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“Uncle Sy?” Brayden’s voice asks.
I sit down on the bed. “Brayden. Is everything okay?”
He’s quiet for a moment, and I can just imagine the crease forming between his eyes. It happens whenever he’s worried about something. He’s done it since he was a little kid. Is he upset that I’m taking his mom out tonight?
“Mom says Aspen and I can’t go out with you guys tonight.”
My shoulders sag in relief.
Despite Cam playing a significant role in Eloise and the kids’ lives, Brayden has taken it upon himself to try and step into the role of man of the house. It’s a huge role to fill for a little kid. I should know. I did it when I was his age when my dad passed. The circumstances for why might be different in each of our cases, but the protective intent was still there for both of us.
Eloise has always been strong, but when it came to her ex, he knew all the buttons to push for her. He would know. He put them there. It was the only way he could ensure an incredible woman like her would never leave him. Ironic, right? But when he left, she was lost for a bit. Cam and I stepped in where we could, but Brayden was there every day. Kids see and hear everything. They know more than we give them credit. As the self-appointed protector of his mother and sister, Brayden has forced himself to grow up sooner than he should. But lately, whenever Cam and I are around, we see him loosening the reins and letting one of us be the man so he can be a kid again.
As much as I’d love to take Eloise to the quiet dinner at the fancy French restaurant two towns over that she’s been dying to go to, this is more important.
“I hear you, buddy,” I say, rubbing my hand over my face. “Can I talk to your mom?”
“Mom!” Brayden yells into the phone, nearly bursting an eardrum. “Uncle Sy wants to talk to you.”
“You called Silas?” I hear her ask, but then there is a shuffling on the other end of the line. “Hello?”
“Hey,” I say with a chuckle.
“I’m sorry he called you. The kids saw my makeup and wanted to know where I was going, and one thing led to another, and I have one kid calling you and the other pouting in the other room.”
“Sounds like quite the situation.”
“The perks of dating a single mom,” she says dryly.
“You are worth it.”
Elle is silent for a moment on the other end, but I can hear the smile in her voice even when she whispers, “When you say stuff like that, it makes me want to kiss you even more.”
My dick twitches with excitement. I wish I were there right now, so I could pull her into my arms and kiss the hell out of her.
“I know we made plans for dinner,” I say. “But maybe we can make that date two. There’s an outdoor ice rink in Clifton that the four of us could go check out for some skating under the stars tonight instead.”
“You’d rather pass on a romantic candlelight meal in lieu of ice skating and eating hotdogs and apple cider?”
“Not pass, but postpone,” I correct her. “Anything we do with the kids would be fine with me.”
Eloise gasps quietly.
I must have said the wrong thing. “If you don’t—”
“I want to. I just never thought I’d meet a guy who would be so kind.”
Fuck, her ex did a number on her. But I’m more determined than ever to show her that she deserves the moon, and I’ll be the man to give it to her.
“I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere,” I tell her seriously. “Well, I am coming to pick up you guys, but you know what I mean.”
Elle chokes out a laugh through the tears I can hear in her voice. “We’ll be here waiting for you.”
* * *
When I arriveat the inn thirty minutes later, I see that Cam and the lovely travel writer, Romy, are quite comfortable in the living room putting up the tree that they and the kids picked out this afternoon. There’s a look in Cam’s expression that tells me that he’s already falling for her. He thinks he’s slick, and I guess he is when it comes to her not noticing, but there’s no mistaking the way he watches her work on untangling the knotted string of lights in her lap. He hasn’t looked this way at someone in a long time. It’s nice to see him finding happiness and potential love too.
“Ready?” Eloise asks when I meet her back at the door after getting Brayden and Aspen in Elle’s minivan.
