Page 16 of Finding You

“Is Auntie coming?” Flora asked as she clambered into her booster seat and buckled herself in.

He checked to make sure it was secure, and then he got into the driver’s seat. “I think so.” It would be a miracle if she didn’t. She wasn’t around much, but when she was, she felt she had the right to play absent mommy. His family had never approved of Dani’s decision to keep her job or to live eight months out of the year in London.

But in reality, he knew it wasn’t about her. It was about him. They doubted he could do this on his own. They didn’t believe he could raise a child successfully.

It was almost like they wanted him to fail if he didn’t do exactly what they wanted, and what they wanted was for him to have a wife, a house, a picket fence, maybe a dog. They wanted someone in an apron to stay at home, and he could jet off to anywhere and everywhere and phone it all in.

Because that’s what they’d done.

But that wasn’t the life he was going to give his child.

His heart sank a little when he pulled into the parking lot to find it mostly full, but he snagged one of the last spots, then climbed out and waited for Flora. She stood for a second and fixed her hair in the rearview mirror, then hopped out. Her little sneakers crunched on the asphalt as she took his hand and pulled him toward the gate.

“This is where I play,” she said, pointing to the plastic structure. “It’s just for us. But some big kids go there, and they pushed me.”

He froze. “When?”

“The other…day. Last year, when I was little.”

“You weren’t here last year, sweetpea. When did this happen?”

She shrugged. “They’re just some mean kids sometimes.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose, but they kept walking toward the gates, and then Flora let out a squeal when his sister stepped out from behind the gate door. “Grace,” he said as Flora hugged her legs.

She said nothing, but she took Flora’s hand as his daughter pulled him in through the door of the first classroom. He wasn’t sure if he felt better or worse that her class was so close to the exit, but he hated that he had to worry about shit like that.

That wasn’t the childhood he had.

He hated all the drills now. All the lockdowns. All the fear. He hated that every time he saw a text alert from her school, he panicked, even though it was usually about construction or late busses. He hated that his heart was always between his teeth.

“This is my table,” Flora said loudly. “And my colors. My cubby’s right there. And that’s Mr. Reed.”

The world came to a stuttering halt. Kylen knew those eyes. That smile. Those dimples. He knew those arms. He knew exactly what that soft hand felt like in his own, even if it had only been for a short time.

He tried to speak, but words died at the back of his tongue.

Dallas looked just as shocked as him. He was frozen, halfway to setting down a cup.

Then Grace cleared her throat, and Dallas’s arm jolted, spilling juice all over his wrist. “This is Mr. Reed,” Grace said. “The one with the tattoos. We’ve met once or twice.” It was clear by her tone she didn’t approve, which only made his desire for the man grow.

Dallas cleared his throat and took two steps closer to them. “Kylen.”

Grace stared at him. “So, you know each other?”

Dallas chuckled softly. “We’ve met. Yes. And it’s nice to meet you formally. I’m Dallas Reed.”

“Dal—” she stammered and stopped, then looked at Kylen with wide eyes. “The Dallas? Your Dallas? Are you fuh—” She stopped again, likely remembering they were in a classroom full of children. “Are you serious?”

And Kylen might have laughed if he wasn’t close to shitting his pants. He already looked like a fool for making up the lie, but he hadn’t wanted to look like a fool in front of this man.

Dallas glanced between them. “Am I missing something?”

“Only that you’re apparently dating your student’s father,” Grace snapped in a furious whisper, and then something dawned on her, and her scowl turned into a slow grin. “Or…is there another man named Dallas around here?” She looked like the cat who got the cream—like she knew she was going to expose Kylen, and it was that much sweeter being able to do it in public.

Kylen felt panic rippling up his spine so fast he almost choked on it. “Well. I…”

“There’s not. I’m the one and only, but we’re trying to keep it quiet. We met before Flora was in my class,” Dallas said, his tone no-nonsense.

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