His eyes moved to the side like he was trying to picture them. “How many are you thinking?”
“Right now, they’re two for sixty bucks, so maybe six in total. The front yard’s only big enough for two max, but if I put four in the backyard and added some other things to bring it to life, that might work.”
Jerking his chin, he crossed his arms over his chest. “What about adding in a fort for her, so it looks like the dragons are protecting it? Add in a few small Japanese maple trees and things like that, and it’ll look like she’s got a forest around it, too, that they’re living in.”
Holy shit. I loved that idea.
“That’s what I want to do.”
I had some money saved from working over time, so I could do that for Shanti.
“I’ll pay for the fort. I saw one online last week that was in a sale, so I’ll see if there are any left.”
His offer melted me. It wasn’t unusual for him to find something for her or mention something he’d seen online for her, and I loved that he kept Shanti in mind when he saw things. Obviously, I didn’t have other men to compare him to, but I was pretty sure not many men would do that. Then again, maybe they would?
What I could say was, Carter factoring Shanti into his life, seeing things while he was online for whatever reason and thinking of them for her, and him offering to buy her something that’d mean so much to her? It meant more to me than I could put into words.
“You don’t have to do that.” I gave him a grateful smile and squeezed his forearm, doing my best to hide how badly my hand was shaking. Our relationship was shifting, but it didn’t mean I had confidence behind actions like that. “I really appreciate you offering, but—”
His hand cupping the side of my face stopped me mid-sentence. “Nome, I’m not offering. I’m saying I’m buying it for her. That little girl deserves shit like that, and you’ve worked your ass off getting them for her. It’s time to let someone else join in on doing that for her.”
I wanted that for Shanti badly, but I also didn’t want Carter to feel like we were using him.
“But what can we give you back? You getting her that is huge, and I feel like we’ll never be able to repay you for it.”
Almost instantly, his body stiffened. “Blow Pop.”
Yes, we had a history that involved a piece of candy, but even with that knowledge, I was stumped. “Sorry?”
“Years ago, you changed my life with a Blow Pop. You know all of this and where I was at when you gave it to me, but I don’t think you truly get how big of an impact it had on me and my life. I’m not saying I’m only paying you back for what you did for me, I’m saying that all of these years later, I want to give you an iota of what you gave me, and Shanti’s part of that. Hell, you’re both still changing my life, and you don’t even realize it. So, Blow Pop.”
Before I could answer, a voice muttered, “Yo, save the dirty talk for somewhere that isn’t work, Lane.” Rolling onto my tiptoes to look over Carter’s shoulder, I saw Reid and Mark. “I didn’t realize the kids were calling it a Blow Pop these days, but I guess it makes sense.”
Nodding at what Mark had said, Reid added, “It’s a miracle they didn’t start using it before now.” Then, frowning, he mumbled, “Or maybe they have been? Man, when did we get so old we missed out on slang and euphemisms?”
Growling, Carter hissed, “We’re talking about the candy, dumbasses.”
Because he had his back to them still, he missed out on the exaggerated wink from Reid. “Sure. We believe you, but thousands wouldn’t.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Carter inhaled loudly and then released it. “Cheezeless crust.”
I loved that he was using one of my alternative cusses. I wasn’t religious, but I didn’t want to take the Lord’s name in vain in front of Shanti in case she copied it one day and offended someone, so that’s what I used instead, making sure to exaggerate the ‘z’ in it, too. Sure, cheese was spelled with an ‘s,’ but this saying was mine, and that ‘z’ made the difference for me.
I waited for Carter to open his eyes again as the other two men discussed modern slang and euphemisms. When he did, I forced myself to take a chance and reached out and squeezed his hand.
Nothing more was said before he followed Mark and Reid into a meeting that’d been called, but the look we exchanged said what words couldn’t have at that moment.