“What’s going on?” Sloane asked as she thankfully moved her ass and jumped out of the car so that by the time he managed to climb out of the car, she was there waiting with his wheelchair.
“Nicholas,” was all he said as he wheeled himself around the car and
“I’m sorry for not doing my chores and my homework and for teasing Jacob about his blanket, but I stopped doing it, see?” Nicholas rushed to explain as he put the box on the ground and started grabbing things to show him. “I started doing my homework and I got all Bs this year, but I-I can do better next year. And I started making my bed every morning and helping around the house more.”
“What are you talking about, buddy?” Chase asked as he watched his nephew that he’d missed more than he’d realized, begin to pull out some of the things that he’d given him over the years. “You can have this back.”
“What’s going on?” Chase asked, frowning while he watched as Nicholas continued to pull more stuff out of the box.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t listen to you, but I’ll do better. Please stop being mad at me!” Nicholas said around a choked sob as he began placing everything back in the box so that he could pick it up only to end up dropping it and
“Come here,” Chase said, reaching over and pulled the boy that looked like he’d grown six inches since the last time he saw him onto his lap.
“I’m sorry,” Nicholas managed to get out as he wrapped his arms around Chase and held on tight, making him realize just how badly he’d fucked up.
*-*-*-*
“He’s fine,” Sloane said, gesturing to Nicholas, who was laughing hysterically as Chase tipped his wheelchair back and dropped them both in the pool.
“Oh, thank god,” Melissa said, releasing a shaky breath as she dropped down on the patio chair next to her while Sloane sat there, wondering what Chase had been like before the accident.
“What’s going on?” Melissa asked, taking in the chaos surrounding them.
“Chase challenged Nicholas to a game of basketball, but apparently, Chase cheats at basketball and Nicholas demanded a fair game. So, Chase called my brothers and organized a pickup game that ended with everyone agreeing that Chase does, in fact, cheat at basketball. That ended when my mother showed up with food,” Sloane said, gesturing toward her mother, who was most likely putting together another plate of food for Chase.
God, she spoiled him…
“Is there a reason why they’re glaring at you?” Melissa asked, gesturing toward the other side of the pool where Sloane’s nieces and nephews were gathered, most likely trying to decide how they were going to torment her today.
“Your brother is evil,” she said, reaching over to grab a Coke from the bucket of ice that one of her brothers had placed on the table earlier and handed it to Melissa.
“He can be,” Melissa murmured in agreement, her lips twitching as she took a sip of her soda.
A trio of adorable children walked onto the patio with a man that shared their dark hair only to break out into a run when they spotted Chase in the pool. “Uncle Chase!”
“They missed him,” Melissa said with a sad smile as they watched the trio jump into the pool, shoes and all.
“He definitely missed them,” Sloane said, unable to help but smile as Chase gathered the trio up in his arms and gave them a bear hug that had them squealing with laughter and
“You love him,” Melissa said, sending her a curious glance.
“I don’t know,” Sloane admitted even though it would have been so easy to say yes, but she knew that it was a mistake.
“Fair enough,” Melissa murmured, taking another sip before adding, “Just so we’re clear, if you do anything to hurt my brother, I’ll destroy you.”
“Crystal clear,” Sloane said because she had a feeling that Chase wasn’t going to be the one that ended up getting hurt when this was all over.
Chapter 32
“This was a bad idea,” Chase said, only to release a pained grunt when the insensitive woman who refused to allow him to skip this so that he could spend the morning between her legs dropped his bag on his lap.
“This was a great idea,” Sloane murmured with a satisfied sigh as she made her way inside the fire station that he hadn’t set foot in since the morning of his last shift.