Page 120 of For Your Consideration

I let out a sigh of relief that she wasn’t mad. That she didn’t mind the idea of her and Sophie spending time here. Of Sophie growing up here.

A few hours later, I’d just come back outside from using the washroom when I paused at the sight before me. The men were playing on the playground, climbing up the slide and then going down, Sophie safe in Noah’s arms. She squealed as they went down and then she was passed off to Will who sat on the swing, moving gently while she clapped and giggled.

These men were the best people I knew.

Sutton was standing on the porch, watching it all with one hand on her heart and tears in her eyes as she took in their happiness.

I went behind her, wrapping an arm over her shoulders so I could pull her into my chest. Both her hands came to rest on my forearms. The warm July evening was perfect, the sky a brilliant blue and pink. “Today was a good day,” I said as she leaned into me. I pressed a kiss into the top of her head, inhaling her scent as I did.

“The best.” Her voice cracked as the sun set and we enjoyed the quiet moment together.

33

Asher

Ididn’t know when I stopped wanting quiet but somewhere along the line I did. So, I was fucking annoyed for a few reasons. For one, Sutton had insisted on spending the night at her place tonight. She wanted some time with Iris, and despite my insistence that she could bring her to what I was beginning to think of as our house, she stayed strong.

And two, because of her and Sophie’s absence, my house felt quiet and hollow and I was sitting here feeling lonely at five o’clock.

I was staring at some of Sophie’s toys on the floor when my phone rang. I answered it quickly when I saw my girls’ faces light up my screen.

“Ready to give up and come sleep at home?” I tried to sound casual, like it was a joke. But I was really hoping she would say yes. I would get in my car now and go pick up my family.

Not being together was bullshit.

“Hi to you too.” I could hear the smile in her voice. She joked about it but she never seemed bothered by my gruff phone communication. If it did bother her, I would have worked on it.

I was so fucking gone for her and I didn’t even care.

I gave Knight some shit when he started acting this way but I might be even worse.

“What are you doing tomorrow?”

Guess we weren’t talking about her coming home tonight. My face dropped as I leaned back in my seat.

“Why?”

“Iris has a check-up tomorrow at three thirty with the cardiologist and I want to be there with her. I’ll have to leave work a little early which Quinn was fine with. She’s getting her stitches out and they want to run a few tests and do blood work to make sure everything looks stable. It’s going to take a few hours.” She sounded nervous, which she hadn’t been around me for at least a month now.

“Do you want me to drive you?”

“No, no, we’ll be fine.” She paused. I wished I could watch her face while she mulled over whatever it was that she was debating asking me.

“Sutton?” I pushed when she kept quiet.

“Well, I wanted to ask if you wanted to watch Soph for me while we’re at the appointment.” It felt like my chest was going to explode from pride. I knew this was a huge fucking deal for her, to trust me with what was most important. I gripped the phone tighter. My brain was still processing when she started talking again. “I know she’s busier now that she’s crawling and that you would have to leave work early to get her. I don’t know if you had plans or meetings or anything so maybe you aren’t able to be home. So if you can’t or don’t—”

“Sweetheart,” I interrupted her spiral.

“Yeah?”

“I would love to watch her. Thank you for trusting me.” I was hoping she heard how much I meant it.

“Oh.” She paused again. I hated that we weren’t in front of each other right now, so I hit the Facetime button. She answered the call quickly and I could tell she was sitting on her bed, biting her lip. I let out a breath. Seeing her calmed me.

“Talk to me,” I demanded as I watched her.

“Are you sure?”