Page 120 of The Pucking Arrangement

“Papa!” Ris bounces up. “Can Erin and I do the three-legged race? Please?”

The way she says my name, like I belong here, like I’m part of their world, makes my chest ache with everything I’m about to lose.

“You eat first, Amnushka.” He settles beside me, his thick thigh pressing against mine, warm and solid. The casual intimacy of it makes my heart light up.

“Speaking of races.” Melissa stands, brushing grass from her designer jeans. “I should go make sure Jake hasn’t convinced the other boys to turn the potato sack race into some kind of extreme sport.” She winks at me. “Catch you later?”

I watch her walk away, but my attention snaps back to Dmitri. God, it’s unfair. The casual grace of his movements, the care and patience he has with Ris, the natural magnetism that has other parents drifting into his orbit. Even in just jeans and a worn T-shirt that’s definitely too small for those biceps, he’s a walking hazard to my mental health.

He looks up, catches me staring, winks playfully and hands me a plate. His fingers brush mine—not an accident, never an accident with him—and linger just long enough to send sparks racing up my arm.

“Hungry?” The word sounds innocent enough, but his eyes tell a different story entirely. “I’m starving.”

“Me too,” I manage, my voice in shreds.

His lips curve into that half-smirk that makes my insides melt. The one that says he knows exactly what’s going through my head.

“The race is starting!” Ris bounces up. “Come on, Erin! You promised!”

I let her pull me to my feet, grateful for the distraction. But as we head toward the starting line, I can feel Dmitri’s eyes on me. Heavy and questioning.

Like he knows something’s wrong.

Soon, I think.I’ll tell him soon.

But for now, I let myself pretend. Let myself be part of this perfect Saturday, this perfect family. Let myself imagine a world where I could have both—my career and this life with them.

Even though I know, deep down, that I’ll have to choose.

And I have no idea how to do that without breaking all our hearts.

Chapter24

Caught Red-Handed (and Red-Faced)

Dmitri

By the time we pull into the driveway, Ris is crashing hard, the last of her sugar-fueled energy fading fast. She fights it, blinking slow and heavy, her little fingers curling into the fabric of my shirt as I lift her from the car seat.

“Can we watch a movie?” she mumbles, already half-asleep against my chest as I carry her upstairs. “Just a little one?”

“Time for bed, Amnushka.”

She sighs, warm and boneless in my arms, nuzzling into my shoulder the way she used to when she was tiny. “But I wanna stay up with you and Erin.”

“Tomorrow,” I murmur. Putting her gently into her bed, I press a kiss to her curls. “Erin will be here tomorrow.”

She perks up slightly. “Promise?”

Something sharp twists in my chest. Because no, I can’t promise that. Not when Erin’s future is still undecided, slipping further from my grasp every day.

“Sleep now,” I whisper, tucking her in, smoothing back her wild curls.

“Papa?” she murmurs, her voice barely above a breath.

“Da?”

“I really like Erin.” Her words slur together as she sinks deeper into sleep. “She makes me happy…”

---