Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
LEO
Idecided to give him a little time, knowing my boy enough to know he needed time to calm down after a situation like the one he’d just experienced. He was too much like me in that sense.
I took my time after Danika left to do a walk-through of the downstairs.
Once I was done with that, I headed upstairs. I hit Macie’s room first, moving in to place a kiss on her head. “Love you, Daddy,” she murmured, already halfway to sleep.
“Love you too, baby girl.” I brushed my fingers through her hair before standing tall and heading into the hallway.
Hardin’s door was closed, but I could see the light shining through the small space at the bottom. I lifted my fist and rapped my knuckles against the wood, waiting for his muffled, “Yeah,” before twisting the knob and pushing the door open.
He was sitting on his bed, his back to the headboard, his knees cocked, feet to the mattress as he typed something out on his phone. Crossing my arms over my chest, I braced a shoulder against the doorframe and tipped my chin to the phone. “Am I interruptin’?”
He tossed the cell onto the mattress between his feet. “Nah. I was just textin’ with Amy.”
That was the first I’d heard mention of a girl named Amy before. I arched a brow and had to fight to contain my smirk as I asked, “Amy, huh? So . . . she cute?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled. He kept his eyes on his hands, but I could see the corner of his mouth working to fight back a grin. “She’s really pretty. And smart. She’s really good at thinkin’ of the right things to say.”
Pushing off the door, I moved deeper into his room, taking a seat on the edge of his bed. “I take that to mean you talked to her about what went down tonight.”
“Yeah,” he answered, still mumbling. “She said I did the right thing, that it was wrong of Mom to put me in that situation, and that it’s our job to point out to the people we love when they’re doin’ wrong so they can see it and hopefully fix it.”
I hadn’t met this Amy, and while a part of me hated the fact that my son was old enough to have a girl in his life, there was an even bigger part of me that liked this girl already.
“That’s good advice. You’re right son, Amy is very smart.”
He finally looked up, giving me his eyes. “She was also the one who told me that I needed to quit beatin’ myself up for bein’ an asshole to you and Dani. That I needed to own up to how I’d been treating you guys and apologize already, ’cause draggin’ it out wasn’t helpin’ anything.”
I hadn’t been expecting that, and it took me several seconds to try and find my words. “Son, you already made it right with Dani. There’s nothing you need—”
“But I haven’t apologized to you,” he insisted with a fierce shake of his head.
“I’ve been treating you like crap for a year now.
And when I found out about you and Dani .
. . You just took it. You didn’t do anything wrong, but you took it, ’cause you’re my dad and you were tryin’ to do right by me. ”
“Hardin,” I started gently. “You’re fifteen—”
“Sixteen,” he shot back quickly.
“My apologies,” I amended with a grin. “All right, sixteen. What I’m getting at is, you’re still just a kid.
You might feel grown up sometimes, but you’re not, and situations arise that you aren’t equipped to handle.
Your mom’s and my divorce wasn’t pretty.
It was hard on you, and you reacted how a kid your age would.
I told you before that I love you, and nothing will ever change that.
What’s done is done. Let’s move on from here, yeah? ”
“Yeah,” he said quietly. Then, “But I’m still sorry, Dad. Really sorry.”
Christ, my boy. “You’re forgiven, bud. Always will be.” I hesitated for a beat before finally asking the question that brought me in here. “You good? After everything that went down?”
He inhaled deeply and gave it to me straight. “It sucks, and I’m a lot mad and a little sad, but I’ll be okay.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, Dad. I’m sure.”
I slowly rose to my feet, reaching out to place my hand on his shoulder. “All right, Hardin. But if that changes, you know you can come to me, right? I’m always here.”
“Yeah. I know. Thanks.”
I squeezed his shoulder and released it, taking a step back and heading for the door. I’d just grabbed the knob and was pulling it closed behind me when he spoke up. “Dani makes you really happy.”
It wasn’t a question, but I still nodded my head in confirmation. “Yeah, she does.”
“I’ve never seen you like that before, the way you are with her. I know me and Macie make you happy; you’ve never hidden that from us. But it was never like this. Especially not when you were with Mom.”
“Your mom and I weren’t right for each other,” I admitted.
“Do you love Dani?”
It was a question that threw me for a loop.
