Page 99 of Smitten with the Single Dad

His brothers nodded. “Just don’t do anything stupid,” Bennett said. He yawned. “Shit. I’ve gotta be up in twenty minutes for a run.”

“I’m going back to bed,” Clint said, shaking his head.

Wyatt knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep. Not after finding the gray sedan. Even though he wanted nothing more than to curl his body around Vica’s and forget anything bad in the world even existed, he knew he wouldn’t be able to.

He said goodbye to his brothers and entered the house, and at first it seemed like everything was quiet and three of his favorite people were still asleep. But when he really focused, he heard murmurs upstairs, and they were coming from his bedroom.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Even though Vica slept so much better in Wyatt’s bed than she did on the couch, she was still a fairly light sleeper. So when the door opened, and a little voice whispered, “Dad?” She stirred and woke up immediately.

Blinking open her eyes, she waited for them to adjust before she could clearly see who it was. “Jake?” she finally asked.

“Where’s my dad?”

That was a good question.

“Is he not on the couch? Or yours or Griffon’s floor?”

Jake shook his head. “Not our floors.” He stepped out of the bedroom and quietly padded down the hallway to check the couch. This gave Vica the opportunity to grab her pajamas and pull them on. “He’s not on the couch,” Jake said, coming back.

Hmmm.

“What’s the matter,orsetto?”She opened up an arm and welcomed him to climb onto the bed for a hug. To her delight, he did. She kissed the top of his head. “Talk to me.”

“I had a bad dream.”

“Ah.Si.In Italian we call that anincubo. Do you remember it? Do you want to talk about it?”

He shuddered slightly in her embrace, but nodded. “It was about the accident. But I dreamed that my dad died. And that Griffon and I had no parents.”

“Oh,dio. That is very scary.” She brushed his unruly mop of hair off his forehead and kissed him there. “But you know that is not real. Right? Your dad is still very alive. It was just anincubo.”

“I know. But it felt really real. I woke up crying. And then when he wasn’t in the bed, I was scared that it was true. That he actually was dead.”

The kid was going to make Vica cry. “I can assure you, sweetheart, that he is not. He is alive … somewhere.” She sighed. “You know, I was six when my mom died. I was there when it happened too.”

He glanced up at her. “Was it scary?”

“Very.”

“I was little when my mom died, so I don’t really remember anything. I was three, and Emme was four. She says that she remembers feeling sad, but that’s it. And I’m sort of the same. Mostly now I just dream about having no parents. Like my dad dying too.”

“Tesoro mio. I am so sorry.”

“But in this dream, I know that my mom is gone. But then my dad dies too. And then I take Griffon by the hand, and we just walk down the road together. And the road never stops. Then Griffon stars crying, saying his feet hurt, and he wants to go home. That he wants to go back to Dad. But I tell him we can’t. That our dad is gone. So I piggyback him as long as I can. But then my feet start to hurt, and Griffon’s cries get louder, and I tell him he needs to be brave.”

Tears stung the back of Vica’s eyes, and her throat was painfully tight.

So all she could do was hug Jake tighter.

“I know you and my dad are like married and stuff, but it’s mostly pretend. Right?” He glanced up at her.

What was she supposed to say to this? Yes, sort of. But they did have sex, and she was in love with him?

Before she could answer, he spoke again. “It’d be cool if it wasn’t so pretend though. I’d like to have you as a mom. You’re fun. And then if something did happen to Dad, Griffon and I wouldn’t be alone. We’d have a parent.”

She couldn’t stop the tear that broke free and slid down her cheek. “Oh,tesoro mio.You have so much family. You would never be on your own. You are loved by many. So many people.”

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