Page 162 of Need You To Choose Me

I watch as different emotions play on Blake’s face for a second before he nods. “It’s yours.” He tilts his head toward the door. “C’mon, let’s go check it out.”

The two of them leave the kitchen, Levi at their heels.

“I wanna see!” he yells loudly, not one to be left behind.

Rising from my seat, I follow after them. I lean against the doorway, letting them have their moment together. Daniel walks around the car, his eyes big as saucers, as Blake points out a few things to him.

“It’s a secondhand one, and it needs some work done, but it should be good for what you need.” Blake points his finger at Daniel. “I expect you to keep good grades and find a job to pay for the gas, but…”

Before he gets to finish, Daniel throws himself at Blake and hugs him. “I don’t care. Thanks, Dad.”

For a heartbeat, Blake just stands there, frozen, his arms hanging by his sides. It’s obvious he’s completely blindsided by the gesture.

I guess it’s to be expected. Although they both clearly love each other, they’ve just been butting heads for way too long. Way too similar for their own good, these two. But somewhere along the line, they’ve started to heal and mend their relationship.

A deep ache spreads behind my sternum. I raise my hand, rubbing at my chest as I watch Blake hug Daniel, his eyes falling shut as he just holds on for a long moment, taking it all in.

“Can we go test it out?” Daniel asks, bouncing on the balls of his feet once he pulls back, his excitement obvious.

“Sure thing.”

Blake hands him the keys, and Daniel just stares at them before shaking his head and unlocking the truck. When Daniel looks up, his eyes meet mine. “You wanna come with us?”

I rest my hand against my stomach. “I have some work to do, but you boys have fun.”

“I’m going!” Levi rushes toward the back seat and jumps inside.

“You sure?” Blake asks over the roof of the car.

“Yeah, papers won’t get graded on their own, unfortunately, but I wanna hear all about it once you get home.”

Daniel nods and slides into the driver’s seat, but not Blake. He walks to me, his palms cupping my cheeks as he brings his mouth to mine in a hard kiss. “I’ll see you later.”

With that, he joins his boys, and soon enough, the car pulls from the driveway. I stay in the doorway until I can’t see them any longer before slipping inside. I tidy up the space, cleaning after breakfast before I lock and leave for my own house.

I grab my work bag and drop it in the living room before going to the kitchen to get a glass of water. As I turn the faucet off, my gaze falls on Grams’ cookbook I left on the counter the other day. Wiping my hands, I flip through the pages until I find the one I want and get to work.

“Sav! Daniel sucks at driving,” Levi says as he runs into my living room and comes straight to me. I move the papers I’ve been grading at the very last second before they can scatter to the ground as he jumps on the couch next to me. “Like a lot.”

“I don’t suck at driving.” This comes from Daniel, who’s glaring at his younger brother.

“You do.” Levi pokes his tongue at him and turns to me. “The truck was making these weird noises, and he was tugging us back and forth, back and forth, and one time it was so strong, I almost flew out of the car, but the seat belt tugged me back, and now my chest is hurting.”

“It was an accident,” Daniel protests, his cheeks slightly pink as Levi rubs at his chest. “It’s different from Dad’s truck. It’s not like I did it on purpose. I just forgot about it for a second.”

“His truck is diesel,” Blake explains as he joins us, two big pizza boxes in hand. “You’ll get the hang of it soon. Now, let’s eat before the food gets cold.”

I sit straighter in my seat as he places the boxes on the coffee table. “Where did you guys go?”

“Uncle Miguel’s.” Daniel grabs a slice of pizza and shoves it into his mouth. “He called Dad when we were driving, so we stopped at his house to show him and Becky the truck.”

Blake hands me a smaller pizza box as Daniel describes the whole drive in the smallest of details and how excited the Fernandezes were when he showed it to them as I nibble at my pizza. It was a thin, whole-grain crust with some cheese and veggies.

“Do you think…” Daniel starts, rubbing the back of his head. “Can I take a few friends to the mall tomorrow after school and treat them to burgers?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

Daniel looks up, that smile still on his face. “Thanks, Dad. Today was the best.” He pushes upright. “I’ll go and text the?—”

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