“Goodness, someone is hungry. Here you go, sweet boy.”
He latched on and started to eat like he was starved.
I slowly rocked as Hunter drank his bottle. When I glanced up, I found Dirk staring at me with a look on his face I couldn’t read.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
He sat down on the sofa and kept his eyes locked on us. “Seeing you holding him does something to me.” He proceeded to rub his chest, almost as if he was attempting to get rid of an ache there.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
A slow smile spread over his face. “I can’t wait to see you holding our baby.”
In an instant, a deep warmth spread through my body and settled in the pit of my stomach. If I hadn’t been holding Hunter, I was positive I would have thrown myself at Dirk. It all still felt so surreal.
Dirk came over and bent down in front of me, a concerned look on his face. “Tell me what you’re thinking, Bugs.”
I let out an exasperated laugh. “Stop calling me Bugs!”
He smiled, and if I hadn’t known better I would say my heart skipped a beat. This man certainly knew how to make me long for him.
Dirk leaned in and kissed me softly. His eyes smoldered, and I nearly moaned but held it back. It somehow didn’t seem right when I was holding my friend’s baby in my arms.
He pulled on my lower lip with his teeth before he let it go. “Do I need to pinch you to prove you’re not dreaming?”
“Please don’t, not with my son in her arms,” a voice said from behind us.
Glancing past Dirk, I saw Brock standing there. My cheeks instantly felt hot. “Brock, what are you doing here?”
Dirk glanced over his shoulder and looked at Brock. “Didn’t trust us, did you?”
Brock shrugged, but I saw the smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.
Standing, Dirk turned to face Brock. “Your son took a massive shit. Like, massive blowout. What did you feed him to make that happen?”
Brock let out a roar of laughter. “If I’d thought of doing that I would have, but he did that one all on his own.”
I glanced down to see Hunter falling asleep. I gave the bottle a little shake in his mouth, and he promptly started feeding again.
“You’re a pro at that, Merit. You’re going to make a wonderful mother,” Lincoln said as she came in and sat down on the sofa and watched me feed her son.
“Why are you back?” I asked.
Lincoln sighed. “The hotel double-booked and didn’t have any rooms. We went to dinner, and the idea of finding another hotel was just too daunting. So we decided to come back home.”
I smiled and asked, “You want him?”
She nodded and quickly scooped her son out of my arms and settled herself back onto the sofa. I handed her the bottle and watched her with a smile on my face.
“Did you miss him, only being gone that short amount of time?” I asked.
Lincoln nodded. “Yes. I miss Morgan and Blayze, as well, but with this guy, I feel like I could hold him all the time.”
My smile grew bigger. “He smells so good!”
“Yes! That baby smell. There’s nothing like it,” Lincoln said as she looked over at where Dirk and Brock were talking before she focused back on me and raised her brows. “So? Things okay with you two? We didn’t get a chance to talk when you got here earlier.”
I stole a peek in Dirk’s direction. The mere sight of him standing there made me think of naughty things. I swallowed hard and pushed those thoughts to the side. “Things aren’t bad.”
Lincoln giggled. “You’re glowing, Merit.”
I brought my hands up to my cheeks. “Am I?”
She nodded. “Are you happy? Less stressed now?”
I exhaled slowly. I honestly wasn’t sure what I was feeling at the moment. “I’m glad he knows. I wish it had been me who’d told him, but I think we’re going in the right direction.”
Lincoln nodded and looked at both men again. “I can honestly say, since I’ve known Dirk, I haven’t seen him this…relaxed. He seems happy…content, if that’s the right word I’m looking for.”
I twisted my hands together nervously in my lap as I took in the way Dirk was listening to Brock so intently. They were talking about bulls, something about one of Ty’s bulls going into the PBR lineup.
“Has he mentioned anything about going back on the road?” Lincoln asked in a hushed voice.
I shook my head. “No. He does have a benefit ride he’s doing in a week, though, that he said he won’t back out of.”
Lincoln stood. “Come with me, and I’ll put Hunter down.”
She gently laid the baby over her shoulder and started to pat his back as we both stood. I followed her through the house and to the nursery.