Page 26 of Xavier

“Funny,” I said, bringing my hand up to smack his ass but diverting in time in order to slap his shoulder instead. “Says the man who got it store bought.”

“Look, you either want it homemade or edible. You can’t have both in this house,” he argued.

“Your poor brothers,” I teased.

He leveled me with the end of his wooden spoon. “They were fed. That’s all that matters.”

“According to who?”

He threw a wink at me. “CPS.”

Shaking my head and turning back to Dexter, I said, “We can find you something else to eat if you want. I’m sure Gage won’t cry himself to sleep for too long tonight.”

To my surprise, Dexter’s smile widened an inch. “I’ll try it. As long as it’s edible.”

Gage held a hand to his chest in a mock salute. “Scouts honor.”

As Gage turned back to the stove to stir his pot, I shuffled both Dexter and I out of the kitchen to give the man some peace and quiet while he finished up. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get out of these sticky clothes. Louisiana humidity is no joke.”

I didn’t know how the hell Gage was able to function in this weather. California residents got a bad wrap for being babies in the wintertime when our temps dipped below sixty-five, but holy hell was the swamp miserable.

Dexter followed me, nodding along. I slipped my shirt off of my body, instantly feeling relief from no longer having the damn material clinging to me.

“Hey, dad?”

I whipped my head around. “Yeah.”

Dexter drummed his fingers along the doorframe to his room in a rhythm that sounded familiar but I couldn’t quite put my finger on where it was from. He searched my expression forsomething, finally settling with a nod as he spoke again. “He’s a good man.”

My eyes widened.

And with that, he disappeared beyond the door to get changed.

CHAPTER 13

Xavier

He’s a good man.

There had only been two other times my heart had ever felt so full—the day Dexter was born and the day we got to bring him home from the hospital.

He’s a good man.

God, he really fucking was, wasn’t he?

Sticking by me through my journey to sobriety. Helping me into it in the first place. Hell,pushingme to be a better man when it came to my kid and repairing the damage from my past with him. Coming to terms with my PTSD and what happened during my military career.

Gage was a one of a kind gem that I honestly never deserved to have, let alone keep all for myself. He deserved someone way less fucked up than me and yet, he’d told me plenty of times that he wouldn’t have it any other way.

He got along with my kid, despite his standoffish nature. Made himlaugh.

How the hell did I earn a man like Gage?

Rolling out of bed and kicking off my covers, I slapped my hand on the nightstand next to the bed until I felt the familiar shape of my phone. Lifting it up, I sent off a quick text to Gage to see if he was still up.

When the response came a minute later, beckoning me to his room, all I felt was the giddiness of a love sick teenager sneaking out late to meet up with my boyfriend.

Thankfully, the house was quiet when I opened the door to my room.

---