I knew what I felt for her was unlike anything I’d ever felt for another woman, that the things that moved through my chest whenever she was around were so strong, so intense, they scared the living hell out of me.
I also knew that I couldn’t imagine a single day without her in my life, and I’d learned that from experience, nearly ruining something that meant everything.
But I’d never said the words. At least until now.
“Yeah, bud. I love her.”
He nodded solemnly. “Good. She’s sweet and funny and really pretty, and she’s kind of shy in that way that just makes her even prettier, you know?”
Oh, I knew. I knew exactly what he was talking about.
“I’m glad you have her. But I’m also glad she has you. A woman like her deserves a guy like you. A good guy.”
I swallowed, working to beat back the tightness in my throat. “Thanks, son,” I said in a voice like gravel. “Means the world you think that about me.”
“I’ve always thought that.” One corner of his mouth curled up. “Even when I was actin’ like a punk.”
My chest rattled on a chuckle. “Lights out and phone down in fifteen, yeah? You can see Amy at school tomorrow.”
He reached for the phone again, swiping across the screen with his thumb. “Yeah, okay, Dad.”
“Love you, bud.”
His attention was now fully on that cell and whatever this Amy was writing to him, but I was fine with that. “Love you too.”
“And tell Amy I’m lookin’ forward to meeting her on Saturday.”
I pulled his door shut and started down the stairs. I closed the door to my room, quickly changed into a pair of sleep pants, killed the lights, and crawled into the bed. Once there, I grabbed my phone, much like my son, and pulled up my texts.
Me: You still awake?
She didn’t make me wait for a reply.
Danika: I’m here. How’s Hardin?
Danika: Did you guys talk?
Danika: Is he okay?
Just like that, she showed all that sweetness by getting right down to her concern for my son.
Me: He’s good. Pissed and upset, but he’ll be fine.
Those three bubbles popped up, blinking in and out as she typed.
Danika: Okay, good. I’ve been worried. I mean, I knew you could handle it, but still. I hate that that happened to him.
Me: Don’t worry, baby. He’s gonna be just fine. But just a heads up, he’s got himself a girl.
There was a pause before her next message came through.
Danika: Really?
Me: Yep. And according to him, she’s really smart. She talked him through the situation with his mom, told him he did the right thing.
Her texts started coming in at a rapid-fire pace after that.
Danika: Oh wow!
Danika: Okay, that . . .
Danika: WOW! A girlfriend? Are you cool with that?
Danika: She sounds kind of awesome, but if you don’t want me to like her, I’ll give it my best shot. Not sure I can pull it off, but I’ll try.
I let out a laugh. Of course she wouldn’t be able to pull that off. Danika was good and sweet to her very core.
Me: Yeah, I’m cool with it. From talking to him I get the impression she’s a good kid. Let’s wait until this weekend to make a decision on what we think of her.
Danika: Okay. Deal.
That warmth I felt talking to Hardin earlier, that warmth I felt whenever she was around, moved through me again, scorching a path through my chest. Christ, but I loved this woman.
Me: Pack a bag for Saturday and bring Roscoe with you. I want you spending the night after the party.
That was a move we hadn’t made since getting back together. It was something I wanted, but that she’d been hesitant about, not that I blamed her. I’d done that. But I was sick of sleeping like shit because I didn’t have her beside me.
Danika: If you’re sure it’s not too soon.
Me: I’m sure. Do you have any idea how much you mean to me?
Her response took a while, but when it finally came through, it was row after row of yellow smiley faces with red hearts for eyes followed up quickly with, Yeah, honey. I think I’m getting it.
She didn’t, at least not yet. Not until I said the words to her out loud.
But I’d be damned if I was going to do that over the phone.
I wanted her in front of me when I said that.
I wanted to be able to hold her, to feel her against me.
And I hoped like hell I’d get those words back, but I could wait as long as it took. Just as long as I still had her.
Me: All right, sweetness. It’s getting late, so I’ll let you go. Sleep good.
Danika: You too, honey. Talk to you later.
Me: You know it.
After getting more of those heart-eye emojis, I closed out of my messages with a chuckle and set the phone on the nightstand, and with the image of Danika’s smiling face on the backs of my eyelids, I drifted off.