Page 6 of Loving You

“Maybe,” came the voice from the one person Bronx didn’t want to overhear this conversation, “he knows that his fake dad is a jackass, and his real dad loves him enough to spend his life trying to protect him.”

“I didn’t know Lucas was next to you.”

“I didn’t know he was in the room. He’s really good at sneaking up on me, and he has scary good hearing,” Dallas said.

Lucas giggled. “Because I’m Daredevil, bitch.”

“Language,” Dallas and Bronx echoed at the same time

“Whatever. He had you on speakerphone, and I don’t think he knew I was hovering behind him. Sighted people suck at seeing sometimes.”

“We do,” Dallas said. “And you’re a little shit.”

Bronx missed them both a lot. “How are things? Have you been babysitting?” he asked his son.

“Yeah. Dallas just got home about half an hour ago. Audra and I managed to get through a whole day without having a blowout. Which was great, but those things are the reason I’m never having kids,” Lucas said, a smile in his voice. “Also, Gage invited me over to his place tonight for a sleepover if you’re cool with it.”

Bronx felt his heart kick up, but he knew if Lucas would be safe anywhere else but home, it would be with one of the guys from the dad club. He knew he’d been holding on to Lucas too tight. He knew he’d fucked this all up. He had to start letting go—bit by bit.

“I’m cool with it. Have fun and make smart choices, okay?”

“You know it. I’m gonna go shower.”

There was a beat of silence, and then Dallas laughed. “Sorry. I swear I didn’t know he was there.”

“Don’t worry about it. He pulls that shit on me all thetime. But I’m glad everything’s going well. And I’m all for sleepovers if it means he showers more.”

“Were we that gross as teenagers?” Dallas asked.

“You were for sure,” Bronx said, smiling to himself. He was a lot older than Dallas—enough that he’d practically raised him after their parents checked out. It was the one lesson he’d taken away from them: what not to do when you have kids.

Healmostgot it right.

He was still getting there.

“I’m gonna go. I have a few more things to finish up before my flight tomorrow. You’re picking me up, right?”

“I’ll be there with bells on,” Dallas said. “Try to get some sleep. And remember, you’re doing all the right things.”

Bronx wasn’t entirely sure he believed him, but he was grateful that his brother had been brought up to be the kind of man that was there for him no matter what. And the kind of man who would call him on his shit if and when he screwed it all up.

Chapter Two

MONTY

“Didyou thank your mother for the dinner she put together?”

It took Monty a second to realize his father was speaking to him. He blinked across the table at the woman who was six months older than him—almost to the day—and swallowed heavily before looking at his dad. Rodrigo stared back, his dark eyes unmoving as they fixed on Monty’s face.

“Thank you, Poppy, for the?—”

“Mom,” Rod corrected.

Monty let out a sigh and passed a hand down his face. He started to feel heat in his cheeks and tingles along the edge of his jaw, and he fought back a wave of panic.Not now. Please, God, not like this. But his spells were, more often than not, brought on by the stress of his father’s relentless quest to get Monty to bend to his will.

His first cataplexic incident had been after his father had started screaming at him for turning his law school application in three days after the date he said he was sending it. It wasn’t even late, but Rod insisted thatMonty’s lack of organizational skills was going to lead to a life of poverty and dependence on him.

Never mind that Monty got in. That he graduated with honors. His father still berated him for “almost losing his chance to become something.”

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