16. Kristin
16
KRISTIN
W aking up in Will’s arms was paradise. I’d never felt so refreshed. Sleeping on something other than a couch probably had a lot to do with that. It also went a long way to know that the kids were in safe hands with Hannah Jane and Chase.
My chosen family was hellbent on taking some of the pressure off my shoulders, even if it was for just one night.
Will took it slowly on the drive back to pick up my car in Morehead City. He drove past Mel’s apartment complex at first, pretending to miss the turn.
Finally, he pulled into the parking lot, and damn… I did not want to go home.
We lingered together in a shady spot near my car, reluctant to go our separate ways. I fiddled with my keys, still sitting in the passenger seat of Will’s truck. The door hung open and my feet dangled off to the side. Will stood outside, caging me in with his arms on either side of my legs.
“I could follow you back to Havelock,” he said, the timbre of his voice bright and hopeful. His thumbs worked in lazy circles on my thighs. “We could spend the day together.”
“Haven’t had enough of me, huh?” I teased. “I guess I can’t blame you. I’m awesome.”
“I’ll never get enough of you,” he said, smiling playfully. “Besides, we can’t let the kids think their sister spent the night with some nameless piece of meat.”
“Of course not! Your name is Will.”
“Oh, but I am a hot piece of meat?”
I snickered. “I mean… Yeah, you are. And I’m totally going to stare at your butt when you turn around.”
He smirked. “And to think—I let you swing in my hammock.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
He gave me an adorably lopsided smile. “I’ve gotta go in that direction anyway. We’d have more time together. I’d get to meet the kids. Could be fun.”
“I would love that,” I said, cupping his stubbled jaw with my hands. I’d never been much of a beard girl, but I loved that rough texture against my skin. It was so masculine.
Will gave a knowing smile. “I feel like there’s a but coming.”
“But I need some time,” I said, pausing hesitantly.
Things with Will were perfect, and I didn’t want him to misconstrue my caution as me not wanting to be with him.
“I’ve never brought anyone around the kids before. I need to warm them up to the idea. I don’t want them to think that whatever this is will make me less committed to them. They are my priority. They have to be. Always.”
I waited for him to pull back. Because honestly, I wouldn’t have blamed him if he ran. No one wants to be told straight up that they’re going to play second fiddle.
Will didn’t run, though. Instead, he leaned in, cradled my cheeks, and kissed me.
“No arguments here,” he said, pecking my lips. “You’re there for them, and I’m here for you. And when y’all are comfortable with it, me, you, and them will be an us . Because I don’t plan on keeping my distance forever.”
He backed off, but didn’t take his hands off my body. The sparks I felt last night still smoldered as Will skated his hands up my waist, trailing his fingers along my ribs.
My eyes slammed shut, and I whimpered as his thumbs ghosted over my breasts. I wanted him to touch me everywhere . If he had kept going, my nipples would’ve sliced through my tank top.
“So, when can I see you again?” he asked. “I gotta admit, Kris, I’m half-tempted to book a room at the inn for another two weeks.”
“I’d rather see you outside of work where I can do this,” I said, pulling him in for another kiss.
His lips still tasted faintly of bacon and pancake syrup. His tongue slid into my mouth, drawing me in and deepening the connection. He grabbed my hips and hauled me to the edge of the seat. His hands gripped the back of my knees as he lifted and wrapped my legs around his waist.
I broke the kiss with a giggle. “If I don’t get going, I’m gonna end up doing something wholly indecent in this parking lot. Then Mel’s gonna have to move.”
“Then I get to objectify you.”
I swatted him on the chest, stifling laughter. “William Solomon, I am a lady .”
He grinned before silencing me with another kiss. Goosebumps flooded my skin when he brought his lips to my ear and whispered, “You never answered my question, Kristin. When can I see you again?”
The sudden firmness of his tone sent a shiver down my spine. Pinpricks of heat flashed across my skin at the deep rasp in his voice .
Fuck. Will could read the phone book and bring me to orgasm with that voice.
