The Bromance Book Club - Lyssa Kay Adams Page 0,56
behind her head and fell back against it. Her head clunked the headboard. She tried again.
His quiet chuckle vibrated the bed. “Comfortable?”
“Fine.”
His smile actually made noise. “Just checking.”
Thea let out another annoyed breath. “Are you going to pick up where we left off?”
Gavin made an mmm noise. “I think maybe we should start over.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Gavin started over by lying to his wife bright and early Monday morning.
“I have a training session,” he told her, pouring cereal into the girls’ bowls. They sat sleepily in matching red T-shirts in their booster seats at the island countertop. “I’ll be back around noon.”
“OK,” Thea said, handing him the milk over the girls’ heads. Their fingers touched in the exchange, and she didn’t react, which was progress. A pleasant truce had settled between them since Friday night. He read to her and kissed her chastely before bed every night. She hadn’t exactly warmed up to him yet, but she’d let him put his arm around her while watching a movie with the girls on the couch last night. It was like working with a skittish stray dog.
“I like a lot of milk, Daddy,” Amelia said.
“I know, baby.” He filled her bowl to the brim and then splashed half as much into Ava’s, who he secretly believed wanted less just to be different from her sister.
“Can you write everything on the whiteboard so I’ll know what your schedule is?” Thea said, putting the milk back in the fridge. She looked at the girls, who were still in the yawning-and-staring phase of waking up. “Eat. We’re gonna be late.” She looked back at him. “I gotta run into the school to pick up my letter of recommendation, and then I’m meeting with the guidance counselor.”
“I know. I saw it on the whiteboard.”
Butter barked at his empty dish and smacked the bowl with his paw. He somehow managed to spill his water instead. Thea did a little hop and pirouetted over the puddle, grabbed a handful of paper towels, and dropped them over the mess. All while answering a question from Amelia about where her pink headband was. “It’s in the drawer in your bathroom, honey. Do you want to wear it today?”
Amelia nodded, milk dribbling from the side of her mouth. Thea did the same little dance back over to the counter, another paper towel in hand, and wiped it up. “OK, I gotta get dressed or we’re going to be late.”
She whirled out of the kitchen, and Gavin could’ve sworn he felt an actual breeze as she went by. Thea in the morning was like a well-choreographed dance routine. He fed the dog and cleaned up the wet paper towels.
Then he called up his calendar app, uncapped the pen with his teeth, and started jotting down his various training sessions and other appointments, meetings, and required events through the end of December. When he was done, he saw that Tuesday night was open on the schedule. It also happened to be a night off for Liv. He and Thea hadn’t set a date yet for their first night out, but he wasn’t going to waste an opportunity. He got a different colored pen and wrote DATE NIGHT.
At the sound of her feet on the stairs, he quickly put the pen away as if he’d been caught sniffing pine tar. She walked back into the kitchen in a skirt, cardigan, and tall brown boots he’d never seen before. They must’ve been part of her haul from Friday. She held Amelia’s pink headband in one hand.
“I put stuff on the whiteboard,” he said.
“Thanks.” She looked at it and then did a double-take when she saw what he wrote for tomorrow night.
“Is that OK?” he asked, feeling like he’d just asked her out for the first time all over again.
She avoided his gaze. “I’ll have to make sure Liv will watch the girls.”
“We could get a babysitter, if she can’t.”
She nodded noncommittally, which wasn’t a no. “Here’s your headband, honey. Are you done eating?” she asked the girls. Both nodded. Thea picked up their bowls, carried them to the sink, and rinsed them out. She spoke as she put them in the dishwasher. “Will you get propane for the grill today? We’re out, and I was thinking of steaks for dinner.”
“Sure. Do you need anything else while I’m out?”
“I don’t think so, but I’ll text you if I think of anything. OK,” she said with an exhale, turning to the girls. “Let’s get your coats on.”