Page 54 of Finding Hope

I laugh. He’s not wrong. “Barely more than a bag of shit.”

“Thanks for helping me tonight.”

I shrug. “No big deal. It was fun, and at least now I repaid you for helping me with Brad.”

Snorting, his large hand comes up to rest over his stomach. “No way was that your payment. Throwing pizza slices at my kids’ faces isn’t nearly as awesome as my date dodging skills. Your debt isn’t even close to repaid.”

Brows furrowing, I consider this joking guy. He’s a stranger. I’m not sure what happened in the last few months, but this isnotthe guy I hooked up with. This new Jack seems lighter. His eyes are clearer.

And his smile comes easier.

“Actually, tonight kinda was a big deal. I’m exhausted.” I play it up dramatically. “I think that was payment enough.”

His dimple flashes. “We’ll see. I feel like I saved you from a boat load of shit tonight.”

He really did. But I don’t admit it.

“But I guess you saved me, too,” he grumbles. “I’m so glad you had no plans tonight. I was scared to be alone with all these monsters, and a school teacher is a safe bet that you’re not incompetent around children. I was gonna ask Brad, but he seemed a little mad.”

I burst out laughing, but clap a hand over my mouth to silence it before I wake the kids. “Oh my God. I think he’s really pissed.”

“A guy shouldn’t get pissed because you don’t wanna go out, Bambie.” Heavy brows darken his light eyes. “I mean, a guy can get cranky, he can have a bruised ego. Hell, he can puff up his chest and act an ass. I do it all the time. But getting pissed, like real and true pissed, is just weird.”

I shrug and downplay the anxiousness Brad’s constant requests make me feel. “He’s okay. He’s harmless. I just don’t think he’s ever been told no before.”

“Just be careful, okay? He looks like a pussy, but some pussies can be wily fuckers who like to hurt women.”

Biting my lip at his not-so-poetic words, I smile. “You shouldn’t swear like that. Your sisters will smack you for teaching the kids those words.”

Smiling, he lazily turns his head to face the sleeping girls. “Smalls and Bean are cool. They already know more swears than I do. And the others are tucked up in bed, so they can’t hear.”

“Smalls and Bean?”

His hooded eyes come back to mine. “Hmm?”

“You called them Smalls and Bean.”

“Oh yeah,” he grins. “Bean is Lucy. Because that’s what her mom called her before she was born. And Smalls is Evie. Because she likes black rappers and her mom is too proud to admitshewas the one who taught Evie her first swear.”

Snickering, I nod toward the sleeping pair. “Give me a rundown of your family. What’s your story?”

Jack’s body goes tense and turns the relaxed air around us into something more electric.

“My story?”

“Yeah. You have a ton of family. I met two dozen kids tonight, but I can barely keep them straight.”

He scoffs. “I can barely keep them straight. It was like an epidemic – Evie turned up, then Bean, then bam! The way the flu spreads with a sneeze, all of a sudden, these kids started turning up out of nowhere. I can’t even be sure they’re all ours. They just started coming down for breakfast one day, so we decided to keep ‘em.” I know he’s joking. There’s not one single child here that doesn’t look like one of their parents. “Alright,” he continues, “so there’s me.”

When he says nothing more, I laugh at his proud smirk. “Yes, I’ve met you.”

“Yeah, you have.”

“Stop!” I smack his thigh. “Stop with the sex references. You make me blush.”

Laughing, he lies back and nods. “Okay. So there’s me and Kit. She’s my sister.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, I got that, too.”

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