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He touched his lips to my crown. “You never have to thank me. That’s my job.”
“I’ll swoon if you keep this up.” I swatted at him. “Stop it.”
“Never.”
I tipped my head back. “Can you see what my child is doing? Is he destroying your living room?”
Callum glanced over my shoulder. “He pulled a cushion off the couch. He’s usin’ it to jump on and make one of his insects fly.”
That made me smile. “He’s fine?”
“He’s fine,” he confirmed.
“Okay.” I brushed his hair behind his ear. “The other thing that happened is related to the first thing. Ez and I ran over to our favorite bodega to get cat food for Lyle and Lovett. Mr. Sulaimani informed me Edwin is banned from his store. Banned, Callum. I didn’t want to ask him if he’d seen the video of the fight because he’s kind of religious and I didn’t want to insult him by asking him that. But he must have, right? Because it’s sort of sudden for him to make that decision. He’s seen Edwin asking me out a hundred times over the years and he always kind of chases him off, but he’s never out and out banned him.”
Callum jolted. “I never knew he asked you out hundreds of times.”
“Of course you didn’t. We weren’t together when most of it was happening. It wasn’t ever anything like last weekend, though. It doesn’t matter anyway. Hopefully he’s as done with me as I am with him.”
He took my face in his hands. “You’ll tell me if somethin’ else happens.”
Not a question. “I’ll tell you.”
His nose dragged along mine. “There was a time when you got hurt and I couldn’t protect you. All I could do was wait for you to email me and tell me if you were okay or not. We’re never gonna go back there. Anyone bothers you, makes you uncomfortable, scares you, hurts you, I’m here. I’ll take care of it. You don’t have to worry. That’s on me now. You got it, Little Bird?”
I exhaled through pursed lips. “I think so. I’m getting there.”
His nose gently tapped the end of mine. “Get there. This is your reality.” Lips touched mine. “Now, I’m gonna feed you and your boy.”
I grinned. “Always taking care of me.”
“Always.”
The three of us settled on the floor in front of Callum’s couch with our slices of pizza and, in Ezra’s case, plenty of napkins because my child was basically a monster when he ate.
This wasn’t a regular dinner. No, this was an occasion. We were here to watch the recording of The Seasons Change onTheNighttime Show. Through our separation, I’d carefully avoided watching any of their appearances. My heart just hadn’t been strong enough to take it.
Now, my heart was threatening to burst from my chest as Callum fast-forwarded to the right place in the show. This was silly, really, to feel nervous about seeing my boyfriend on TV—something he’d filmed the day before, mind you—when he was right beside me and my child was cuddled on his other side. He was no longer the stone-cold giant on the stage. He was the warm, affectionate man who, more often than not, shared my bed.
My heart wasn’t getting the message. I was nervous as all get-out while Ezra was practically flying out of his skin with excitement. He didn’t grasp what Callum’s job was, nor did he understand fame. What he knew was his new buddy Cow-um was about to be on the same TV where he watched Bob Ross andPAW Patrol, andthatwas a big freaking deal.
“All right, everyone ready?” Callum held the remote with his finger poised on the play button. Ezra shrieked, and I nodded. The lump in my throat was too big to fit any words around.
Iris strutted onto the screen, looking gorgeous and intimidating. The camera panned over the band, sweeping past Callum, whose face was impassive and glorious. Ezra put down his pizza and climbed into Callum’s lap when the music began. He leaned forward, resting his chin on his pudgy fists. His eyes were wide, reflecting the images on the TV. My boy was a talker, but he’d been struck silent as soon as he saw Callum.
As for me, the music they were playing filled my ears, but my eyes were on my two boys. Callum had frozen when Ezra plopped on him. His arms and shoulders were as stiff as a corpse. As the moments passed, his limbs relaxed, until his arms formed a loose circle around Ezra. And then he turned to me, caught me staring, and jerked his chin at my kid. My breath caught. If he wasn’t happy about my son being in his lap…well, I’d deal. It wasn’t right to expect Callum to automatically be comfortable with him. But that wasn’t to say I wouldn’t be a little disappointed.
A second later, a wide grin broke out on Callum’s face, and all my worries vanished. I smiled back, ruffled Ezra’s hair, and ran my fingers along Callum’s scruff. He caught my hand, kissed my fingertips, then kept it in his lap, right beside Ezra’s little body.
When the song was over, Ezra asked for Callum to play it again. I leaned in, my chin on Callum’s shoulder. He turned to me, so close, all I could see were his icy blues.
“You like?” he murmured.
“You guys changed the chorus.”
His eyes danced. “Yeah. You said it was a pile of shit.”
I snorted. “I don’t remember those words coming from my mouth.”
