And I hate that I didn’t think about that. I should’ve.
Ryder sets his spoons down. “Who is living there? I don’t understand.”
I also hate that we’re having this conversation in front of him. But maybe it’s easier this way. Maybe now is the time.
Paige’s eyes don’t leave mine. “Maybe me.”
“What?” Ryder scrambles to turn around.
The barstool wobbles, and Paige plucks him off the seat before it falls over. He holds on to her neck, hanging off her like a sloth. It would be funny if my heart wasn’t in my throat.
“But you live here,” he says, squishing her cheeks with his sticky hands. “You live with us.”
Her lips are pressed together like a fish. Her eyes get cloudy.
“Yeah,” I say, my voice raw. “You live here with us.”
“Do you not like us anymore?” Ryder asks her, holding her face in front of him like his life depends on it. “I like you, Paige Stage. I don’t want you to leave us. You make the best pancakes—even better than my dad’s. And you play cars with me. And you read me books and do all the voices. Please don’t find another house.”
I walk over to them and pry my son off her. “Come on, buddy. You’re probably hurting her face.”
“I didn’t mean to,” he says, his voice two octaves higher than normal. Panic rips through his eyes. “You aren’t really leaving, are you?”
Paige looks at me, batting her eyelashes to hold back her tears. I can’t help it. I reach for her and pull her into my side.
“Why don’t you just stay here?” Ryder says, talking faster. “Stay here and just move your stuff into Dad’s room because you go there every night anyway, and that way, you don’t have to go back and forth, and you’ll sleep better. Probably. But Dad snores.”
I chuckle. Guess we weren’t so sneaky after all.
Paige touches Ryder’s face but leaves her gaze on me.
“I want to be the guy who tells you to follow your heart,” I say carefully. “But I can’t do that because if your heart tells you to do anything but stay here with us, then that’s the wrong answer.”
She buries her face into my chest.
I close my eyes and hold the two people I love most in the world. Because I do. I love her.
She came into our life like a train wreck, imposing herself into our lives. But somewhere along the way, we became a unit. The three of us blended together and carved out something fucking perfect.
A family.
This is what I want for my son. To hell with maturity and stability although Paige isn’t immature or unstable. I want someone fun, someone strong, someone who will play cars with him and read him books.
Someone who will make him feel loved.
If anyone knows the importance of that, it’s Paige. After everything she’s been through in her life, she understands how the love of an adult can change a child’s life. She understands how not receiving love from an adult can impact a life.
And I think she might not just be falling for me, but my child too.
That’s a total slam dunk.
I kiss the top of her head. “Will you stay with us? It doesn’t have to be forever—”
“Yes, it does.” Ryder climbs off me and hangs off her neck. He puts his nose right against hers, making her laugh. “You have to stay here forever because I love you, Paige Stage. All right? More than I love the Camaro, and that’s a lot.”
Paige and I laugh. It makes Ryder smile too.
He slides down her and then climbs back up on his stool. “Can we get back to dinner now? I’m hungry.”
I twist my girl in my arms and look down at her. Her eyes are bright and clear. They’re happy.
“For what it’s worth,” I say softly. “I love you too.”
Her eyes go wide. “You do?”
“Paige, how could I not? I would’ve told you before, but I was afraid you’d freak out. But my man Ryder here gave me an opening.”
She moves us so that my back is to Ryder. Her hand cups my cock through my jeans and squeezes.
“I’ll give you another opening if you need one,” she whispers.
I growl, making her smile.
She moves her arms back around my waist, letting her hair dangle on my forearms. For the first time—the first real time—she truly relaxes in my arms.
“Guess what?” she says, pressing her lips together.
“What’s that?”
“I love you too.”
I lean down and kiss her, using everything I have in me not to deepen it.
“You love me too, right?” Ryder asks.
We break the kiss and laugh. And somehow, that’s exactly how it should’ve ended.
TWENTY-FIVE
PAIGE
“That was a long night,” I say, wiping down the bar.
Nate pulls the shades over the windows and double-checks that the door is locked. It’s our usual closing routine. But tonight, things are different.