I glance back.

Wyatt waves sleepily at me from the couch.

“Good morning,” I say softly.

Emily raises her head. “Is there coffee?”

“Yep,” I say, lifting my mug.

Wyatt swings his legs off the couch, but Emily stops him. “I’ll get it.”

“Full service at the North Pole. I like it,” he teases.

She rolls her eyes. “I’ll make myself a useful elf and be right back.”

While she heads to the kitchen, I look at the Christmas tree. An absurd number of presents are piled under and around it. I didn’t bring anything with me, because I didn’t know it would be like this.

I can’t even remember clearly what kind of emotionally unavailable mess I thought I was coming into here. The reality has been so far from that, it’s silly. The Danes are over the top, but they’re so loving.

I wonder if I could sneak out and go to the truck stop at the highway, and what I could buy Hunter there that would show just how special it has beento share his family Christmas. And should I borrow a car or?—

“Merry Christmas!” Hannah hollers from the top of the stairs before galloping in to make her grand entrance.

Time’s up.

I take a big swallow of coffee and brace myself.

Chapter 16

Hunter

Breakfast is a slightlystressful but mostly deeply enjoyable blur. Hannah is genuinely thrilled that everyone is wearing the matching PJs she bought. Wyatt’s ankle feels a lot better than it did when he went to sleep. Cara keeps smiling at me from the other end of the table, and my cock manages to behave.

It’s after breakfast when Hannah wants to take a group picture that things go off the rails.

She uses my phone, because it has a little attachment for a stick-anywhere tripod that I find useful for sharing art-in-progress videos to my Instagram account.

But once we take a dozen pictures andshe swipes in to look at them, she notices the dating app on my Home Screen.

In all of her nineteen years, I’ve never had to hide what’s on my phone before. That’s going to have to change now. Should have changed a week ago, but I wasn’t thinking.

Damn it.

“Dad, are you dating again?” She taps into it as I lunge for her. Laughing, she rolls away, holding the phone out of reach. “Oh my God, no, these photos areterrible.Have you matched with anyone?”

Wyatt snatches the phone from her and tosses it back to me.

“Thanks,” I say, out of breath.

She scowls at us. “No tag teaming. But seriously, there are better apps. Cara, tell him.”

“Umm…” Cara darts her gaze back and forth between us. “There are better apps,” she whispers.

“Oh?” Now she has my full attention. “What other apps do you recommend?”

Red spots burst on her cheeks. “None.”

“Noneyet,” Hannah says confidently. “Because she had a bad experience?—”