Page 82 of Tameron

He nodded his head. ‘Good. Exhausted. Kids are a lot.’

‘True-biz,’ Dax signed with a grimace. ‘No, thank you.’

I bumped him on the back of the head and signed a quick goodbye to Jamie before heading into the kitchen to see what I could semi-impress Tameron with. I was no chef, but I could do breakfast.

We had frozen biscuits and chicken tenders in the freezer. I could make breakfast sandwiches. Not the healthiest thing, but some warm comfort food sounded good right about now. I had no idea how Tameron would feel once he had some alone time, and I was a little worried his bi-panic was going to set in.

So far, he’d been amazing, but there was always a chance he could realize this wasn’t for him. Or, at the very worst, that I wasn’t for him.

I chased off that anxiety with my first sip of coffee from the half-full pot, then tossed the chicken tenders in the air fryer andthe biscuits in the oven. I set the timers and took my coffee back into the living room, where Dax was closing his laptop.

‘Is he here?’

I nodded as I sat in the recliner and kicked a foot up on the edge of the coffee table. ‘We kind of had a moment last night.’

Dax cocked his head to the side. ‘Finally realized he’s in love with you?’

My ears burned so hot it felt like they were going to catch fire. ‘No. He doesn’t feel that way. This is no strings.’

Dax burst into loud laughter, which startled Knives off her window perch. She darted over to him and jumped on his shoulder like she thought maybe he was in distress and needed to pet her for comfort.

He scratched her with his partially wrapped fingers. ‘Do you ever get tired of lying to yourself?’

I flipped him off, and he snorted. ‘How I feel isn’t the same as how he feels.’

‘I might not be an expert in love, but I can see it when he looks at you. But he’s stubborn.’

I couldn’t fault him for that. I could be too, even at the best of times. ‘I don’t really know what to do. I don’t want to push him.’

Dax sighed and eased Knives off his shoulder before leaning forward. ‘You don’t have to push him. Just be patient. Wait. Trust.’

I could easily do all those things. ‘And what if he decides it’s not me?’

‘You heal,’ he signed. ‘Hurts, then you feel better. That’s life.’

It was, I supposed. I wasn’t foolish enough to think I would completely fall apart after one man. But losing Tameron would gut me in ways losing other lovers never had. The scars would be deep and painful, and I didn’t think they’d ever fully heal.

‘Don’t worry,’ Dax said as he slapped his hand on his thigh and stood up with a loud grunt. ‘That won’t happen.’

I wanted to trust him. I really did. But like he said, he wasn’t an expert in love.

I wasn’t sure anyone was.

Tameron left after breakfast. We had a nice, long, slow kiss before he had to go, and he left me with a promise that he would stay in touch. He wanted to see me again. He couldn’t wait.

It was everything I wanted to hear.

I took those words with me as I headed to my parents’. My dad wanted help putting up the new fence around the chicken coop, and I had time before my long shift. I was doing a twenty-four, which wouldn’t start until six, but I knew that even if I tried to sleep, I wouldn’t be able to.

Dax’s car wasn’t in the driveway, so I figured my parents were done babying him. He was probably at the shop, which was also likely where Tameron had gone. I fought the urge to text him to find out and instead let myself into the side gate, where I could hear incredibly loud music playing.

I found my dad dancing some sort of abomination that kind of looked like an Irish jig near the pile of chain link fencing that needed to be attached to poles. He was dressed in his usual gardening clothes, except he had a black vest covered in LED lights wrapped around his torso.

I waved at him until he spotted me, and he stopped, pointing with a huge grin. ‘See-see!’ He waved his hand up and down his torso, asking me to check it out.

‘What is that?’ I grimaced at the music and pointed at the radio. ‘Loud!’

He waved me off but leaned over to hit the power button. My ears rang a bit, and I was grateful he had Deaf neighbors. ‘Gift from this new company. For club nights. Deaf raves.’

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