Page 76 of A Little Bit Naughty

“I can open my seatbelt!” Mikey exclaimed, followed closely by Nina’s “Me, too!” Lotte was already starting to climb over backpacks and knees.

Katy and Carlos, of course, were still deep in a discussion over Pokémon cards and didn’t even acknowledge that they’d arrived.

Remi stepped out to unbuckle seatbelts and grab backpacks.

“How was the drive?” Dani asked.

“Good. Is Carlos allowed to listen to Taylor Swift?”

“Yes!” Carlos yelled from the back of the van.

“Only a few songs. We used to play it when he was younger but… he understands a lot more now.”

No doubt. “Well, give me a list and I’ll try to remember.”

“Thanks for picking them up,” his brother Craig put in as he hefted Mikey onto his hip. Mikey was getting a bit too large to carry like that, but he’d probably be distracted in a moment anyway.

All three families did a carpool with the kids, picking them up from Craig’s house at different times depending on their schedules.

“Do you want to stay for dinner?” Craig asked.

“No thank you. Maybe another time.”

“Oh? What are you up to this evening?”

“Oh, just having dinner at home.” Which happened to be the highlight of his week.

Craig bumped him with the hip that wasn’t holding a child. “Come on, we’re way more fun than dinner at home.”

Remi felt himself blushing. There wasn’t really anything to tell, but it still felt too special to just share. “I have a video call.”

Craig made a face. “Boring. Come over later, maybe?”

“No, wait!” Dani grabbed his arm. “You’re talking with Isaac. Aren’t you?”

He shrugged.

“You are! I can see it!”

Damned observant sisters.

“Hang on, is that the guy who came to Lotte’s party? I like him. No wonder you’ve been smiling so much.”

Damned observant brothers, too. “Yes, he’s the guy from Lotte’s party, and no, we’re not dating. We’re just eating dinner and talking.”

“Which is a date,” Craig concluded.

Remi glared at him. “I used to eat dinner and talk with you every Wednesday before you got married. God knows why.”

“Yeah, but this is different because you’re blushing right now. Go home to your man.” He gestured at Remi’s car. “Get out of here.”

Remi rolled his eyes, but he still might have said goodbye to all of the kids a bit on the faster side because he was eager to get moving. With the time difference, it was hard to get a good block of time when he wasn’t working and Isaac wasn’t too tired.

He checked the food delivery app on his phone. Good. It looked like everything was still on schedule.

He raced into the house, put a few things away, and accepted the dinner delivery when the driver showed up at his door. Then he pulled out his computer. A few minutes later, Isaac’s pinked cheeks and vivid gray-blue eyes lit up the screen.

“Hey, Isaac,” he greeted him eagerly. He was still training himself not to call him baby boy or little one or a thousand other words that came so easily to his lips. It was a struggle.