Page 55 of Take The Risk

​I could hear the slight tremor in Ty’s voice, even as he tried to sound normal. Once I got over the mortification of my son coming out in this moment (and yes, of what I’d said and done) I’d appreciate how he’d reacted quickly, making sure Lock didn’t see something that would scar him for life.

​“I’m hungry,” Lock declared, rubbing his stomach through his pajamas.

​Ty and I both burst out laughing at the statement. The normality of it was ironic given the air around me still burned with what had just happened, pleasure still echoing through me.

​“When aren’t you?” I flexed my feet, making sure they were in working order lest I stand up and then fall face first into the crackling fire. “How about a grilled cheese?” Probably two. Lock was in another growth spurt and seemed to have two hollow legs along with the stomach of an NFL linebacker.

​“How about roast beef?” Did I mention that he became a meat-o-holic whenever this happened? “Want one, Ty? Mom makes the best beef sandwiches.”

​Ty looked from me to Lock, finally turning around. I noticed he kept his hands in his pockets and did my best not to stare too intently at the slight bulge I could see. I didn’t miss Ty’s smirk, even as he answered. “Thanks, bud, but I think I need to head out.”

​“Oh?” Lock looked a little disappointed. “Okay.”

​It startled me then, how easily Lock took to finding Ty here. He didn’t seem disturbed or upset. He just accepted his presence. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

​“I should get going.” Ty turned to me and I felt that look right down to my toes.

​My nod was half-hearted. “Okay.” What else could I say? I wanted him to stay. I wanted more of …whatever that was. Only Lock wasn’t just here; he was awake, and there were some things I wasn’t going to expose my kid to.

​“I’ll call you tomorrow.”

​He would?

​I tried not to let my disappointment show that he’d call and not see me show. Then I smacked myself upside the head mentally. Time to not be a besotted teenager, Phoebe.

​“Sounds good.” I stood there, not wanting to move.

​Lock, on the other hand, pushed the glass door open wider. “Come on, Mom. I’m wasting away here.”

​Ty and I chuckled, and I got up. “Sure, you are.” Putting a hand on Lock’s shoulder, I said goodnight to Ty.

​Ty just finished saying goodnight to us when Lock frowned. “Hey, how come you’re here so late?”

​We froze.

​Well, fuck.

Chapter 22

​“Your cookies are a huge hit! I cannot thank you enough for making them early!” Louise gushed, taking the large box of cookies I’d just finished baking from my hands.

​She said early like it was a couple of hours. Not a full week.

​Yeah, because you were doing anything else other than sulking, I thought.

​“I’m glad.” I really was. Louise begging me to bake for the café for today, giving me all of Saturday to make five hundred cookies because someone had screwed up on the marketing was a godsend.

​It gave me something else to focus on other than the fact that, after giving me the best orgasm of my life, Ty had just…disappeared. No call even though he promised. No text. And worse, the text I sent him went unanswered, making me feel like an idiot.

​“Come in,” Louise bade me. I’d rather eat glass than be around people, so I followed her, letting the chatter of customers, the smell of freshly brewed coffee, and the hints of cinnamon and sugar in the air welcome me. Following her through the back kitchen and into the main part of the café, I saw the place was packed.

​She’d no sooner put the box of the extra hundred cookies she’d begged me for down than it was pounced on by their servers and people lining up when they spied the delivery.

​I hung awkwardly in the doorway, not really ready to handle that many people. Yeah, no. My feet turned and I hid back behind the partial wall, making sure there was lots of space for the servers to come in and out.

​“It’s a lot.” Erik, the café’s head chef, put a steaming bowl of stew in the pass window beside me. The smile he gave me was so gentle and full of understanding that I felt myself relax minutely.

​“I—I’m just not used to so many people.” And wasn’t that the truth? Hell, I did ninety percent of my shopping online just to avoid such a crowd.