I gave him a solid thump on the back because Rome wasn’t the kind of guy you grinned at. “Thanks, man. I appreciate that.”
“Saw what happened to your girl. Church was pissed. The Bar’s getting busier and busier and he can’t be everywhere at once. I might need to hire more help.”
“Church is a good dude. He takes his job seriously.”
Rome made a noise. “He takes safety, especially the safety of women, seriously. I doubt the drunk will be putting his hands on any more women anytime soon.”
That made me ridiculously satisfied. I might not have been able to put my hands on the man, but I was glad someone else, someone infinitely more terrifying than I would ever be, had taught him a lesson in manners and how to treat a lady.
“Good. I’m gonna take Hyde and head out. I have to work tomorrow and have to drop him off at my mom’s pretty early in the morning.”
Rome nodded and clapped me on the shoulder. “It was good to see you. Don’t be a stranger. Remy could use a playmate.”
I agreed and picked my sleepy kid up and wrestled him into his coat and then into the car. I was almost at the condo when my mom called and told me she wasn’t feeling well and asked me to see if Beryl could watch Hyde for the day. I reminded her that Wes had whisked Beryl and Joss away for the weekend but told her not to worry about it. I would find someone to watch him, and if I couldn’t I would just skip work.
Of course, being the ever-observant and wicked smart kid that he was, Hyde overheard the entire conversation.
“So what do you think, little man? Should I ask your aunt Echo to hang out with you tomorrow?”
He pondered the question for a second and shook his head in the negative. “You should ask Sayer. We can build more castles.”
I’d had a feeling it was coming, so I blew out a breath and agreed to call her when we got home.
Hyde took his sweet time getting ready for his bath and then fought me like he usually did when I tried to put him to bed. I didn’t mind him crawling in with me after he woke up in the middle of the night, but I always insisted he start the night out in his own bed. I turned the night-light on, curled up with him, and read him a bedtime story. His eyes drifted shut and he was nearly asleep when he mumbled, “You promised to call Sayer.”
“I will.” And I would, after he was asleep, so he didn’t see me pacing around the house like a nervous wreck.
I peeled out of my clothes and plopped down on the bed before bringing her name up in my contacts. I hit the send button and held my breath until her sleepy voice came across the line. I hadn’t even looked at the clock, but when I did it was only a little bit past ten.
“Did I wake you up?”
She let out a strangled-sounding laugh. “Uh, no. I haven’t been sleeping very well. Is everything all right?”
I wondered if she wasn’t sleeping because I wasn’t there next to her. I really hoped that was the case. My dick went hard at just the sound of her voice. I shouldn’t be the only one suffering because we weren’t together.
“Everything is fine. I was actually calling for a favor. My mom can’t watch Hyde tomorrow and my sister is out of town. He’s really sensitive about who he’s left with during the day when I go to work and when I asked him who he wanted to spend the day with he said you.”
“Me?” She sounded shocked.
“Yeah, you. He likes you and he misses seeing you.” He wasn’t the only one under this roof that felt that way.
“Um, sure. Bring him over. I have a little bit of work to do from home tomorrow, but I can tackle it before you get here.”
“Nice. He’ll be stoked.”
“Oh . . . yeah, well, I will be, too. I’ve missed seeing him.”
I missed that “oh.” I missed kissing it and sucking it in. I missed it wrapped around my dick as her mouth moved on me. I missed her screaming it in surprise every time I made her come for the second time. I missed the soft shock on her face when she said “oh” after every time she surprised herself.
“Yeah, oh. You can see him . . . and me . . . anytime you want to, Say. You just have to make that choice. I’ll see you in the morning and have a good night.”
She made a strangled sound in her throat and I could clearly see her putting her hand up to the base of her neck like she did when she was trying to work out how she felt about something. “You have a good night too, Zeb.”
I hung up the phone and tossed it on the empty side of the bed . . . the side of the bed she should be on.
CHAPTER 17
Sayer
I had a motion I was supposed to be working on before Zeb showed up with Hyde, but obviously I couldn’t concentrate to save my life. Instead of screwing up my entire case, I decided I would try and make pancakes for breakfast. I figured all little kids liked pancakes for breakfast, so I threw on a pair of jeans and a baggy sweater and ran to the store so I could buy the mix. While I was there I also grabbed some fruit and some snacks. My cupboard was most definitely not kid-friendly, in fact, it wasn’t very adult-friendly either. I was running behind by the time I checked out and tossed everything into the car, so I was scrambling around the kitchen and staring at the clock on the stove instead of paying attention to what I was supposed to be doing with the pancakes.
It was premade mix, so it should have been impossible to mess up. Impossible for anyone but me. A plume of smoke wafted up from the top of the stove and had me coughing and frantically dumping the entire pan, blackened batter and all, into the sink and running water over it in the hopes that the smoke detectors in the house wouldn’t go off. I burned my fingertips and I was pretty sure I had batter in my hair. I was throwing every dirty word I had in my vocabulary at the mess when a shrill sound echoed through the house.