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“Asshole, you’re buying me a new phone,” I hear Aiden say.
“Maybe next time you’ll know better than to film me.” Max grunts.
“It’s too bad that the video already uploaded to the cloud,” he says, taunting him. I shake my head, wondering why the hell he’s egging on Max.
Max grunts again, and then I’m assuming he’s on the phone. “Break into Aiden’s cloud account and delete a video.”
“Stone.” Aiden warns loudly.
“Don’t listen to him. I sign your check.”
Lexi’s movement catches my eye. She wipes her hand down her shirt, picks up a jar, and walks into the living room. My eyes shoot to Amy’s and she nods. We both hurry behind her, not wanting to miss this.
Max is hanging up and smiles down at Lexi. She stands in between the two huge guys and holds up her jar.
“I’ve missed you guys.”
Oh. My. God. My head falls and I can’t contain my laughter. Max and Aiden both look in the jar and start laughing while they pull out their wallets.
“I’m not making any money here,” she huffs, looking in the jar, too. There’s a lonely dollar bill at the bottom.
I look to Ted with a smirk. “Don’t look at me, it was that one,” he says chuckling, pointing to Amy.
“Hey, I stubbed my toe. It hurt,” she says defensively.
“It’s okay, Amy,” I say, wrinkling my nose. “We’ve all fallen victim to the bad word police.”
“Yes, but obviously y’all are going to fund her college,” she says, pinning the guys with her stare.
They both immediately apologize. Hmm, I need to work on my stare.
Later that evening, I tuck Lexi into bed and read her a bedtime story. She can barely hold her eyes open, but I can tell she is trying her hardest to stay awake.
“I don’t want you to leave, Addie,” she whispers.
I want to tell her that hopefully she’ll be coming home with me the next time I see her, but I hold my tongue.
“Sweet girl, I’ll be back in two weeks.”
“Two weeks is forever away. How many bedtimes is that?”
I smile. It does seem forever away. “It’s thirteen bedtimes,” I say, running my hands through her hair.
Her eyes flutter closed. I lean over and kiss her on the forehead.
“I love you, Addie.”
Any doubt I had about fostering Lexi dissolves in that instant. I love this little girl with all my heart. I don’t even want to think about what I’ll feel if I’m rejected.
“I love you, too, Lexi,” I whisper.
I have to pull myself away from her. I want to snuggle up to her and sleep right beside her. I push myself off the bed and notice Aiden standing in the doorway. He’s leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.
He smiles as I walk up to him. He turns me around where we both can see Lexi and wraps his arms around my waist.
“She’s lucky to have you,” he leans over and whispers in my ear.
“I’ll be lucky to have her,” I say, leaning my head on his chest. I know one thing is for certain, I want more time with her.
