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“Did he now?” Lance asked, eyeing Hunter, who just joined us in the kitchen, strolling in ever so casually.
Kid’s backpack on his shoulder aside, Hunter was extremely masculine looking, almost just like Lance, but he had darker hair and blue eyes. If I didn’t know better, I’d think the two men were brothers and not just best friends. “It’s like milk,” he said, shrugging the backpack off. “He also had waffles,” he added by way of explanation. “Hi, I’m Hunter. You must be Gemma. Nice to meet you,” he said, walking over to me, a hand out.
I accepted it and smiled. “Nice to meet you,” I agreed before turning back to the father-son duo. “Maybe I should be going,” I suggested to Lance who was busy with his son.
“No, no,” he stopped and said.
“I’m sorry I had to drop the little guy back home early, but my shift starts soon today.” After that, Hunter excused himself and left the same way he came in.
Lance bent down and took Mason by his shoulders. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet, Mase.”
Now?
Well, of course, he wanted to introduce me now, I thought to myself.
I’m here. Mason’s here. How stupid could I be?
I cleared my throat and dabbed a napkin on my lips so I didn’t look like a mess when he introduced me to his son for the first time.
“Mason,” Lance started and looked over at me. Then he continued, “This is Gemma. She’s my special friend.”
Mason waved at me and then raised a brow. “Do you and my dad kiss?”
I nearly choked on my own saliva. “Um.” I was actually stumped. For the first time, I had no idea what to say.
Lance laughed and turned Mason to look at him again. “Sometimes, buddy. Why don’t you go upstairs and play with your Legos while we finish our breakfast, then we’ll get going to the resort.”
“Cool,” Mason answered. “Thanks, Dad.”
Alone for just a second, I wanted to walk right over to him and kiss this man, this father who suddenly held my heart, but Hunter walked back in. “Sorry, I forgot this in the car,” he explained dropping another bag on the floor.
“Was he good for you?” Lance asked.
Hunter nodded. “Sure, but that kid has some serious energy to burn.”
Eyebrow hitched in the air, Lance suggested, “Maybe it’s the ice cream you let him have for breakfast.”
Sitting down on the bar stool, I let the two friends say their peace, but even I could see how ice cream would not be a very good idea before noon.
“I’ll alert the guys in case he ever tries to convince them it’s a good idea,” Hunter said, turning to leave.
My head shot up, though. “Oh, The Hurricanes?” I asked.
Hunter stopped and spun back around, cocking a brow and looking at Lance, who just shrugged. “I told her when we first met, guess she remembered,” he explained.
“I think it’s cute.”
Hunter tilted his head. “Cute?”
“Yeah,” I answered, chuckling. “I have a family group chat, but we don’t have a name for it or anything.”
“No,” Hunter said, waving his hand in the air before crossing his arms. “It’s manly. It’s masculine.” He pointed to Lance. “Tell her, man. We’re hurricanes because we leave damage in our wake. We leave broken hearts wherever we go.” As though, giving up, he rolled his eyes. “Forget it.”
I smiled, leaning into Lance and placing a hand on his arm. “I still think it’s cute.” And I had a hard time believing these men who cared for an adorable little eight-year-old boy like they were part of his family could do any real damage.
Lance laughed and leaned into my touch. “You heard her. It’s cute.” He smiled, as if perfectly fine with my assessment.
Hunter rolled his eyes again. “Whatever you say. I got to get to work.” Before turning on his heel, he added, “I’m glad you two found your way back to one another. Now I can stop hearing about the girl Lance let go three years ago.”
