Page 62 of Scarred Hearts

“Ohhh no,” I teased, anything to avoid the topic, “we’re talking about you and Declan right now. What did you say to him?”

“I think he’s hiding something,” she said with a serious expression on her face.

My snort was involuntary. “Girl, everyone in that family is hiding something.”

She let out a tinkling laugh. “I know, but this is different. Something seems off with him. Like there’s someone else involved.”

“You guys weren’t even official.”

“Yeah, but we have this understanding, and we stopped seeing other people… Well, I thought we did.”

Her words hit me like a ton of bricks, reminding me of my own doubts and insecurities about where things were going with Tyler. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind.

Suddenly, my phone lit up and vibrated across the kitchen island, displaying Tyler’s face on the screen. Kirsten watched with interest as I scrambled to grab it. Swiping to answer, I held it to my ear.

Hello?

Thank God you answered. He never sounded panicked.

What’s wrong? I furrowed my brow at Kirsten as she watched on with wide eyes.

I’m so fucking sorry to do this, but can you please watch my kids for about two hours? Ian needs me to go with him somewhere. My sister is with Jade away for the day at something with their kids, and Amber and Chance flew to New York for the day. I trust the nannies, but with everything going on right now, I just— his voice trailed off, he sounded defeated.

Yes, of course I’ll help out. I darted my eyes around the room, unsure how it was going to go.

Thank you! I’ll bring them over in a?—

My house?!

Yeah, is that okay?

They’re going to hate my house. I let out a laugh. It’s not got a kid-friendly thing in it.

Okay, do you want to come to my house then?

Is that okay? I didn’t want to invite myself over to his home without him wanting me there, but his kids would be miserable at my apartment.

Yeah, that’s better I just didn’t want you to feel weird.

It’s fine. I’ll be there soon. Kirsten was just leaving.

Her eyes bulged out at me, and I flickered my gaze.

She can come with you if you’d rather.

I’ll ask.

Okay, thanks again and see you soon.

You’re welcome. Bye.

Bye.

Laughter erupted from her throat, a wild cackling sound that echoed through the room. “What the hell was that?!”

“Sooo, do you wanna go watch Tyler’s kids with me?” I asked, trying to contain my own laughter.

“Uh,” she wrinkled her nose in distaste, “no, ma’am. Kids are... weird. I mean, I’m fine with nieces and nephews and I love all the kids at work, but I don’t babysit. So,” she stood and carried her coffee cup over to the sink, “you go have the best day of your life.”

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