Page 13 of Already Callin’ You Mine

4

PRESLEY

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

Of all the people in this town who could have found my child, it had to be Jace Hayes.

Jace fucking Hayes.

I hate my life.

The relief that had been filling me halts, my body tensing up again as the grown-up version of the man I like the least stares me down. No…the man I like the second least. Cody has now claimed the top spot, dethroning Jace after a very long reign.

Jace Hayes. Who unfortunately is just as sexy as he was seventeen years ago. Maybe sexier. Shit, that’s inconvenient.

“Otis…” I let out on a strangled sigh, this wild mix of emotions still raging underneath the surface.

“Mama!”

My little boy’s voice is cheery and playful, but he doesn’t continue to reach for me the way I expected. Instead, he holds tight to Jace—who is holding on equally as tight.

Be still my heart…

Only, I don’t have time for that. Nor should I even be entertaining the idea. There shouldn’t be anything swoony about Jace Hayes holding my child. About my child holding on to him. Except, there is.

Making this whole moment that much more inconvenient.

“Baby, what did I say about staying with Paps? About holding on tight?”

“I hold tight.”

As if to show me, he wraps his free arm around Jace’s neck, smearing frosting across his neck. I bite my lips, holding back my laugh, not only at how cute the moment is, but at the look on Jace’s face. A look that seems equally amused and annoyed that he now has frosting all over him.

“He’s yours?” Jace asks, not bothering to hide the accusation from his voice.

No, dummy, the kid is just calling me Mama for shits and grins…

“He is. Meet Otis Benjamin Callahan the second. Named for his grandpa.”

“Paps!”

My father appears by my side, letting out a long, relieved exhale. I can feel the tension release from him, his shoulder dropping as he turns to look at me, his face morphing back to the kind, gentle older man that I know. The grandpa who has been reunited with his favorite person.

“Oh, Jace, thank you,” Dad says, hand resting on his chest. “You have no idea the scare we’ve had.”

“No problem, Otis,” Jace replies, his polite smile incredibly disarming. “Little Man here just wanted to play with the duckies.”

Little Man…fuck me…

My tummy flips, the nickname hitting me right in all my feels, like an arrow hitting a bullseye. Making it that much more annoying. He has no right to be bonding with my baby, giving him pet names, or thinking that he has any kind of…anything.

Nope. He found him, that’s it.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m grateful. There are worse people on this earth that could have picked up my kid. But at the bottom of the good people list is Jace.

“Duckies? Well, buddy, what do you say we go see the duckies?” Dad says, reaching out for Otis.

Otis lights up, nodding emphatically, but still holding on to Jace. A knot forms in my chest, uncertainty taking over. I’ve never seen Otis not want to go to Paps. Ever. Hell, I’ve been left in the dust more times than I can count because Paps showed up.