Page 16 of Off-Limits Daddy
“I didn’t want him getting ideas.”
“Too late.”
I’d seen the look on Ari’s face last night.
Hope.
Hell, maybe I was imagining it. It wouldn’t be the first time I convinced myself I saw something that wasn’t there. Maybe I just wanted it too much.
Trent kept going. “You know, we were talking about him last week, before we heard he was back. Remember that time he fell off his bike chasing after you and Sage? Wouldn’t let anybody help him ’cept you. Sage was ready to strangle him for it. Not really, though. You know how big brothers get.”
I remembered. Too well. Remembered pressing that ratty old Power Rangers bandage over his scraped elbow while he bit his lip hard enough to go white. Remembered thinking even then that Ari was gonna be more trouble than I knew what to do with.
And I was right.
“Cut it out,” I muttered. “That was years ago.”
“It doesn’t mean you didn’t leave an impression. The kid looked at you like you hung the damn moon. Some things don’t change.”
My jaw worked, teeth grinding down words I wasn’t willing to say.
“You know what your problem is?” Trent asked, standing and stretching like a cat who knew too much.
“Enlighten me.”
“You’ve got this whole grumpy thing going on, but underneath, you’re soft as hell for him. You always were.”
I didn’t answer. Hell, I didn’t trust myself to speak. Every damn person knew how I felt about Ari, except the boy himself... and his mother... and his brother, my best friend.
It was easier not to want things I couldn’t have. Easier to stay busy. I shouldn’t be yearning for Ari. Someone too young. Someone who deserved a guy who hadn’t already been bruised by life.
I rubbed a hand over my jaw, the scrape of stubble against my palm grounding me for half a second.
But I wanted him anyway.
And deep down, I knew—I wasn’t going to stop.
A knock on the station door startled me.
Trent stood first, stretching. “If that’s Ari bringing cookies, I’m gonna marry him myself.”
“Don’t even thi–” I said before I could stop myself.
“I thought so,” Trent teased. And with that, he wandered off, smug. Bastard knew too much.
There was another knock. This time louder.
Like the universe didn’t think I was suffering enough.
And the worst part? I was halfway hoping itwashim.
SIX
REID
The second I saw Sage standing outside the station door, I knew it wasn’t just a friendly visit.
Not that Sage showing up anywhere was unusual. We’d grown up tangled in each other’s lives. Small-town friendships got messy and permanent whether you wanted them to or not.
