Blaire turned at the sound of him jingling them and reached to take them from him. “Those have germs. He puts everything in his mouth. He’s teething.” She walked into the kitchen and opened the freezer and took out some blue frozen-looking toy and handed it to him.
“It’s gonna freeze his hands,” I said, wondering what the heck she was doing.
“No, it’s meant for teething. It will numb his gums.”
This kid shit was more than I wanted to think about.
“Where’s Rush?”
“He went running on the beach. He’ll be back soon. He’s been gone for an hour. Now, back to Harlow,” she said, reaching into the fridge to retrieve food that didn’t look appealing at all. “She forgave you and let you off the hook and you’re pissed because she didn’t put up a fight and is now going out with Adam.”
Not exactly. She made it sound like I was being selfish.
“I just . . . wanted to talk about it more.”
Blaire looked up at me from where she was slicing a tomato. “Really? That’s what you wanted? Because most of the time when a guy is trying to give a girl the brush-off he wants no drama. Sounds like Harlow gave you the easy out.”
“I wasn’t brushing her off,” I said defensively as Nate threw his frozen blue thing onto the floor and began clapping as if he had just done something fantastic.
Blaire smirked. “He wants you to pick it up. Be warned, this is his favorite game. He’ll treat you like a dog. He will keep doing it as long as you fetch it.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Well what the he— I mean, heck do I do then?”
She shrugged. “Be his favorite uncle and pick it up or be the party poopero and ignore his game.”
Dammit. I reached down and got it and handed it to him and he beamed at me as if I was the most wonderful person in the world. The kid was cute. And at the moment I felt pretty damn special . . . until he threw it on the floor again and began clapping.
“He’s a manipulator,” I told her as I bent down to get it.
“Or you’re a sucker,” Rush said as he opened the back door and stepped inside. He smirked at me, then went over to Blaire to kiss her openly right there in front of me and the kid.
“I need help. Let her face go, you’re gonna eat it off,” I grumbled.
Rush went a little longer on the kiss just to be an ass, then shot a look over at me. “This about Harlow again?”
“Yes,” Blaire said, pressing one last kiss to his lips before going back to the tomato.
“Dadadadada,” Nate said happily, and Blaire and Rush both froze. Blaire dropped her knife on the bar and covered her mouth.
Rush stared at his son with an emotion I didn’t understand.
“Dadadadada,” Nate said again.
“Ohmygod he did say it,” Blaire said as tears filled her eyes and she laughed out loud.
Rush walked around the bar and took Nate from me as if I wasn’t even standing there. “Hey, buddy,” he said with awe in his voice. Nate patted Rush’s chest. “Dadadadadada,” he said again.
Blaire made another happy cry sound and Rush grinned. “That’s right, buddy. You can say it now, can’t you?”
I looked over at Blaire and I realized this had to be Nate’s first word. I was witnessing a special family moment and I needed to leave. This was their time with their son. I would talk to Blaire later.
Blaire ran around the counter and wrapped her arms around Rush’s back. “Who is this, Nate?” she asked, and once again he happily answered.
I didn’t say anything as I slipped out the door and headed for my truck. I quickly sent Rush a text.
“Tell Nate I said congrats on his first word. I’ll talk to y’all later. That was a moment y’all needed to enjoy alone.”
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