woman’s voice. He wore a hot-pink tutu and these giant, star-shaped sunglasses. Wren was shaking her ass, tossing her head from side to side as she danced around River.
She really was the best mom. Loving and patient, but also fun. My parents had never been ones for fun. They were happy for us to play, but they rarely got on the floor or dug in the mud with us. Even more importantly, though, Wren was accepting. She loved River exactly as he was, and I knew she’d never try to change him.
I’d have four more kids with her.
I jerked my head back. Wait. What?
I’d always wanted kids, but five? That was insane.
I tried to take it back, but I couldn’t. I knew in my gut that it was true. If only she’d look at me that way. If only Liam wouldn’t cut my balls off, making it impossible to have children.
Still, he wasn’t here now. And she was undeniably sexy, moving, undulating. She was having so much fun, and the way I was looking at her… It was indecent.
As if sensing my eyes on her, Wren turned, pausing when she spotted me. A smile lit up her face, and it felt as if I could power an entire city with the way she was looking at me.
“Butter Butter!” River called, pushing his hair away from his face. “Dance with us.”
I didn’t want to intrude on their moment, but when Wren crooked her finger and made a come-hither motion, I was powerless to resist.
River cupped his hands to his mouth. “Reel him in, Mom!” he called over the music. “Reel him in.”
I laughed as Wren did just that, miming the act of fishing and then reeling me in. I played along, allowing her to lure me in. Pull me closer. She’d already caught me, and she didn’t even know it.
River jumped into my arms, and I caught him with anoomph. I spun around, both of us laughing. It was all so silly and awesome, and we were laughing and smiling like crazy.
He returned to the coffee table, and Wren grabbed my hands, spinning me around the room. And in that moment, looking into her eyes as we smiled at each other, I realized that I was just like Ms. Marcus. Trying to hang on to something as long as I could, even though I knew it wouldn’t last. Even knowing it might end up hurting me more in the end.
* * *
I nearly swallowedmy tongue at the sight of Wren. She was wearing a deep-plum–colored dress that clung to her curves and heels and had me biting my knuckles so I wouldn’t sink my teeth into her ass. Damn. She was sexy. And I wanted to strip it off her.
“What?” she asked, hands on hips. She seemed angry, but I didn’t understand why. At least not unless her date had bombed. I shouldn’t be as happy about that as I was.
“Bad date?” I asked, instead of telling her how amazing she looked. She seemed like she wanted to rip something apart, not have her clothes ripped off by me.
“Oh no. It was fine.” It clearly wasn’t, judging from her tone.
“What happened?” I asked in a gentle voice.
“My date…” She shook her head. “His ex showed up about halfway through. Not long after, he made some excuse to leave.”
Oh, hell no. I was going to log in to that stupid app and find out who that motherfu—
“And then, I ran into Kade’s parents. And they decided to tell me what a horrible job I’m doing as a parent.”
I clenched my fists. “The fuck?”
