More quiet.
Then he silently places a block on top of mine.
I smother my smile and we keep building as I blatantly listen in to the conversation happening across the room.
“And how did you and Lainey meet?” Harper asks.
“We met online first and bonded over the books we love reading,” Faye says, smiling over at Lainey. “Then somehow we started talking to each other when we were stuck on our individual projects, and now”—her smile widens—“Lainey has decided to move here and buy my house when it’s finished.”
Lainey shakes her head but her expression is indulgent. “I decided to move here because you’re here.” A nudge of Faye’s shoulder. “Plus, you can’t beat the weather and…and…” Her amusement fades and Faye reaches over, takes her hand. “I guess Ollie and I were looking for a fresh start after…” She trails off.
“Lainey lost her husband not too long ago,” Faye says gently.
My stomach twists as I keep building the tower with the little boy beside me. Damn, but sometimes the world is really fucking unfair.
“My dad died,” Ollie whispers.
Fuck.
“I’m sorry, buddy. That must be really hard.”
A shrug. “I miss him. But Mom says he’s always with me.”
“Yeah?”
“Yup.” He carefully places another block on top of mine. “She says he’s in my smile and my eyes and my— my—” Ollie frowns. “My d-dementor.”
I try to puzzle that one out. “Your demeanor?”
He nods.
“You act like him.”
A proud incline of his head this time. “Yup.”
I smile as movement has me looking up, seeing that Lainey has come over, Faye and Harper behind her.
“That’s nice building, bub,” she says, ruffling Ollie’s curls again.
“It’s not a building. It’s a tower.” A beat. “For superheroes. Right, Leo?”
I grin. “Absolutely.”
“Well, consider me corrected.” Her eyes come to mine and she smiles. It’s beautiful—hell, she’s beautiful.
But the only woman every cell in my body is attuned to is Harper.
God, I’ve wasted a fuck-ton of time trying to fight my feelings for her.
“We need to head out, Ollie monster,” Lainey says. “It’s time for bed.”
He scowls but doesn’t otherwise voice his displeasure.
“Remember,” Faye says, “if it doesn’t work out at the apartment, you’re free to stay with Gray and me until my—your—house is done.”
“Have you forgotten that I haven’t agreed to buy your house yet?”
“You will,” Faye tells her, a hint of Luna Magic on her face.
