He waves me off and pulls out a cardboard party hat before reaching up to place it on top of Zach’s head. “Look! It’s perfect, right?” The hat is in the shape of a red, black, and white racing car helmet with the words ‘Vroom vroom’ on it.
“It’s something, alright.” Zach’s lips twitch as he pulls it off and studies it.
“Scotty . . . just wondering, was the sales assistant female by any chance?” Marco asks, and suddenly realization hits.
“Now it all makes sense.”
To his credit, Scotty shrugs, his lips curling into a guilty smirk as he lifts his hands in the air. “Look, can I help it if an attractive female wants to talk me into buying a bunch of stuff for my ‘son’s party?’”
I can’t stop the chuckle that bubbles in my chest. Only Scotty would get conned by a woman into dropping a ton of coin at a party store. “Please tell me you didn’t invite said attractive female to your imaginary son’s birthday party.”
“Hey. If she calls, I’ll fess up. If she doesn’t, she got a good sale out of me.”
“Or me, since I gave you a fifty for all of this. Usually, the only person I give money to and don’t get change from is Jake himself.”
“This is for Jake. It’s an investment in his future as a stud who gets all the chicks when he’s driving around like the coolest kid at school.”
“Or, you know, he’s already a good kid and a cool kid, and he probably doesn’t need a car to get laid,” Marco says.
“Hey! Enough of that. I’m far too young for grandchildren.”
“Why are you worried? Didn’t you tell me you had to raid the emergency-condom stash last weekend when you—”
That earns my best friend an elbow in the ribs, which makes him grunt and shoot me a ‘what the fuck’ look. Zach’s eyes bug out of his head before he chuckles under his breath.
Friends, who’d have ’em?
“Wait, you got laid, Rhodes? Who’s the lucky girl?” Scotty asks, the party-supply-girl discussion all but forgotten.
I level him with a pointed stare. “She’s not a girl. She’s my girlfriend, and no, I’m not going to talk about my sex life at work.”
“You told Marco,” he retorts.
“He’s also been with me for close to twenty years, and Jake’s my god son. That gives me certain need-to-know privileges.”
Scotty tilts his head, his mind working overtime. “But wait, you have an emergency condom box? My parents would never have done that.”
“Your parents probably didn’t think you’d need them,” Luca strolls into the kitchen with a workout towel wrapped around his shoulders, his hair wet.
“Hey. I’ll have you know I went through more than my fair share of condoms when I was in high school.”
Luca smirks. “Was that third-year senior, or fourth?”
“Fuck you, Rossi,” Scotty retorts with a laugh, sobering when he catches the quirked brow of Marco.
“What have I told you about telling your lieutenant to fuck off, firefighter?” he asks.
Scotty blanches but narrows his eyes when Marco can’t keep up the act any longer.
“Jeez, Scotty. Breathe. I’m screwing with ya.”
My phone vibrates in my pocket with a text.
“Oh, and if you ever need a pick up line at a party, just pull out a party blower like this. It’ll definitely get you a laugh—or a phone number,” Scotty says as I open my messages and smile at Dee’s name on screen.
Dee: Any news yet? I was thinking I could arrange dinner for Jake tonight and send it to the house.
Rhodes: No news yet, and how come my son gets takeout to his door and I don’t? Have I not earned that privilege yet?
Dee: You earn it every time we’ve had adult alone time in the past two weeks. But it’s only once you get your driving permit for the first time, and I know that Jake likes my lava cake, so . . .
Rhodes: Wait . . . how do you know that?
Dee: ’Cause he stole your phone that night I gave you a doggy bag to take home to him.
I bark out a laugh, realizing the room has gone quiet. I turn to find four sets of eyes watching me like I’ve grown two heads or something. I ignore them and return to my phone.
Rhodes: That kid. Swear to god, he’s going to turn me gray.
Dee: Oh, I dunno, I think you’d look good with a few more grays. You could be my sexy, silver fox.
Rhodes: You’d like that, would you?
Dee: Yep. It’s truly unfair how guys can look hot with that salt-n-pepper look, yet women still color their hair until they can’t anymore.
Rhodes: I think you’d look sexy whatever color hair you had.
Dee: Smooth, honey. Real smooth. You already know I’m a sure thing. No need to sweet-talk me.
Rhodes: I’ve never sweet-talked you. I only speak the truth. Honesty policy, remember?
Dee: Damn. Can you stop being so perfect? You’re gonna give me a complex
Rhodes: Hey. You cook like a dream, you run with us even though you hate it, and never before have I seen a woman wear a pair of jeans that makes me jealous of the damn denim. Do you need me to go on? Because I’m barely scratching the surface when it comes to you, and I can’t wait to burrow deeper and stay there.
I don’t even hesitate to press send, because when it comes to Dee, she may say she’s a sure thing, but I mean every single word. The more time I spend with her, the more things I learn about her, the more I want to know. She’s a slow riser in the morning, but the minute I kiss her and roam my hands over her skin, she sparks alight like a freshly lit fuse. She’s a dream with Jake, she’s the best mom to Harvey, and the fact she and Flynn put their own lives and interests aside to keep a steady ship for their
