Page 45 of Problems

CHAPTER TWELVE

FINNIAN

I couldn't takemy mind off Jack. Today belonged to me. Excitement ran through my body as I stopped jogging and fished in my pocket for the mailbox key. A smile tugged at my lips. The goal was supposed to be watching over Jack. At first he'd pissed me off, always had. I'd slowly started to realize it was because I'd always wanted this. Always wanted to drag him over my knee, spank his ass red, and put him in his place. Now that I had I'd started to relax in ways I never expected. I'd always been uptight, but Jack was slowly changing that in some ways.

Shaking my head, I opened the mailbox. The same junk as always filled the box, but I didn't expect anything else. We weren't registered with the post office. The only reason I checked the box was to keep up appearances. We had to maintain some normalcy if we didn't want to stick out in the quiet, little suburb.

As I closed the mailbox, I froze. Something burned the back of my neck. I glanced around. No one. When I turned on my heels, my heart pounding in my chest, I sought out the source of the discomfort. Nothing greeted me but the quiet street, a few birds flying to the rock lawn across the street to look for bugs. Every hair on the back of my neck continued to stand on end as if someone was watching me. My eyes darted around, but no matter how hard I looked there was no one in sight.

"Hey Dave!"

My head snapped to the right. Our next door neighbor Mrs. Khan stood there with her little shih tzu. I tried to calm my pounding heart as it threatened to beat out of my chest.

"You scared me," I said, trying to laugh it off. "Didn't hear you walk up."

Mrs. Khan grinned. "I'm very sneaky," she chuckled. "So is Lolli." She glanced around. "You looked worried. Are you okay?"

I blinked. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Bit of daydreamin'," I said as I reached down and pet Lolli. "I better get back home."

"To those hot guys you live with, right? Is one of them your husband or something?"

My eye wanted to twitch. Of course she was nosey, the whole neighborhood was. It wasn't all the time, but I felt eyes on us more than once. People who peeked through the blinds and stayed behind the curtain while they watched you move about your yard. They were annoying, but harmless.

"Something like that," I answered, trying to picture Ronan or Cian as my husband.I'd take Ronan over Cian any day."It's my turn to make breakfast."

"Oh go on then," she laughed. "Have a good day! I'll bring over some brownies soon!" She called.

I turned, waved, and kept jogging around the block. The eerie stared-at feeling was gone at least and I'd avoided a long, drawn out conversation about gas prices and groceries being more expensive than they were in the sixties. Even at nine in the morning, it was too hot for that shit.

Stepping into the house, I threw the locks behind me. I deposited the mail into the trash before I beelined for the kitchen. As soon as I stepped inside, a plate crashed against the floor and shattered. I moved back as Jack swore under his breath. He turned his big, brown eyes on me.

"Don't tell Daddy Ronan I cursed."

I shook my head. "I'm not covering for you." I looked around the kitchen. "You're still dropping things in here I see." I tugged my shirt over my head. "I'm taking a shower. Come with me."

"Am I taking a shower with you?"

"No, you're just coming with me," I answered.

"Come on," he muttered.

I kept my chuckle to myself. Jack had been itching to get in our pants since we'd all decided to be with him. Yet none of us had crossed that line yet. Not because we didn't want to, but in mine and Ronan's case I was sure it had a lot to do with who we were and who his father was. Declan really was my friend; I didn't want to betray him. Stepping over that last line felt like a betrayal. I was desperately trying not to go there while losing that battle.

"Yes, Daddy Finn."

My heart squeezed in my chest. Three little words and I wanted to grab him, toss him into bed, and relieve the built up tension that had grown since before we left New York. As if he knew the effect he had on me, he grinned mischievously.

Oh, so he wants to play a game.

I returned to my bedroom with Jack on my heels. As I stripped out of my clothes I heard him take in a sharp breath. I glanced over my shoulder. He stood there, frozen, staring at me as I moved around my room. I gathered fresh clothes from the dresser before I pointed to a basket.

"There," I said. "I want you to load the washer and move over the drying while I get cleaned up."

Jack's bottom lip poked out. "What? More stupid chores? This isn't fair!"

I raised a brow. "I suggest you quiet that tone wee one before I have to show you that I am nothing like Ronan. My soft spot only exists when you're behaving. Otherwise, I'll straighten you right out."

Jack's eyes widened comically. It took everything in me not to laugh at how quickly he shut the attitude down. As I walked past him, I patted his head.

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