Page 46 of Make Me Whole

“Aiden! Grandpa is here. Today really is the best day!”

I laughed as the little boy also ran to the kitchen and jumped on my father—whom he had started to call Grandpa as well since my dadhatedtheir made up names. The three of them laughed and played like they hadn’t seen each other in years instead of days. It warmed my heart.

Max arrived a moment later holding three large pizzas. Our eyes met, and heat radiated from Max’s gaze. My cheeks flushed. My palms felt clammy. I wanted to kiss his lips but obviously couldn’t. The frustration was overwhelming, and seeing that he looked just as frustrated was somewhat comforting.

I got up from my seat and walked to the coffeemaker again. He placed the pizzas on the island and followed me.

“Hi,” I greeted as I removed a mug from the cupboard and filled it for him.

He smiled. “Hey. Feeling more relaxed?”

The question made my gut flutter. “Much more. Thanks to you.” Then, in a whisper, I added, “Didn’t have much time today, but the suggested thank you package is coming your way.”

Fire gleamed in Max’s eyes and burned my skin with a flush so intense there was no room to question whether we were playing with fire or not. We were—and neither planned to stop.

“MOM!” my daughter yelled, pulling my head from the gutter to focus on the three other people in the room.

I smiled at Ella and her pink cheeks. “Yes, sweetheart.”

“Today was the best day!”

“Why?” I retrieved five plates from the cupboard and walked them to the dining table.

“Because I scored two goals and Unclad Max took us to DQ to celebrate and I had two scoops of cookie dough ice cream.” Finally, the screaming and jumping on my father made sense.

I fixed Max with a dirty look—the annoyed kind of dirty. He gave me an apologetic smirk as if he knew he had made a mistake by feeding two scoops of ice cream to a seven-year-old at night. As much as it pained me, he would have to lose one item in his thank-you pack. Fair was fair.

Ignoring the interaction between me and Max, Aiden took over the explanation. “And now we get to have pizza with the whole family while we talk about the funnest time of year.”

I instantly thought about Christmas, but the two sugar-high kids yelled, “Halloween,” in unison.Great, more sugar!

“They know what they want to be this Halloween,” Max said unenthusiastically as he carried the pizzas to the table. It was clear he had heard about the subject too many times already.

I ignored him and raised my brows at the kids. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yep,” Ella said with a pop of her lips, then stood tall in her chair and declared, “We’ll be Wednesday and Pugsley.”

“Who?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“FromThe Addams Family. Have you ever seen the movie, Aunther Sky?”

“Not since I was a kid. Why did you choose them as your costume?” I asked, genuinely interested. Most kids wanted to be the Black Widow and Iron Man, not the Scarlet Witch and a character who died on his debut in the MCU.

The kids grinned as if they’d been waiting for this question, but before one of them could answer, Max groaned, “Because we watch the movie every Halloween and they’re siblings.”

“Dad!” Aiden protested.

Max looked at his son with eyes wide. He ran a hand through his hair and apologized. “Crap! Sorry for ruining your surprise, Son.”

I laughed at the silly discussion that ensued while my dad just opened the pizza box and started munching as if he hadn’t eaten all day. This mess of words and laughter was a far cry from any family situation I knew, but it was exactly what I imagined a normal family dinner would be like. It fueled my bathtub fantasies, and even though I shouldn’t, I searched for Max’s gaze.

His green eyes echoed my emotions. We smiled at each other, his foot reached for mine under the table, and just like that, he earned his whole gratitude package back.

19

MAX

In my paint splattered jeans and work boots, I felt completely out of place at The Green Jacket. It was my first time there, and though their ad said it was a billiards pub, I realized upon entering that it was more like a fancy, EPCOT Center version of one than the actual thing.

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