Page 234 of Twins for Three Bad Boys

Never have.

Not decisions that matter. Not ones that carry weight past the moment they’re made. You rush those, you miss something. Details slip. Weak points go unnoticed. And then later, when it matters more, when the cost of getting it wrong is higher, you’re left fixing what should’ve been built properly in the first place.

This…

This was never going to be rushed.

It started quiet.

A conversation that wasn’t supposed to turn into anything more than a thought.

A week after we got back from the city, after everything with the school had settled and June had finally started sleeping through the night again without waking up, Rex showed up at the garage earlier than usual.

That in itself wasn’t strange.

Rex shows up whenever he wants.

What was strange was that he didn’t say anything for the first ten minutes.

Just leaned against the workbench, watching me and Fletcher work through a repair, waiting for the right moment to interrupt.

Fletcher noticed it before I did.

Of course he did.

He straightened, wiped his hands on a rag, and glanced at Rex. “You going to say it, or are you planning on standing there all day trying to look decorative?”

Rex huffed a laugh, pushing off the bench. “I’m never decorative. I’m essential.”

“Sure,” Fletcher said dryly. “Go on.”

Rex ran a hand over the back of his neck, a seriousness settling into his posture. “I’ve been thinking…”

That alone was enough to get my attention.

Rex thinks plenty. He just doesn’t always announce it.

“About?” I asked.

He glanced between us, then out toward the open garage doors, checking his own thoughts before he said it out loud.

“About her,” he said.

Fletcher’s expression shifted slightly, focus sharpening. “Go on.”

Rex exhaled slowly. “We’ve got something good right now. Better than good. And it’s not… temporary.”

“No,” I said.

That part had been clear for a while now, not just in what we said, but also in how we moved around each other. How June had settled into this place, and how Evan had started looking at her with love.

Rex nodded once. “Right. So if it’s not temporary, then we need to start acting like it.”

Fletcher leaned back against the bench, arms folding. “Meaning?”

Rex’s gaze came back to us. “Meaning she’s pregnant with twins. Meaning we’ve got a kid already in the mix. Meaning we can’t just keep… drifting around the edges of each other’s spaces and pretending it’s enough.”

I set the tool down in my hand and leaned back slightly, considering it. “You’re talking about a house.”