Page 22 of No Second Chances

“We brought extra food,” she says from behind the brown paper bags. “Because Remy invited half the shop to dinner tonight.”

When she steps aside and Remy walks in with Linc at his side, I can’t look away. I watch him, and he stares right through me.

“Uncle Linc said that he’s gonna come to Career Day tomorrow too.” Nox starts babbling on like I’m not staring at the love of my life and trying to remember how to breathe. “So, if both him and Auntie Kenny come, you won’t have to come, Dad.” Wide-eyed, he stops talking as he realizes what he’s just said.

The silence that fills the air at his words has the power to do two things simultaneously. First, the rest of the oxygen in the room is suddenly vacuumed out, and my heart beats heavily against my chest while I try to breathe. And I’m not the only one affected.

Parker has tears leaking from both eyes and she is visibly trembling. Mom doesn’t bother hiding her sniffles and tears, staring at Nox like he is the most precious person in the entire world.

And Remy… my big brother drops to his knees faster than I’d ever be able to imagine. When he is at eye level with Nox, he pulls the child into a tight embrace.

Everyone watches the two of them in a moment that will forever be branded into our hearts. Everyone except Linc.

I would have missed it completely, except I lean back to keep the tears from leaking out. When I finally feel like I have control of them, I blink and find myself staring directly into his eyes once more. Only this time, he isn’t staring through me. He is devouring every inch of my face. The longing I see matches my own, and for almost a minute, I get to see that he wants me just as much as I want him.

Until the back door opens again, and Dad shatters the moment I’ll be happy to spend the rest of my life reliving.

The one I’ll give anything to experience.

10

LINC

Dodging a crayon that goes flying past my head seems par for the course in my life as far as I’m concerned. Especially when it comes to Nox and the things I’ll do for my nephew. I look down at the offending item and glare at the little blond girl who threw it at me. The glare, which sends criminals running in the other direction, has no effect on her smile. Instead, she turns back to her teacher and starts giggling.

“Remind me again why these kids want us to come to these things if they’re gonna just ignore us,” Remy grumbles as he stands next to me at the back of Nox’s class with his arms crossed over his chest. “Because from where I’m standing, this is the most boring shit in the world.”

I roll my eyes and struggle not to call him a baby. But then a crayon hits me square in the chest and all bets are off. One withering glare at the snot-nosed kid in Nox’s class has him turning red and whipping his head around to pay attention to some dumbass in a suit at the front of the room talking about mergers and acquisitions.

“I mean, wouldn’t you want to spend your day around us?” I look over at my best friend, who is staring at his kid with the world in his eyes.

“Are you okay with it?” he asks, suddenly serious. When I don’t answer immediately, he goes on. “With Nox calling me dad? We didn’t get a chance to talk about it at dinner.”

“That shit’s a little serious for a kindergarten class, man.” My eyes find Kennedy, who is sitting in the desk next to Nox, and while I do my best to come up with an answer for Remy, I picture Kennedy smiling at me the way she is smiling at my nephew. She hadn’t even stayed for dinner with her family, and I know it is because I showed up at Remy’s request.

Great. I’m jealous of a kid.

“Danny screwed up,” I tell him quietly. “Whatever he did ruined her. You’re the one who made her better. You picked up those pieces and made that broken woman whole again. So no. I don’t care that Nox calls you dad. You’re his. He’s yours. And she’s the only thing that matters.” The entire time I speak to him, I keep my eyes on Kennedy.

“One day.” Remy nudges me. “You’re gonna pull that head out of your ass and you’re gonna give her the happily ever after that she deserves. Or I’ll have to cut your heart out of your chest myself.”

“Okay, class.” Avery Malone claps her hands together for her students. “It’s time for lunch. You know the drill.”

That’s how I find myself ten minutes later, sitting at a table surrounded by kindergartners who all ask to touch my gun and badge. Nox, however, is completely ignoring both me and Remy in favor of the firefighters.

Oh, and Kennedy is sitting between Nox and one of those firefighters.

“Damn hose chasers.” I try to keep my voice down, but Remy hears me and snorts. “Shut it,” I grind out between clenched teeth.

“I’m glad Parker’s not here to see this,” Remy says with a plastic spork held in his hand. “She’d never let you live this shit down. Not in a hundred years. Stop making moon eyes at her, man. It’s almost sad.” After he stabs his spork into a Jell-O cup, he nods toward the firefighter. “We gotta do something about that, though. You know Nox still wants to be a firefighter, right?”

I remember the night Parker’s house had a Molotov cocktail thrown through the window and Nox running around announcing that he is going to be a firefighter.

“Can I touch the ax?” one of the other kids sitting at the table with Kennedy and Nox practically shouts. “I want to touch the ax.”

“You can’t do that,” Josh Harmon, the firefighter in question, says as he clutches the handle to his fire ax tightly. I can’t blame him; those little kids are tenacious as shit and will probably start running around the cafeteria with it if they get it away from him.

Kennedy laughs at his side and reaches one small hand over so that it hovers over the blade. The sound of her laughter sends a trill of anticipation down my spine, even if she isn’t laughing or smiling with me.

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