Page 41 of Finding You

“We’ve got the dishes from here,” Kylen cut in. “Feel free to leave.”

“That’s rude,” Grace said.

Kylen scoffed. “No, you’re being rude. This was a courtesy because you seemed so fixated on the fact that I’m finally seeing someone you wouldn’t leave well enough alone. You’ve never respected me, and I hoped that once you had proof that I’m not into women?—”

“You fucked one! You had a kid with one!”

“I was drunk and horny,” Kylen hissed. He felt like a broken record with her. “I could have gotten it up for a sex doll.”

Grace pulled a face and stood up. “I’ve heard enough.”

“Good. Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out,” Kylen growled. He sat back, trying to calm himself down as he heard Grace step into the living room to say goodbye to Flora.

Luckily, his daughter was too engrossed in her show to give Grace much attention, and it wasn’t long before the front door opened, then slammed shut.

“She’s such a fucking child,” Kylen moaned, putting his hands over his face.

A beat later, he felt a warm touch on the back of his neck. He didn’t understand why Dallas was still so close—why he was still being so kind. The show was over. “You handled that a lot better than I would have.”

Kylen dropped his hands and looked at him. “Is there something wrong with my daughter?”

Dallas’s expression fell. “I’m not a professional?—”

“Please,” Kylen begged.

Dallas let out a slow breath. “I haven’t been doing this long, but Flora does share some signs of maybe not being entirely neurotypical. But before you panic, that doesn’t mean anything bad, okay? My nephew—a kid I love more than anything in the world—is totally blind and autistic. Frey’s son is Deaf. Adele’s son has ADHD. They’re all amazing kids with bright futures ahead of them. If Flora’s got a little spice in her brain, she’s not alone. And she’s going to be fine.”

Kylen tried for a laugh, but it came out like a sob. “Do you think it was me? Because I tried to do this alone?”

Dallas cupped Kylen’s face between his hands. “I think you’re one of the best parents I’ve ever met. And I’m not saying this because I like you and want to be able to see you again, but she’s probably my favorite student.”

Kylen didn’t have words for the feeling that gave him. “Teacher’s pet, huh?”

Dallas laughed as he pulled his hands away, and fuck, Kylen missed their warmth. “She’s one of the best listeners. And she doesn’t do well with change, but she’s capable, and she’s willing to try anything I put in front of her. And she’s funny, Ky. She makes all the other kids laugh.”

“That won’t last, will it?” Kylen asked him. He was giving voice to all the quiet worries that were coming to the surface. The ones that he’d been repressing for a while now. “Kids are going to be awful to her.”

“They might be, but it’s not like when we were kids, okay? Don’t go into disaster mode now. Just breathe. I can make a couple calls to schedule an evaluation if you want one, but right now, she’s okay.”

“Am I a monster if I want to wait a little while?”

Dallas laughed. “No, honey. You’re a tired single father with a difficult family and a lot on his plate. Take the time you need.”

Chapter Twelve

DALLAS

Dallas knew his pacing was starting to grate on Adele’s nerves, but he couldn’t sit still. He’d been in a sort of fog when he was at Kylen’s for dinner. The kiss had thrown him, but not in a bad way. He hadn’t had a chance to really process it, though, because Kylen’s sister had been there, and she was acting like herself: terrible. Then the topic of Flora had come up and whether or not she might need an evaluation, and Dallas had gone into teacher mode.

Then dinner was over, and Kylen gave him a long hug at the door, and that was that. It hadn’t hit him that he kissed a man until he was in bed with the sheets pulled up to his chest.

He couldn’t ignore what it meant now. He just needed to figure out how to go forward. If he brought this to the group, they’d all have different pieces of advice, and he’d get lost and confused. The only one with a level head that wasn’t going to give him shit about realizing he might not be entirely straight was Adele.

But now that he was standing in front of him, the words seemed stuck in the back of his throat.

So he paced. And he kept pacing.

“I feel like I’m burning calories just watching you,” Adele said.

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