Page 40 of One Last Chance

“He likes his order of things. The calm, presentable atmosphere. A dog would put a damper on that. I’m surprised you even had the kids, really,” I tease him with a smirk.

Our parents all chuckle, while Rowland flashes me a fake angry frown.

“His father was just like that. Always precise,veryparticular. Don’t get me started on what happened if I dared to dust in his study. You moved one thing by an inch and he’d go ballistic,” Rowland’s mother says, rolling her eyes. There’s a hint of sadness in her voice, making me appreciate the sight of my mothers sitting there together, happy.

“Naya has her way of doing things, too,” Ma says, receiving a scowl from Mom in return.

“I’m simply a wild soul,” Mom says, spreading her arms out theatrically.

“I can tell you are, dear. You certainly have that aura about you,” his mother notes politely, but Ma and I share a suppressed grin, glad she seems to get the hint.

Mac’s frustrated shriek stops our conversation. “Dad! Ugh! Sh—” he almost swears but stops himself at the last moment, slapping the puzzle against the table and puffing out his cheeks.

Rowland laughs. “Alright, that is enough for now. How about we try to solve this once we get home? Take a little break, then it might get easier, okay?” he says, ruffling Mac’s short hair. Sitting on his grandma’s lap with his arms crossed over his chest, the little boy nods before letting out a frustrated huff.

“It’s almost five o’clock. I promised Sandra I would drop that dress by her on the way back,” Rowland’s mother says after she checks her watch. She lifts Mac up and stands him next to her.“You didn’t want me to watch the children this weekend, did you?”

He shakes his head. “No, we’ll be fine. Bean, how about you go tell your sister to say goodbye to her friends? We should get going,” he says, presenting it to Mac like it is a mission of great importance. He makes an exaggerated salute gesture and runs off, as energetic as ever. “If she’s talking back or telling you off, tell her that’s two more weeks of no console!” Rowland quickly shouts after him.

He turns and I notice Ma looking at us with an unusually soft expression. “Ah, you have a sweet little boy, really. Reminds me of Day. Kids really are the most charming at this age. I miss it. No offense,” she adds quickly, aimed at me.

“Ouch,” I reply sarcastically. While Rowland chuckles and squeezes my hand, I don’t dare meet his eyes. That nagging thought enters my mind again—the thing I’ve been wanting to ask him. That’s been eating me up more than it should.Kids.

Sure, it’s early. It’s super duper early to even talk about stuff like that.

Furthermore, it could ruin the good thing we have right now. Things are pretty close to perfect. It’s not like I am foaming at the mouth at the thought of Rowland knocking me up, but every time he tucks Mac in bed so gently, or goes crazy playing with him with no restraint, my heart pulses with this dull ache. Longing. Jealousy, even.

It’s stupid. I’m being stupid.

“Well,” Rowland’s mother says, standing up while clasping her hands together. “I shall head out then. It was a pleasure to see both of you ladies again.” She shares handshakes and brief hugs with my moms and then comes to embrace me.

“Drive safe.”

“Thank you, I will.”

Rowland kisses her on the cheek. “I’ll speak to you later.”

“We should get going too, I suppose,” Ma says after sharing a brief glance with Mom. We all get up and continue the cascade of goodbyes. And just in time, Mac runs back to our table, followed by Mina, who, as always, has a barely metaphorical dark cloud of ‘look at me and I’ll kill you’ hanging above her head.

She passes me without even acknowledging my existence, which has been our preferred way of dealing with things for now, and produces a fairly polite goodbye to my parents.

“Fancy joining us tonight?” Rowland asks while he puts his hand on my thigh in the car and squeezes gently. I’ve pretty much lived in his house almost every weekend recently, and I can’t complain about a thing. To wake up next to that sleepy, gruff face of his feels like a blessing every single time.

I smile at his innocent, hopeful tone. As if he doesn’t already know the answer.Mr. Tease. “How could I say no?”

?

“You know, every time you invite me to spend the night here, I naively expect to actually get some sleep, but for some strange reason, I never seem to get any rest,” I say, staring at the ceiling while playing with Rowland’s hand as I lay my head against his shoulder.

He hugs me from the back, pressing his nose into my short hair. “Youseducedme.”

“Oh, it is the omega’s fault, of course!”

Rowland chuckles. With a swift motion, he slips from under me and gets on all fours, kneeling over me, playfully grabbing my chin. “Do you deny it?” He looks so handsome in themornings. His hair all ruffled, making him look younger, and somehow less dignified than his usual professional self.

“Moments like these…I refuse to believe you’re an old man.”

“I haven’t had a sex drive like this since I was in my twenties, true. Though, looking at my situation logically,” he says, narrowing his eyes with fake pensiveness, “the only possible contributing factor that could be at fault for this is…you. You and your lovely,”—he kisses my neck, pecking at it slowly while trailing toward my chest—”lovelyscent. And your gorgeous, warm, inviting skin.”

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