“Crap.” My head falls forward in defeat. I’m dead, beaten by Tyler, who’s now moving on to the next level in the game.
“I’m hungry,” Owen says, and Tyler instantly lowers his gun, even though he’s still kicking butt, and looks at my nephews.
“Let’s get a table, then.” He places his controller back in the holder, and we both scoot out of the booth. When we reach the front of the restaurant, they tell us the wait is about thirty minutes, but they give us a buzzer to let us know when our table will be ready. To kill time, Tyler and the boys play basketball while I dump money into the claw machine in an attempt to win a stuffed unicorn I know Mia would love, even though there’s a cute panda I want for myself.
Almost twenty dollars later, while I’m cursing the stupid machine, Tyler comes over with Owen and Isaac, and he takes over. On his first try, he wins a panda bear, and on his second, he wins the unicorn. I’m not gracious in accepting his winnings, and he laughs along with both boys as I complain about the machine taking all my money.
When our table is ready and we’re seated, the boys crowd into one side while Tyler and I take the other. We all order hamburgers and fries, and when we’re finished with our meals, we get three different types of dessert to share. After we’re stuffed, we play a few more games before Tyler helps me load the two tired boys back into my car. I take them back to my house, get them ready for bed, and tuck them in for the night, loving the smiles both of them have on their faces.
It was a good night—one of the best I’ve ever had—and I know that’s because I spent it not only with my nephews whom I adore but also with Tyler, a guy who was totally cool with eating hamburgers and fries for dinner and playing games with two loud kids, and he had a good time doing it.
Suggestion 7
LEAVE ALL THE GOOD STUFF OUT
LEAH
“Thanks for looking after the boys,” my brother says as he gives me a hug, and I lean back just enough so I can see his face.
“You know they’re always welcome to come stay with me,” I reply as he lets me go when Angie comes over to us, and he wraps his arm around her shoulders. “Did you guys have fun?” I look between them. They look relaxed and rested, the opposite of how they looked when they dropped the boys off Saturday morning. I get it now—having two wild boys around to entertain is tiring, and for them, that’s their life every day; they rarely get a break.
“We had a really great time.” He kisses the top of Angie’s head, and her cheeks get pink.
“I see.” I grin knowingly at the two of them.
Angie rolls her eyes at me before she looks around the living room and asks, “Did they happen to eat any veggies while we were gone?”
I look at the coffee table, which is still covered with pizza plates, half-eaten bags of chips, and candy wrappers.
“Are potatoes considered a veggie?” I ask her, and she laughs. “What about the little peppers on pizza?” She shakes her head, smiling, and I shrug, not feeling even a little bad.
“Well, I’m going to make sure they get all their stuff,” she says before turning toward the hall that leads to my spare bedroom, where the boys are packing up their things.
“I see Tyler’s here,” Noah says quietly while studying me. He is here, but he got a phone call about two seconds after I answered the door for my brother, and he went to the kitchen to take the call. He’s been here all morning. He came over before the boys were awake, so he and I made out in my bed until the boys got up. He made all of us french toast for breakfast, which the boys loved just as much as I do. And after we ate, we went to the aquarium and spent a few hours there before coming back to my house so the boys could play their game and we could have a late lunch of frozen pizzas.
“He is here, but why are we whispering about it?” I whisper back.
“I don’t know. Are you two still just friends?” he asks, and I shrug. He snorts. “That didn’t last long.”
“Whatever.”
“I like him. He’s the first guy you’ve dated that I actually like.”
“You liked Chris,” I remind him.
“I tolerated Chris because you liked him so much,” he says softly, and I feel my brows pull together over my eyes.
“Really? I always thought you liked him.”
“No, and neither did Dad or Ben.”
“None of you ever said anything to me.” I frown at him.