“Do you have plans on Monday night?” I asked, finally.
He leaned back and cracked a smile. “Sunshine, I never have plans.”
I pecked his lips and hopped down from his truck. My sandals hit the pavement, and I laughed because of how much he towered over me.
“I’ll check and see if I can bring a plus-one for poker night. But Monday?”
“Monday,” he confirmed, dropping a kiss on top of my head.
We walked hand-in-hand to my car, then did the whole lingering routine at my car door for another twenty minutes. Before we finally said goodbye, Will warned me he would call me if I didn’t call him by nine o’clock tonight.
I found a certain comfort in being with someone that made plans and left nothing up in the air.
Not, what do you wanna do ?
Not, I’ll text you sometime.
Will told me exactly when he would call me if I didn’t beat him to it.
I clenched my thighs together as I drove back to Havelock. I really needed to get laid. I began prioritizing as I ran through my mental to-do list:
Text the poker club.
Schedule a doctor’s appointment.
Talk to the kids.
That last item made me more nervous than the gynecologist’s stainless-steel duckbill torture device.
I wasn’t trying to go overboard, and I wasn’t trying to be difficult. Admittedly, being born to teenage parents made me overly cautious. But it wasn’t just that I didn’t want to get pregnant now; I didn’t want to get pregnant ever .
That was a topic I wasn’t looking forward to discussing with Will.
Whenever I mentioned I didn’t want to have kids, the response was always, “Well, you’re young. You’ll change your mind,” or “when you meet the right man, you’ll want a family.”
Never once had anyone taken my decision seriously.
I wasn’t trying to linger on our age difference, but Will was older than me. There was no way he didn’t want kids. Hell, the way he lit up when I talked about my siblings had onesies and bottles flashing in his eyes.
I knew I needed to sit down with him and be upfront about it, but when was the right time to broach a topic like that? The “baby conversation” wasn’t exactly first-date material. There was a fine line between honesty and scaring him off.
When I pulled into the trailer park, I found Chase’s truck parked in front of my house. Hannah Jane had texted me earlier that he would bring all four kids back home.
I waited in my car for a moment, savoring the last remaining seconds of peace. Then, with a sharp breath, I pulled out my phone and texted the poker club.
Kristin
So, I think I might need to call for a vote…
The group text explosion happened instantly.
Hannah Jane
IT’S HAPPENING! EVERYBODY STAY CALM! O.M.G! IT’S HAPPENING!
Steve
We’re calm. You’re the one freaking out, H.J.
Melissa
WE ARE NOT CALM. Kris—I totally saw y’all making out in the parking lot. I assume things went well?
Maddie
HOLY FUCKBALLS! GET IT, KRIS!
Luca
Wait. Who is this guy?
Isaac
What Luca said.
Maddie
If you and Isaac would spend more than 36 hours in Beaufort, you’d be able to meet him.
Hannah Jane
What Maddie said.
Chase
Would y’all keep your marital spats out of the group text? That’s just weird.
Kristin
CAN Y’ALL JUST VOTE ALREADY?
Erica
Steve and I vote yes! I’m so happy for you, K!
Steve
You can’t vote for me, woman! What if I don’t like him?
Erica
Kristin likes him. You will vote yes, or you can sleep on the couch.
Chase
Damn, and I thought Erica was the nice one. I vote yes.
Steve
Trust me, dude. She’s scary as fuck.
Erica
Language.
Maddie
Luca and I are a yes!
Hannah Jane
I’m going to say it before Isaac can. HELL YES, MA’AM!
Isaac
That’s my girl.
Kristin
Bee? Mel?
Bridget
I’m at Mel’s, but her hands are full. We both vote yes! So happy for you, K!
Luca
Looks like I gotta get a bigger poker table.
When I looked up from my phone, I found Chase lingering in my doorway. He had his arms crossed and a grin on his face. I cut the car off and got out, grabbing my overnight bag from the seat beside me.
