Page 76 of Bossy Baby

“He’s weird.”

Mac snorted. He couldn’t help it. “Why is he weird?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking you.”

“What did he do that was weird? And why have you even seen him?”

“I’m keeping an eye on your interests,” Lance responded.

Mac didn’t know what to do with that information. “I don’t need you keep an eye on anything. I’ve got it handled.”

“See, I thought that, too. Then I saw the weird kid.”

“What’s Jayme doing?”

“He— Shit, I have to go.”

Mac stared at the phone. Lance had hung up on him. What the fuck was going on? He was torn. Should he go down to the store? Hayley would be worried about his brother. And why was Lance even there?

He also didn’t want to leave his boy all alone, not with how much pain Hayley had been in. Plus, he’d just taken pain meds. He shouldn’t be left on his own.

His phone pinged.

Mac looked at the message.

It’s fine. The crazy kid thought it would be fun to surf on the lid of a trash can. I stopped him.

What the hell? Jayme tried to surf— No, Mac didn’t even want to know. Lance could take care of things. He was hanging around, anyway. Mac had his own boy to look after.

He typed a quick message back.

Just keep the kid alive.

His phone pinged back immediately.

I’ll try. Might not be easy.

Shaking his head, Mac pocketed his phone. His life had turned into a bad romantic comedy, with a quirky cast of characters, and he wasn’t even upset about it.

Eleven

Hayley

Hayley skipped along the sidewalk to the deli. Mac had actually let him out of his sight. Well, long enough to grab lunch with Jayme, so Mac could talk to Lance in private.

“Your man is really hot,” Jayme said.

Hayley stopped. “Jayme, I swear to God, you had better not have designs on my man.”

“I don’t think a Daddy is right for me.”

“What?” Hayley grabbed Jayme’s arm and pushed him out of the path of other people. “I thought you were looking for a Daddy.”

Jayme shrugged. “I’m over it. We better get lunch before your Daddy comes looking for us.”

“No.” Hayley held his brother in place. It was hard for Jayme to be serious. He played or laughed off feelings when he was hurt. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“I just don’t think I would make a good boy.”

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