Page 6
Grayson
“Come on, Luddy! We’ll be late dropping you off with your mom.”
“I’m almost packed!” she hollers back at me with more attitude than any four-year-old should have.
She’s been “almost packed” for the last half hour. And Lord knows if I go up there to try to help, it’ll only piss her off more.
It’s not like she needs clothes or anything to go to her mom’s. She has everything she needs over there, but “Mom doesn’t have these toys at her house.” At this point, Dani and I have given up trying to keep track of which toys stay at my house and which ones stay at hers.
Luddy’s pretty good about keeping track of everything she takes back and forth. She’s way more detail-oriented than I am, which works out in my favor every time.
“Okay, I’m ready.” She comes down with a backpack so full, the zipper is bulging. The sparkly pink straps look ginormous on her shoulders, but I just smile at her.
“Let’s hit the road.” I get Luddy into her car seat before we take off toward Dani’s house. Caulfield is about twenty minutes from Pine Creek Falls and is a much larger town. I try not to spend too much time here if I can help it. It’s not my favorite place to be, but to have any hope of dating someone new, it was the only place to go. Since I’ve lost that desire, I haven’t had a reason to go to Caulfield besides London.
Dani’s house is a cute little bungalow on the edge of town. She normally takes Luddy on the weekends since her job isn’t as flexible as mine.
I typically drop Luddy off on Friday nights and then pick her up on Sundays unless Dani has plans to go out. Then I’ll bring her over on Saturday morning instead. I’ll never begrudge Dani for wanting a life outside of being a mom. Being a full-time parent wasn’t what she planned for herself, but she loves Luddy with everything she has. It’s why we’re able to make things work so well.
I park in Dani’s driveway, and Luddy gets unbuckled before I can get around to her side of the car. She jumps out when I open the door and races up to Dani’s front porch. With her unicorn backpack in hand, I follow behind her. She’s already in the house by the time I get up the porch stairs.
“Mom! I brought those paints I was telling you about!” Luddy yells through the house.
Ah. Now I know why it took her forever to get packed. She’s obsessed with the paint set Kylie sent her, but the glitter tubes usually end up spread all over her table and the floor. She likely had to search for some of the colors and the box they go in, not to mention whatever coloring book she wanted to bring.
“Hey, lovey. I can’t wait to try them out,” Dani says with genuine excitement in her voice.
I follow London’s path to the kitchen. Whatever Dani’s making for dinner smells amazing. Luddy’s already sitting on one of the barstools, talking a mile a minute. I set her backpack on the stool next to her before walking around the island to say hello to Dani with a kiss on the cheek.
She smiles at me. Her makeup-free face is full of humor as our daughter tells her all about her week. Luddy’s a solid mix between us, having gotten my eyes and nose and Dani’s blond hair and full mouth.
Dani’s as beautiful as always. It’s still a bit of a mindfuck to know we only had sex once, yet we’ll be in each other’s lives forever. We still laugh at the fact that neither of us wants to see the other naked ever again.
London’s asked us why we aren’t together a few times. Our answer is always the same. Dani and I love each other very much, but only in the way best friends love each other. Not in the way married couples love each other.
Dani has become a good friend over the four years we’ve raised London together. I’ve shared more with her about my feelings for Kylie than I care to admit. Dani has always encouraged me to tell Kylie how I feel, especially recently, with how much I’ve been struggling to keep my distance.
I just can’t do that to Kylie. It would be selfish to tell her I’m in love with her. What could she even say back? She’s married and too fucking loyal to her piece of shit husband to respond. I’d much rather have her in my life as my best friend than push her away because I tell her how I feel.
“You want to stay for dinner?” Dani asks.
“Whatcha making?”
“Enchiladas.” She raises an eyebrow, knowing what my answer will be before I give it.
I press my hands over my heart. “You’re an angel.”
With a roll of her eyes, she pulls the pan from the oven and sets it on the stovetop. I help with plates, and the three of us sit around the small kitchen table to eat. London takes our full focus, as usual, but we also discuss the projects Dani’s been working on as her company’s social media manager.
I stay long enough to clean the dishes and put leftovers away. Then I say goodbye to Luddy with a big hug and kiss. It’s never gotten easier to leave her for the couple days she’s with Dani. I’m so not ready for her to go to kindergarten next year. Dropping her off every day is going to break my heart.
Back home, I crack open a beer and pull out my laptop to edit videos. I had a couple of interesting trims this week that I know my followers will love. One was a rescue horse that hadn’t been well looked after.
Her hooves had grown out far enough that they’d started to curl. It was a sad situation, but she’s in a much better environment now at the rescue center. I got a good chunk of her hooves trimmed back—enough to allow her to live a much more comfortable life. I’ll have to make routine checks on her to ensure they’re growing right, but I’m positive she’ll make a full recovery.
I also worked on one of my followers’ favorites, Trace. He’s one of Knox’s horses and is a cheeky little bastard. He bites my ass regularly because he thinks I don’t give him enough treats.
My phone rings on the coffee table, and I snatch it up to answer without looking at who’s calling.
