also twelve?” Blair looks to Bree for confirmation.
“Fletcher is twelve. Rhett’s thirteen.”
“No.” I shake my head again. And I know it’s being completely ignored by Blair.
“Yes. Of course you can. You guys can sleep down in the living room.” Blair overrides me, and Bree smiles.
I look at Blair. “Blair . . . no boys. How will that look to the judge if someone says anything?”
“We aren’t hosting an orgy, Rhys.” She smiles down at Bree, who looks slightly nervous, but not too bad. She knows who wears the pants, and it’s annoying the shit out of me. “She’s having her two best friends over for her birthday party, eating pizza and watching movies like any preteen does for her birthday.”
She’s pleading with me to shut the fuck up, but I can’t help it. These boys are right in the throes of puberty, and they’ll be sleeping in a room with Bree.
Bree looks cautiously up at me. “I don’t like it. They’re still boys.”
Bree shrugs her shoulders. “They can’t help that they have penises, Rhys.”
Fuck, Me. I stare at her, horrified as Blair cackles uncontrollably. “Oh, so true,” she says in between cracking up.
“It’s not funny. They’re going to want to use them soon, Bree.”
She scrunches up her nose at me, like I'm the one who took it too far. “Ew.”
“Exactly,” I say, and Blair and she both give me the exact same look. Like I'm overreacting.
“Bree.” Blair holds her chin affectionately in her hand, looking down at her. “You can have them over for your birthday. No kissing.”
“Gross,” Bree says, pulling another laugh from Blair as she releases her and turns to me.
“You, the dad thing, is super hot, but you need to chill.”
I roll my eyes, and we hear another “Gross” from Bree as I give in for now at least.
“Fine. Let’s just talk about it later. Right now, we have to go meet this douche.”
“Great attitude, Rhys,” Blair lectures, but she’s wearing a grin and also looks like she wants to mount me right here.
And after yesterday in my shop and the night before, my body starts to react to her before I clear my throat and direct them both toward the school.
We head toward the office and meet with the pretentious motherfucker in a suit who looks over Bree and says she will be a good fit once she’s in the official school uniform.
Bree looks like she’s going to puke, and I feel the same, but Blair shines in these moments. She has a way of covering up her disdain for people while still letting them have it with subtle jabs.
We enroll her, and Blair hands over a twenty-thousand-dollar check before we walk out of the school that will be Bree’s for at least a few months.
Bree sulks the whole drive home, and I hate that I feel like I've let her down already. But I keep telling myself it will all be worth it.
“Okay, you can have them both stay the night Saturday for your birthday, and I won’t complain much.”
Blair smiles over at me, and Bree at least drops the angry face, moving to a more indifferent look.
“Thanks.”
“It will be fine, Rhys,” Blair assures me.
But I still don’t fucking like it.
Bree is starting at the private school next week and is not happy about it. So, I’ve decided to make her party as good as I possibly can. It was hilarious to see Rhys all worked up about her having boys stay over, but I’m pretty sure to Bree, they aren’t boys.
They are her comfort. Her constant.
And I'm determined to make them feel welcome. I walk into the front door, my arms completely full as Rhys and Bree both meet me at the door. Bree’s eyes widen. “Whoa, what is all of this?”
I eye her and see she’s completely serious. I hand Rhys the cake I picked up at the bakery and hand her some balloons while holding on to the presents I managed to grab. “It’s all for your birthday, silly.”
Rhys and Bree share a look before Rhys shrugs and walks into the kitchen with the cake. I look at Bree. “I have more out in the car. When will Fletcher and Rhett be here?”
“Should be soon.” She’s looking at the presents as I place them on the coffee table. “You guys didn’t have to do this. I just wanted them to be able to hang out.”
She reminds me so much of Rhys sometimes, uncertain when someone is being nice, always waiting for the