Page 86 of Line of Resistance

Tyson gave him a little splash. “It’s not chilly. You’re just overheated from all that kissing.”

Nate laughed, the sound getting a little louder when he noticed Eloise’s flushed cheeks as her eyes darted away.

Tyson snagged the ball floating on the top of the water and tossed it his way. “You want to play a little game of two on two? Loser has to buy us all ice cream.”

Nate caught the ball. “Deal.” He jumped out of the water, aiming for the basket fixed against one edge of the pool. The ball went straight through the hoop and dropped back into the water.

Tyson raised his brows. “Somebody came to win.”

Nate moved to the ball, snagging it before gently sending it Bryson’s way. “We win no matter what because everyone gets ice cream.”

Bryson beamed at him, the expression coming easier than Nate expected considering the bruise still blooming on his cheek and the tears that kept him up most of the night before. “Can we really get ice cream?”

“Absolutely we can get ice cream.” Nate backed away from the hoop, gesturing for Bryson to shoot.

Bryson rubbed his lips together, focusing hard as he mimicked Nate’s maneuver, launching his little body up from the water before hauling the ball in the direction of the hoop with all his might. Nate reached up to tap the ball, bumping it a tiny bit to ensure it hit the hoop. The second it cleared the ring everyone cheered, clapping and whooping as Emmett high-fived Bryson.

“After we get ice cream we should probably go to the store to make sure we have all the food you like to eat.” Nate offered up a high-five of his own. “That includes popsicles.”

Bryson’s dark eyes moved from Nate to Eloise. “Does that mean I’m gonna stay with you guys for a while?”

It was one of the first things he had Heidi look into. She checked all the records she could get her hands on. Looking to see who might come out of the woodwork to claim Bryson, hoping to get their hands on the government benefits that could come with raising a child. She found no one. Bryson’s mom, like Eloise’s, died not long after he was born. Any family or friends they had were long out of the picture, leaving the little boy completely alone.

Actually, that wasn’t true.

Nate reached out to push Bryson’s wet hair off his forehead. “You can stay with us as long as you want to, buddy.” He pinched the tip of the little boy’s nose, leaning down. “We can be a family if that’s what you want.”

CHAPTER THIRTY

ELOISE

“IT DOESN’T SEEM like as much stuff in here, does it?” Eloise stood in the middle of their new living room, hands on her hips as she looked around the space. “I think we might need more furniture.”

“We can get whatever you want.” Nate set the box of MREs he was carrying down on the kitchen island. “You pick it out and I’ll carry it in.”

“Me too.” Bryson put his smaller box of flashlights and emergency candles right next to Nate’s, beaming up at him.

In the few weeks Bryson had been with them he’d gained five pounds and decided Nate was his new hero. He wanted to be just like him, and it was freaking adorable.

“That’s right.” Nate held out his hand and Bryson gave him five. “You’ve got team B and N at your service.”

Eloise blinked, working away the immediate sting of tears. Even after plenty of days and nights watching Bryson and Nate together, it still hit her right in the gut. Still made her throat tight and her belly warm. Not just because Bryson was finally being loved the way he deserved, but because their relationship reminded her a little of the one she had with her father.

Nate spent a good chunk of his free time with the little boy. Teaching him everything from the rules of basketball to how to properly fold a shirt. He was a natural parent. The role came easily to him. Almost as easily as the role of boyfriend did.

Nate caught her as he passed, pulling her close for a kiss as a few more members of Alaskan Security filed in with boxes from her abandoned apartment. Once he’d gotten over the hump of worrying over his family seeing the two of them together, he’d jumped in with both feet and didn’t miss an opportunity to hold her or kiss her or whisper scandalous things in her ear while they were around.

But, now that she’d spent a little more time with the people Nate considered his family, it became even more clear how deep-seated his fear of rejection really had been. And how unwarranted it was. There was no way in the world these people would have ever turned their back on him. They loved him. Appreciated him.

Just like she did.

Nate suddenly gripped her around the waist, swinging her body across the front of his into a bridal style carry. “Bryson,” he jerked his chin toward the stairs of their townhome, “let’s go show Eloise your new bedroom.”

Bryson jumped into action, racing up the stairs in front of them as Nate followed, angling her against his chest so her feet didn’t catch on the spindles.

The little boy darted into the first doorway on the right. It was the room he’d claimed as his own when they did their final walk-through before closing, and he hadn’t stopped talking about it since then.

He raced across the new carpet in his socked feet, jumping a few steps in and launching himself into the center of the queen-sized bed that was delivered earlier in the day. “What do you think, Eloise?”

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