“You look well-rested,” he said, closing the door behind him as he walked down the three wooden steps toward me. “Have a good time?”
I ran my hand back through my hair and nodded. “It was exactly what I needed.”
Everything I needed and more.
I’d made a sarcastic comment about needing a nap, and Will had delivered. I didn’t need boatloads of roses and extravagant dates; I needed someone to listen. Someone to ease the burden.
Chase held his phone in one hand and tapped it on his open palm. “So, you’re bringing him to poker night, huh?”
My cheeks flooded with heat, and I bit my lip. “I think so. I mean, I’m gonna see if he wants to come. ”
I looked over Chase’s shoulder to make sure I was out of earshot of the kids.
“It’s only been a little over two weeks,” I said. “Do you think this is moving a little fast?”
Chase stuffed his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “I’m probably the wrong guy to ask.”
I reached out and gave his arm a gentle squeeze. “Do you want to talk about what I may or may not have seen at the last poker night?”
His face turned to stone—a rare look for Chase. Usually, he was the fun one, and Steve was the scary-as-fuck one.
He cleared his throat. “Bee and I have been friends for a long time, Kris. What you saw wasn’t anything.”
“We were all caught off guard when Kyle showed up at the bar. I can’t imagine how you feel.”
“I don’t feel a damn thing,” he clipped. There was a dangerous poison laced in his words. It was the sound of someone who had been stripped of everything he loved.
We both fell silent as something rustled behind the corrugated sheet metal skirting at the base of my single-wide. Chase and Steve had been on my ass for years, begging me to let them lay bricks there. I didn’t have the money for it, and I was stubborn. So the answer continued to be “no.”
The scratching continued.
I turned to Chase, alarmed. “What do you think it is?”
He hopped off the step and motioned for me to back up. “Might be a raccoon or something. If it’s out during the day, it might be rabid.”
“What’s going on?” Logan asked, appearing at the door. The rest of the kids piled up behind him. Zoey wiggled her way to the front of the pack.
“I think there’s something trapped under the house,” I said.
“Might be a ‘possum,” Hunter said .
“Could be squirrels,” Kylie chimed in.
Chase jogged to his truck and grabbed a pair of work gloves and a flashlight from his toolbox.
“Might wanna back up,” he cautioned as he approached the house.
I scampered up the steps with the kids. I could deal with many things, but I had no interest in contracting rabies from a pack of psychotic squirrels or a pissed-off raccoon.
Chase knelt in the dirt, shining the flashlight around the seam of the sheet metal. After promising to fix whatever he inevitably broke, he slipped on the work gloves and peeled it back stud by stud.
A pitiful yelp broke the tension.
Chase tossed the scrap of metal aside and shone the light under the house. His eyebrows shot up. “It’s a dog,” he called out.
“Guys—” I cut myself off. It was no use. The kids heard the word ‘dog’ and barreled out of the house, nearly flattening me like a pancake.
With a quick crook of his finger, Chase motioned for Logan to help him. He handed off the flashlight and got on his hands and knees, crawling under the house.
“C’mon, buddy, I’m not gonna hurt you,” Chase soothed as he inched his way closer. “Logan, can you shine it a little closer?”
I bit my nails and cringed. “Please be careful! There’s probably snakes and spiders down there!”
A tense moment of silence passed before Chase wiggled his way out.
“Back up!” I said, shooing Hunter, Zoey, and Kylie up the stairs. I imagined Chase emerging with black widows and centipedes all over him. It made me want to turn the hose on and preemptively douse him.
He crawled out from under the house with a scrawny German Shepherd cradled in his arms. It squeaked pitifully. I could count each rib under its matted fur. With floppy puppy ears and paws too big for its body, it couldn’t have been more than a few months old.
“Poor thing!” Kylie said, running back down the steps to get a closer look.
“Careful, Ky!” I snapped. “Chase has gloves on. You don’t!”
“Can he stay with us?” Hunter asked before he even got his foot off the step.
My heart dropped.
“Yeah!” Zoey squealed. “Can he stay, Krissy? Please ?”
