The Single Dad (Red's Tavern 4)

A thousand centuries passed in what was likely just a couple of seconds. I couldn’t take my eyes off of his, and I watched as his expression turned from nervous to calm to something else.

“Cam,” I said softly, stroking my palm along his thigh.

“You don’t have to say anything,” he said quickly. “I promise. You don’t have to say it back.”

“I already have fallen for you,” I said, my throat suddenly a little dry. “You know that, right?”

He looked like a deer in headlights. I just kept moving my palm over his leg, looking at him like he was something precious. Hoping to God it made him feel like he was something precious.

“I don’t know how to do relationships,” I continued, “or what our timeline should be, or really what the hell I’m doing at all. But I definitely know I want you.”

Cam was my favorite. My absolute fucking favorite. I felt like I was floating above the ground, just a little, my body completely effervescent.

And then he leaned forward and crushed his lips against mine. I brought my hands to touch him—all over his body, any place I could possibly feel his warmth.

“Let’s be confused together?” he asked as I moved to press more kisses against his cheek and down onto his neck.

I let out a breath that turned into a chuckle. “That’s kind of how relationships work, right?” I said.

“I guess that’s right.”

“I sure as hell know I’m not confused about you,” I told him, meeting his gaze again, his face so close to mine. “I freaked out about the ‘boyfriend’ thing. I know I did. I have a lot I’m still working through. That’s actually why I wanted to meet you here, to really talk to you about it, to make sure you knew—”

“That makes sense,” he said softly. “You don’t have to explain it, Luke.”

“But I want it with you. So badly. And if you can be patient with me…”

“I’ll give you as long as you need,” he said. “Because Lord knows, I need it too.”

His eyes were half-lidded, even more inviting than usual.

“Kiss me again,” he uttered.

I obliged him instantly.

“I hate both of you,” Sam said a minute later as he walked over to refill our drinks, but when I looked across the bar, he was smiling. “You two are so in love, and I am so jealous.”

I actually felt my cheeks turning hot.

Because I knew he was right.

For the first time in my life, I was comfortable embracing the concept of having faith. I had to be. I’d always known that nothing was promised, but I had to have faith that Cam was worth it. Worth any risk. Worth any fear.

And I wasn’t alone. Even if all of his rules and my rules had been scattered in the wind, one thing was constant: Cam was there. He was there for me, and he was going to continue to be. He wanted me, even with all of my baggage and tendencies, and I wanted him so damn badly it hurt.

If that wasn’t real love, I didn’t know what was.

Epilogue

Cam, Four Months Later

“Oh my God, Dad, you’re going to drop it!” Chloe said, her eyes wide as I carried out the huge pan full of a twenty-pound turkey and plenty of vegetables.

“I am not going to drop it,” I said. I dipped the pan a little lower on purpose and laughed when Chloe freaked out.

“All right. Good. Just set it on the table, Dad.”

“You act like I’ve never carried a Thanksgiving turkey before,” I said as I put it on the deck table.

“Don’t worry Chloe, I was here for backup if he needed it,” Luke said, winking at her as he appeared behind me.

“You two are conspiring against me,” I protested.

“Against you? We’re here to help you,” Luke said.

“Right, right. Just like when you put that fake snake in the tent at the end of summer and scared the bejeezus out of me.”

Chloe giggled at the memory.

“That video got me, like, eight hundred views on TikTok,” Chloe said. “So it was worth it.”

“I’m glad the entire world saw me shriek at the sight of a snake.”

“Or at least eight hundred tweens,” Luke said.

“Let’s turn these up,” I said, reaching to increase the temperature of one of the standing heater lamps that Luke had helped me install on the deck. It was the perfect solution for both of us. Luke loved being outside, no matter what temperature it was, but as the months had gotten cooler, I found myself shivering constantly while he relaxed with no problem.

The tall gas-powered heaters were surprisingly powerful, making the whole deck into a little oasis even on a late November night.

“This Thanksgiving is already better than Mom’s,” Cooper said, appearing on the deck beside us.

“Don’t say that, Coop,” I told him. I was proud that he was enjoying Thanksgiving over at my place, but I never wanted it to be a competition between me and his mom.