Page 52 of Hot Dad Summer

I didn’t have to think about it. “Yes.”

“How many times a week do you cook?”

“Three, at most. They won’t let me do more, even though I tried to tell them that I like-”

“How much time do you spend cleaning up after them?”

I got where she was going and groaned. “They clean up after themselves, Kace. Half the time when I go to clean the kitchen after cooking, one of them has already done it. They don’t let me do everything for them. I almost feel lost at times.”

“Because you aren’t getting to do your normal thing of convincing them that you’re worth loving?” She knew me too well. “They already sound like better men than their brother. Seems like they didn’t need convincing that you’re worth their time.”

Of course, they were better than Tyler. They were great men who had their heads on their shoulders despite some tough times in life. They were each great fathers and had always treated me with respect, before the end of my relationship with their brother and after. After a single week of going above and beyond to take care of them and try to earn my position in their lives they’d stepped in and taken over their fair share. They were insistent on me not performing my normal song and dance.

“It hasn’t been easy, Kace. I’ve wanted to freak out so many times but one of them is always there, doing something else to make me feel seen.” I closed my eyes and took a second to breathe. My composure was slipping and I couldn’t let it, not in front of the kids. “This is crazy, right? The summer will end and I’ll come home and this will all be over.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. If it’s something real, maybe it won’t end because y’all won’t let it. I don’t know them but I know that any man who sees what you’re willing to do for them and won’t let you do it is a man I’d like to get to know. Seems like you’ve found three of them.”

I’d had hope for my relationship with Tyler, too. I didn’t trust myself to make the right choice. I didn’t trust that they could really want me without me doing everything I could to convince them that I was great.

“Honey. If they want you bad enough to share you, I’d say they’re worth giving a chance. Worst case scenario, you have a hot summer of sex and come home alone and heartbroken.” She heard my panicked sound and rushed on. “Or not heartbroken! You could come home not heartbroken, at all.”

“I’ve never been brave enough to take chances, Kace.”

“Bitch, you opened an entire business. You made said business such a huge success that you’ve got people begging you to let them give you money. You are brave.”

Was I? I stared down at the kids after the call ended and wondered if I could change. Who would I be if I didn’t spend all my time trying to be enough? If it was anything like the woman I’d been so far that summer it didn’t seem like such a bad idea…

40

***Daisy***

The fourth of July in Sweetwater Cove could be described as manic patriotism at best. The village was decked out in red, white, and blue and there were star-shaped sunglasses for sale at every corner. Wes told me that the holiday was the busiest day of the year at the marina and seeing it firsthand made me wonder how we’d ever get through the day. I’d volunteered to help out before I knew just how chaotic it would be. There was a definite chance that I would’ve kept my mouth shut if I’d seen things beforehand. Old Daisy struck one last time.

It turned out to be not so terrible, though. Wes put me behind the bar selling beer and I’d always said that drunk adults are just like little kids so it felt like I was still nannying. Only the bar kids were horny and less respectful of boundaries. After the fourth man who whistled at me and leaned over the bar to look at my ass Wes showed up. He stood next to me at the bar with his arms crossed over his wide chest, playing security guard.

When one especially drunk guy showed up expecting to be served, despite the fact that he could barely stand up straight, I had the joyous task of telling him we weren’t going to serve him. He got angry and tried to grab me, which was a huge mistake.

Wes stepped forward, grabbed his hand and twisted it backwards until the guy screamed. Then, loud enough for the entire bar to hear, he made it clear that I wasn’t to be messed with. “She’s off-limits. You touch her and I break the hand that did it.”

Some of the patrons booed but there was a group of locals who gave each other questioning looks before whispering to each other. They still knew me as Tyler’s girlfriend.

I turned to Wes and leaned in to whisper but he gripped my waist in both hands and tugged me even closer. I gasped at the dominant move and had to struggle to remember what I needed to say. It was nearly impossible to focus when he was staring down at me with a look in his eyes that threatened to melt my heart and my panties.

He smiled and the way it reached his eyes made the rest of the room not matter. “Cat got your tongue, baby?”

The threat was no longer a threat. My brain? My panties? Melted. I opened and closed my mouth a few times and rested my hands on his chest. “You probably have more important things to do than babysit me.”

“The kids are with Charlie’s mom. The business can wait a few minutes. So, no, I don’t have anything more important than watching you.” He lowered his mouth to my ear and lowered his voice so it was even huskier than normal. “I never should’ve let Tyler leave with you after that first visit. You could’ve been mine without anyone looking at you and even thinking his name.”

His? I could’ve been his? I felt like I was in a dream. It was probably one of the smutty dreams that I sometimes had after reading romance too close to bedtime. There was no way that Wes Calloway was holding me in public, telling me that I could’ve been his.

“Yo! Can I get a beer?!”

I flinched at the shout and pushed away from Wes. I looked at the person shouting and started passing out beers again. I stole glances at Wes from time to time and he was always there, watching, guarding. I was being publicly claimed by him. It was so unexpected that I didn’t know what to do with it.

I was recognized at one point of the day and while I tried to downplay it, the person wanted to take a photo with me and I didn’t want to be rude so I agreed to it. A drunk guy standing close by loudly demanded to know why they were taking pictures with me.

I waved him off and laughed. “Old friends.”