Page 73 of Rent Free

He did.

Exactly that.

He hopped all the way to the shower, his butt in the air.

A soft laugh had me looking over my shoulder to the woman who was standing there, watching with a small smile on her face.

“Hey,” I said. “Didn’t see you there.”

“You seem to have more entertaining things right in front of you,” she mused. “I’m headed outside. I’m guessing Garrett went to get Boss?”

“You’d guess right,” I said. “I’ll be out as soon as I’m done here.”

“Don’t bother.” She pushed off the door frame. “I’ll be back when I’m ready.”

Then she was gone, and I inwardly cursed myself again.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Why had I said the words like that?

I watched, a small smile on my face, as Forest spun around in the sunken shower, creating a small whirlpool.

I helped him wash the spaghetti off his face, arms, and hair.

I even helped him brush his teeth.

When we were done, and I had him wrapped up in a towel, I headed back to his room and got him ready for bed.

I had no clue what a normal bedtime was—all of the Carter kids were a little bit of everywhere—so I was just guessing.

“What time do you usually go to bed, bud?” I asked him.

“Never.”

I chuckled as I zipped up the footie pajamas, idly thinking that he’d have to have a new size soon.

Two years old and 2T didn’t necessarily mean the same thing, apparently.

“How about we wind down, then maybe think about going to bed?” I asked him.

I reached for him again, and I was glad to notice that the hesitancy that’d been there at the hospital was no longer there.

He came easily, then rested his head on my shoulder.

The front door opened and closed, and I headed out to the living room to find her standing there, looking lost.

“There wasn’t anything there,” she breathed a sigh of relief.

“I suggest tailing her tomorrow,” Garrett came inside with Boss. “She won’t know that Pepper quit. She’ll still try to plant it. If she’s going to.”

“That’s if she was actually going to plant something,” I pointed out.

Pepper shot me an annoyed look. “She’s got something up her sleeve.”

“That’s not what I meant,” I said. “I’m more pointing out that maybe she just wanted you to uproot your life like you did. Maybe it was never about planting anything. It was just about making you think she was going to.”

Pepper crossed her arms over her chest. “I think that I would know more about my sister’s actions than you.”

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