Page 51 of Off-Limits Daddy
He was bratty. Bold. Blushed when he got flustered, especially when I got close. Beautiful in the moments when he didn’t know I was watching—like he forgot he was supposed to keep his armor up. And when he kissed me back, hands in my shirt, tongue in my mouth, a little breathless and greedy? Damn. He ticked every box I didn’t even know I still had.
I knocked on the front door of the little house he shared with his mom. Liz answered, pulling her purse strap onto her shoulder and smiling when she saw me.
“Hey, Reid. Are you here to pick up my son?”
Ari’s mom was warm and smart and sharper than people gave her credit for. I liked her. And I felt a little sick to my stomach about it, considering what her son and I had been doing when she wasn’t around.
I smiled. “Yeah. Thought I’d get him out of the house a bit.”
She laughed. “Good luck with that. He didn’t roll out of bed till noon yesterday.”
Ari’s voice called from inside. “I heard that!”
Liz patted my arm on the way out. “He’s all yours. I’m off to the clinic.”
All yours.
The words hit somewhere low in my chest, warm and a little dangerous. I gave her a smile and watched her go, trying not to read into it. Trying not to think about how true it felt—how much I wanted it to be true, even if I had no business wanting it.
A second later, Ari emerged from the hallway. Tousled curls, a clingy T-shirt, and jeans that hung low on his hips. He blinked at me like he was still shaking off sleep, but the smirk came fast.
“You bringing me coffee or kidnapping me?”
“Neither,” I said. “Figured we’d do something useful with all that brat energy today.”
He rolled his eyes but grabbed his keys off the side table. “Fine. But if this ends in manual labor, I want a milkshake.”
The drive out of town ran quiet for a while, save for the hum of the engine and the occasional rustle of wind through the open windows. July sun poured gold over the hills, setting every patch of wild grass aglow. Briar Creek didn’t have much in the way of sprawl—just a few blocks of Main Street charm, then farmland and scrub. Bright flags flapped from porch railings, red, white, and blue buntings already strung up in anticipation of the Fourth of July celebrations.
Ari tapped his fingers against his thigh. “It’s weird being back.”
I glanced over. “Weird how?”
“I thought I’d feel done with this place,” he said. “Outgrow it. But now that I’m here, it’s like…”
He trailed off, searching for the words.
“Like the town’s still under your skin?” I offered.
He looked at me. “Yeah. That.”
I nodded. “Briar Creek has a way of hanging on.”
The boy went quiet again, just for a second, then said, “I used to tell myself I would stay in the city, get a six-figure income…” He trailed off.
“But you came back.”
“Yeah. And I don’t know if that means I messed up… or if I didn’t try hard enough… or not at all.”
“Maybe it means you’re still figuring things out,” I said. “Nothing wrong with that.”
Ari let out a breath. Then he looked out the window, voice quieter when he spoke again. “I thought if I threw myself into something—made myself useful—it might help.”
I glanced over, before facing ahead again.
“I finished the banners,” he said. “Even remembered to sign my name this time.”
“That’s a damn shame.”
