Page 136 of Time to Bounce

Her eyes opened wide. “Really?”

“Really,” I said. “I love DPD, but I’m ready for a quieter life. Plus, I’m not that excited about going back. I’ve already set an interview for tomorrow.”

“But you go back to work on Monday at DPD.” She looked confused. “What are you going to do there?”

“Give my two weeks’ notice if the interview goes as well as I’m expecting it to,” I admitted. “Dad has me on light duty, anyway. I need to stay there exactly two more weeks to get my ten-year bonus. Then I’m done.”

She shook her head. “A bonus?”

“Yep,” I grinned. “Enough to pay for a honeymoon.”

Her smile was breathtaking. “That sounds perfect, Gable.”

That smile fell. “I got a call today while I was getting ready.”

“Yeah?” I asked, not liking the way she’d started that sentence.

I hated when her smiles fell.

“My sister got her kidney,” she said. “Surgery went well. My mom called to tell me.”

“Did you tell her you were getting married?” I asked.

“No,” she shrugged. “I don’t really care anymore, Gable. I don’t want her to know about any of my life events. I’m glad my sister found her kidney and she’ll live, but other than that, I don’t want them anywhere in my life. I’m done with that chapter, and already onto a new one.”

I squeezed her thighs. “One that’ll be a whole lot better than the last one.”

She stopped with the curling of my hair and said, “I don’t know. The last chapter was pretty magical. It had some hiccups, but I got you out of it.”

I lifted her to rest on my lap. “You did, baby. You did.”

“What do we do now?” she asked, settling fully onto my lap.

“We live.”

Hey, sorry I didn’t respond, I’ve been busy watching people clean dirty rugs on TikTok all day.

—Athena to Gable

ATHENA

“Hey, baby.”

I looked up to find my husband sliding into the booth across from me and the kids.

“Hey,” I smiled softly. “How’s work been so far?”

He grimaced. “Not great.”

“Daddy,” my five-year-old daughter, Camila, called to her father. “Would you like to look at the menu so we can order?”

My seven-year-old son, Gavrel, who couldn’t be more different from his sister, looked over at his sister and scoffed. “He needs time.”

The wrinkles around Gable’s eyes creased.

God, I loved those wrinkles.

I loved his smile.

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