The Man Who Has No Sight - Victoria Quinn Page 0,18

way he made me feel loved. He tugged me closer as he kissed me, like his need to love me made him forget Derek was right there…or he just didn’t care.

“Ew…” Derek trailed away.

Deacon rubbed his nose against mine before he pulled back, looking at me with that old happiness he used to display all the time, like there wasn’t a single thing he would change about his life—everything was perfect. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” The phone was in my grasp, and the video kept rolling.

“You’re gross.” Derek threw a snowball at the back of his father’s head.

I chuckled, seeing the snow splash across his shoulders.

Deacon turned away from me and stared down at his son.

I lifted the phone and continued to record.

“Okay,” Deacon said. “Now it’s time for me to teach you a lesson.”

I lay on the couch in front of the fire with Derek beside me, an open picture book in his lap. It was about dragons and other mythical creatures. He read aloud to me, like he wanted to show me how well he could read.

Deacon was in the armchair in front of the fire, drinking his beer as he watched us together, the flames highlighting the angles of his handsome face. Instead of watching the fire, he watched us, never taking his eyes off us.

When Derek got too tired, the book slowly slid from his hands and flattened against his chest. His lips parted, and he fell into a deep sleep, his hand falling over the edge and dangling to the floor.

Deacon grinned slightly, watching his son fall asleep in my arms. “I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did.” He set his beer down then walked to us on the couch. He kneeled, delicately slipped his arms underneath Derek’s small body, and then lifted him as he rose to his feet. “I’m gonna put this little butthead to bed…”

I chuckled. “Alright.”

He carried him upstairs.

I sat up on the couch, wearing one of Deacon’s sweaters and his sweatpants because it was just more comfortable than the things I’d brought. My bag was on the floor beside the coffee table, so I fished out the small box inside.

Deacon returned minutes later, like there hadn’t been a good-night conversation because Derek was out cold. He was in sweatpants loose on his hips and a long-sleeved shirt, covering more skin than usual, but still sexy, nonetheless. “You want to go to bed?” He moved to the seat beside me.

“What about the fire?”

“I can wait for it to go out.”

“No.” I stared at the flames for a while before I turned to him. “We’ll go together.” The nerves suddenly got to me. I was nervous when I shouldn’t be. It was just so important to me, and if it didn’t go the way I hoped, I was afraid of getting hurt. But this was Deacon…he would never hurt me.

He watched me for a few seconds, noticing the change in my mood without my saying a single word. “What is it, baby?” He didn’t notice the box on the coffee table because it blended in with the wood pretty well.

“Well…” I grabbed it and rotated it with my fingers. “I wanted to give this to you.” After losing him and then experiencing that difficult Thanksgiving, I knew he was the only man I would ever feel this way about. Even if we couldn’t make it work someday, my feelings for him would never change. I handed him the box.

He eyed it for a moment, the flames reflecting in his eyes, and he processed the gesture for a few seconds before he eventually took it. His fingers spun it around gently, like he was looking for some sign of the contents on the exterior. Then he cracked it open, seeing the watch sitting inside, the silver band and the matching face. The battery had died a long time ago, but it’d been replaced. I’d had it cleaned too. He stared at it for a while, like he wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“I know it’s not as nice as the other watches you wear…but it belonged to my father.”

He turned his head to me quickly, his eyes wider than before, as if the gesture took him by surprise.

“I want you to have it.” I couldn’t wear it, and I’d always imagined giving it to someone special. There just wasn’t anyone special enough before Deacon.

He turned back to the watch and stared at it for a moment before he