Chapter 17
MIKE
“You want a Guinness? I think I might have a bottle of it in the back. Someone brought it for a poker night once, but I’m more of an IPA guy. It’s yours if you want it,” Hardy says as he walks over to the fridge.
“Didn’t know we were ending our friendship today,” I tease.
“I thought you liked Guinness?”
“Draught Guinness, not shite from a bottle.”
“Yeah, don’t have any on tap.”
“I should just stick with water since I’m watching the boys.”
He tosses me a water bottle and joins me on the couch.
“Daddy, Levi is jumping on my bed,” Hardy’s daughter Avery says as she runs down the stairs.
I start to bolt off the couch, but Hardy slaps a hand to my chest, pushing me back down. “Do you guys want to color in the kitchen?” he asks.
“Okay,” she replies as she runs back upstairs.
“So much for being able to catch up,” I say, sipping my water.
Hardy quirks an eyebrow, and I laugh. I’ve only been around the boys for a little under a month, but it’s impossible to have an adult conversation around them.
Minutes later, chaos descends the stairs in the form of two feckin’ cute lads full of energy. Levi runs over and launches himself at me, hugging me as though he forgot I was here, and it fills me with warmth. I’m also thankful I’ve covered my crotch this time.
When he pulls back, he climbs up my chest like I’m not even here so he can perch on the back of the couch, feet dangling over my shoulders.
Avery flits around the room, gathering supplies and depositing them onto the kitchen table. When she grabs a bin full of glitter containers, Hardy stops her and shakes his head.
“Do we have any Sharpies?” Avery asks sweetly, and Hardy gives her a curious look. “I want to sign Micah’s cast.”
He walks to the kitchen, pulling out a pack of multicolored Sharpies, and Levi leans back, dangling over the back of the couch, doing quite the impressive back walk-over, before crashing onto the ground and running to the kitchen.
The boys are occupied for about fifteen minutes, coloring, though I wouldn’t say quietly. Avery is doodling her name on Micah’s cast next to the spot I signed, while Micah fills in a horse with a brown crayon in an animal coloring book.
Levi has added poop or fart clouds to almost every animal in a different book. He holds up a page for me to see. “Look, the chickens are pooping!”
Hardy chuckles next to me and then leans in, speaking so the kids can’t hear. “Wait till they start drawing dicks on everything.”
“I hope I’m around long enough to see it.” I smile.
“You will be.”
The front door opens, and Bella’s son Isaac walks in, kicking off his shoes and tossing his coat over the banister.
I expect him to take one look and bolt for his room, but he joins us at the counter.
Bella and Hardy have been together since Christmas, and I’m envious of the way they’ve blended their families together.
“How was your dad’s?” Hardy asks.
“The same as it always is. What’s going on here?” He nods to the boys coloring with Avery.
“Playdate,” I say.
“Wanna see my poops?” Levi shouts at Isaac with a big grin.
“Levi, stop talking about poop, or I’m telling Mom,” Micah scolds.
“That’s gross,” Avery says, wrinkling her nose.
“I’d love to see your poops. Are we talking little pellets or big logs?” Isaac asks as he joins Levi at the table.
“Eww!” Avery groans. “C’mon, Micah, let's go play with my ponies.”
Micah shrugs and follows her upstairs.
“What’s this?” Isaac asks, pointing to a page that is covered in brown.
Levi laughs. “That’s a poo-splosion! The horse had to cha-cha really bad.”
“Cha-cha?” Isaac asks.
“Yeah, like the song. Diarrhea cha-cha-cha,” Levi says.
“Oh my God, I haven’t thought about that song in years.” Hardy laughs. “It’s good to know that future generations are keeping it alive and well.”
“Is this an American thing I don’t know about? My folks didn’t teach me any songs about feces growing up, and now I’m feeling like I missed out.”
“Oh yeah, I think I know that one. You can keep making up rhyming verses,” Isaac says.
We spend several minutes making up our own verses, and I secretly hope I don’t pay for it later when I take the boys home.
When Lucy and Bella show up an hour later, my heart races at the sight of Lucy. Her long blonde hair cascades around her shoulders, and I imagine wrapping it around my hand as I fuck into her from behind.
