Page 4 of Single Mom's Christmas Wish

“Whoa, don’t start with me,” I nervously chuckle. “I just wrapped up thirty minutes’ worth of CPR training. Give the others a chance to speak. I’ll chime in when I can.”

The guys all exchange glances, and Cole ultimately agrees and moves the focus over to the triplets. “Tell us about your situation, then, fellas. It’s your first meeting, right?”

“It is, yes,” Archer says, constantly stealing glances at me.

Silence follows, prompting Cole to smile again. “You’re supposed to… you know, tell us a little something about yourselves.”

“We’re triplets,” Archer replies.

“No shit,” I mutter, which elicits a wave of giggles. The anxiousness I felt earlier begins to fade.

“We’re thirty-nine,” Archer adds while Maddox and Reed eye me with intention. What their intention is, I’m not sure, but there is definitely something sizzling beneath the surface that makes my face burn. “About six months ago, our best friend and his wife died in a car crash.”

At that, the humorous anecdotes I was stockpiling in my head for this conversation go out the window.

“With no other immediate family, their son, Trevor, would’ve gone into the foster care system. We’re his godfathers,” Archer continues, “and so, we decided to step up and give the kid something as close to a real family as possible.”

“It’s been working out for the most part,” Reed adds, crossing his arms as he leans back in his chair. “But Trevor has his moments.”

“Moments?” Cole asks.

“He tends to be closed off. He misses his parents, and we’re not quite sure how to help him cope,” Reed says. “He’s a good kid, but his grades have dropped, and he’s got trouble focusing. At home, he spends most of his time in his room, playing video games.”

“Tell them about the fight,” Maddox interjects.

Reed nods once. “Yeah. He got into a fight at school last Thursday. Nothing too serious, but enough to bring the three of us into the principal’s office. It was a tough situation to handle.”

“Why, were you never in the principal's office when you were kids?” one of the other single dads asks with a chuckle.

“No,” Reed replies, sounding almost offended.

“Goody two-shoes,” I mutter.

Archer sets his sights on me once more. “I take it that you were a star in detention, Dakota?”

“I threaded a fine line,” I smirk.

“We have ways of punishing bad girls in our house,” Archer says.

That gets some whistles and gasps out of the others. In the meantime, I’m starting to think this is a room in purgatory, and hell’s about to come up and swallow us all because the temperature is spiking.

“Are there any girls in your house?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

Reed holds back a laugh. Maddox’s eyes twinkle with amusement. But Archer… oh, I struck a chord, and he’s about to make me regret it. Cole watches the entire exchange with the kind of exhilaration that warrants a bowl of popcorn and a beer hat.

“I take it you’re interested,” Archer says.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You look interested.”

“Guys, come on, let’s keep it civil,” Cole intervenes, downright flustered.

I’m speechless but not offended. More like… curious. Is this what a year of celibacy does to a woman? How the hell do I reign it in?

Archer tilts his head to the side, and I lose myself in the deep, emerald-gold pools of his eyes. “It was a terrible joke, Dakota. I apologize.”

“It’s cool,” I mumble.

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