Page 102 of Alec’s Dream

Then my son’s gaze came to me, which really meant it came to Alec and me since Alec was holding me. My child did not bat an eye at this.

“When can we go back to the old house and get more of our stuff? Alec said he’d help me practice tackling, but not until I had my pads.”

That statement took me from granite to something stronger, heavier, maybe something that hadn’t even been dug up from the earth yet.

“We’ll sort that in the next couple of days, bud.”

My body came unstuck with a jolt.

“Alec—”

“Later, babe.”

He gave me a squeeze.

A freaking squeeze.

“We need to—”

“Later.”

The thrill, the heat, the happiness, all vanished as I got pissed. I did not like to be silenced and barred from speaking to my child. Especially when both of them were under the misconception we were now living with Alec.

And I seriously was not happy he was maintaining the fantasy by telling them we’d be sorting out football pads.

I would, of course. I’d sort out what I was going to do with our belongings. But I’d be doing it after I found us a place to live.

In an effort to keep my cool in front of Aurora and Caleb, and since my head was on the verge of exploding, I announced, “Time for bed.”

After a few back-and-forth protests, with the addition of Rory whining that she wasn’t tired, Alec stepped in.

“Your mom already gave you an extra half-hour to finish your show. Not cool repaying that with arguing.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about him acting as a stand-in father-figure. Then when Caleb stood and mumbled his apologies, and nudged his sister to do the same, I really didn’t know what to feel. I’d never had a co-parent.

I’d always gone it alone with the kids. Even when I was married to Doug and we all lived together, he never stepped up and helped with anything. Not even something as simple as telling the kids to go to bed. Nor would Doug have ever thought to gently reprimand them for arguing with me.

If I was being honest, it felt amazing. But I was in the middle of a snit, therefore, I wasn’t in the mood to give Alec even the barest inch.

Obviously, Alec hadn’t picked up on the shift in my disposition. Either that or he didn’t care, because before I’d walked the kids upstairs, he’d kissed me hard, albeit closed-mouthed, on the lips and gave me a smile.

I found it difficult to believe that Alec being as perceptive as he was hadn’t noticed the air around me had gone artic. Which meant he didn’t care I was pissed and that pissed me off more.

I didn’t use the time I had upstairs putting my kids to bed to calm down. As a matter of fact, I used it to nurse my irritation. Therefore, when I went back down and found Alec calmly sitting on his couch, one arm stretched out resting on the back, other hand holding a beer, long jean-covered legs in front of him crossed at the ankle, I just about lost my mind.

There he was relaxing, having a brew, lounging, watching the news. Though his eyes did come to me when I rounded the couch.

Yep, I was gonna lose it.

“We need to talk.”

“I can see that.”

Alec’s lips twitched and my blood pressure rose into the danger zone.

“Something funny?” I asked.

“Babe, you have yourself worked up into a tizzy—”