And then Levi sings “Diarrhea cha-cha-cha!” and the spell is broken.
“Ugh, it took a week to get him to stop singing that song last time,” Lucy groans.
I offer her an apologetic look as she walks into the kitchen.
“How’d it go? I see the house is still standing.” Lucy looks around nervously as if she’s going to find a giant hole in the wall.
“The boys were good. We had fun,” I say.
“We colored. Look at my poops!” Levi adds, holding up a coloring book as Bella looks over her shoulder.
“Okay, but why is that actually good?” Bella asks. “That looks great, Levi. Very detailed.”
“Do you like it, Mama?”
“I love it, buddy,” Lucy says before turning back to us. “I really shouldn’t be encouraging this, but he’s gotten really good at drawing poop. Who knows, maybe he’ll get into art when he’s older?”
“As long as he’s not drawing it with actual poop. They don’t pay teachers enough to deal with all that,” Bella says.
“How’d it go at the school? Did you get everything done for the St. Patrick’s Day program?” Hardy asks.
Bella groans. “If I never see another shamrock again, it’ll be too soon.”
Hardy wraps an arm around her. “That bad, huh? Did Amber put you all to work?”
“She’s going through a lot right now with the divorce. I think it was more about her wanting some friends to vent to than it was about prepping for the assembly. It’s still a week away. We have time.”
“Then she could have found another way to do it without giving us all carpal tunnel from cutting construction paper,” Lucy mutters.
“Everyone deserves a second chance.” Bella smiles, and I notice something pass between her and Lucy, like they’re speaking about more than mean PTO moms.
I come up behind Lucy, wrapping my arms around her as I kiss the side of her head.
The move is intimate, claiming, and she melts against me.
Bella smiles at us knowingly, whispering something to Hardy, and I wait for Lucy to pull away from me, wait for her nerves to kick in and stop this semi-public declaration.
We haven’t officially come out as a couple to any of her friends, and I’ve managed to successfully dodge all talk about it at the firehouse.
But to my surprise, she doesn’t pull away.
Instead she turns and wraps her arms around my waist, and I can’t help the dopey grin that spreads across my face.
“Micah! Levi!” Bella calls, and the boys come running. “Isaac told me he needs help with a super top-secret project he’s working on. Do you know anyone that can help with that?”
Micah raises his good arm. “I can help.”
“MEEEE!” Levi says as he jumps up and down.
“Perfect. Why don’t you guys head upstairs? And we have to hurry before it explodes. Oops, I’ve said too much.” Bella mimes zipping her lips, and the boys hustle up the stairs.
Isaac saunters over. “What secret project are you talking about?”
“You know, the one where you watch them for an hour so the parents can hang out kid-free.”
“Is that what you guys are calling it nowadays?”
“Thanks, Isaac.” Bella pats him on the shoulder as he trudges over to the stairs.
“You owe me,” he grumbles, but there’s a hint of a smile on his face as he turns to climb toward the chaos I know is waiting for him.
“You kids have fun. We’ll drop them off at eight since it’s a school night. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure they’re fed. Enjoy your adult time.” Bella winks as Hardy wraps an arm around her.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Hardy adds before kissing the top of Bella’s head.
Minutes later we’re sitting in the car as it idles in Hardy’s driveway.
She isn’t saying anything and it’s killing me.
Is she mad about the poop song? Is she having second thoughts about how much we looked like a couple back there, and not just friends that are fucking? Is she having second thoughts about me?
We turn and look at each other at the same time, and relief hits me when I see the hunger in her eyes. Our lips crash together as she grips my face, pulling it to hers. She’s kissing me harder than she ever has before, and it has more than my heart growing in size.
Her mouth explores mine, our tongues tangling together in a dance that feels choreographed despite our lack of rehearsal in that department.
“I’m so glad you got rid of the no-kissing rule,” I say as she sucks my bottom lip into her mouth. “Fuck, I could do this for hours.”
“We don’t have that long. And I was thinking we could check off another item on my list,” she says as she dives back into my mouth.
There are only a few items left on her list, and I immediately know which one I want to complete.
Reluctantly, I break the kiss as I back out of the driveway.
“Where are we going?” she asks as we drive through town and she realizes we aren’t headed to her place.
“I’ve got a surprise for you.”