I sighed. “Guys, a dog is an enormous responsibility.” And a lot of money.
“We can do it!” Hunter said, pleading. “We can walk him and feed him and play with him.”
“And he can sleep with me!” Zoey chirped.
The kids swarmed Chase, giving that mangy mutt all their love and undivided attention.
“Come on guys, chill out,” I groaned in exasperation. “Give the thing some space. It’s probably terrified.”
Chase’s eyes met mine. I shook my head. If I had to take care of another living thing, I would be the one hiding under the house.
“How ‘bout this,” Chase said, addressing the kids. “This little guy—” Chase paused and peeked between the dog’s hind legs. “Sorry, this girl probably needs to go to the vet. Once I get a clean bill of health, I’ll take her home with me. Y’all can come over and spoil the hell— heck out of her. And maybe on the days that I’m on duty, I can bring her over here to hang out, so she’s not alone.”
He looked over the kids’ heads at me, making sure that was okay with that.
I nodded and mouthed, “Thank you.”
“Can we name her?” Zoey shouted, bouncing up and down. How much sugar had Hannah Jane fed her this morning?
Chase shrugged. “Sure.”
“Moon!” Zoey squealed .
“Stupid name for a dog,” Logan muttered as he scratched the dog behind her ears.
“No!” Zoey pouted. “It’s a moon!”
She pointed to the dog's back leg where a lighter-colored streak of fur swished through the mottled black and brown.
Chase looked down and chuckled. “Well, would ya look at that?”
“Luna,” Kylie said, stroking the dog's back with her hand. “It’s prettier.”
“I like Luna,” Hunter agreed.
“What if it already has a name?” Logan clipped.
“She looks like she’s been on her own for a long time,” he said, then looked the dog in the eyes. “What’cha think? You like the name Luna?”
Luna yipped and gave Chase’s cheek a long, slobbery lick.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said, grinning. “Hunter, can you get the door to my truck open? Kylie, there’s a blanket in the back. Mind grabbing that and spreading it over the seat? Just in case Luna can’t hold it until I get back to Beaufort.”
The kids sprang into action.
Logan waited with Luna and Chase while Kylie and Hunter prepped the front seat of the truck.
Zoey bolted past me and ran into the house. She returned seconds later with a stuffed duck that had seen better days. She ran over to Chase and held it up.
“This is for Luna. My bunny helps me sleep. If Luna’s sleepin’ somewhere new, she might want somethin’ to sleep with.”
Oh my stars. I melted.
Chase raised his eyebrows. “You sure, Zoey Bear? Luna will be okay. I don’t want to take your duck.”
She nodded adamantly and held the duck up to Luna. “His name is Quackers.”
Luna sniffed the stuffed animal, then opened her mouth wide. For a second, it looked like the dog would swallow that little duck whole. I braced for Zoey’s screams.
Thankfully, the horror never came. Instead, Luna gingerly nibbled Quackers out of Zoey’s hands and brought it between her paws.
Zoey jumped up and down, clapping. “Now she’ll sleep good!”
The kids said their goodbyes to Chase and Luna, and I shooed them into the house. It was rare that I got a Saturday off, and I had a punch list full of chores for everyone to tackle.
Chase carefully loaded Luna into the passenger’s seat of his truck. We both eyed her hesitantly, waiting for the sweet thing to freak out and bolt. But she didn’t.
Luna curled up in the seat and turned her attention to Quackers.
I grimaced. “I’m sorry you have to deal with this, Chase. Seriously, don’t feel like you have to take on a dog just because of my kids.”
Chase rubbed Luna’s head, affection in his eyes. “Nah, don’t be sorry. It might be nice to have someone else at the house with me. Is it bad that I’m kinda hoping she doesn’t have an owner?”
I smiled softly and let Luna lick my hand. “She’s a sweetheart. I can’t believe she was hiding under the house like that.”
“Probably just needs some food and a little love,” Chase said.
I nodded. “Don’t we all?”