Page 2 of Marriage and the Midlife Crisis

My heart melted at his sweet words and Miranda nudged my shoulder as she grinned, “Awwww, you’ve got that man hooked.”

An hour later, I crawled into bed with a smile still plastered on my face. Miranda had forwarded the video to me, and I’d watched it about a dozen times since. I knew Ryan probably wouldn’t be home until the wee hours, but that man was so getting laid in the morning.

He crawled into bed a little after two, leaning over to press a soft kiss on my forehead before settling in on his side of the bed. I sleepily mumbled a greeting, and he apologized for waking me.

“It’s late, sweets. Go back to sleep.”

I awoke the next morning to a text from my dad.

Dad: We’re heading to breakfast and we’ll stop by the park afterward. That way they can run some energy off before they get home. We’ll see you in a few hours.

I sent a quick thank you text in returned, then smiled, grateful as always to have such supportive parents. I’d been a single mom for almost five years now, receiving very little from my ex aside from the child support the court had ordered him to pay. He did so, grudgingly, and skipped most of his scheduled visits with Tanner. Chad was supposed to have him two evenings a week and every other weekend. Instead, he’d averaged two evenings a month for the first three years and hadn’t seen him in at all in well over a year now.

My parents had stepped up though. They embraced being grandparents and loved to spend time with their grandson. That care and support had extended to Garrett from the moment I’d introduced them, just three months after Ryan and I had met.

They both loved having another grandson to spoil, and they didn’t let a little thing like DNA get in the way. I loved that about them.

Ryan shifted on the mattress beside me, his body curving around mine as he rolled over and draped his arm over my waist.

“That was my dad,” I murmured softly, not sure if he was actually awake or not. He tightened his hold on me, pulling me even closer and twining our legs together under the covers.

“The boys OK?” His voice was rough with sleep, and goosebumps broke out on my skin as his breath skated over the sensitive flesh on the back of my neck.

“Uh huh,” I mumbled, shivering at the sensation. “They’re going to the park after breakfast, so they won’t be back until closer to lunchtime.”

He pressed a kiss to my bare shoulder, then nuzzled his face in the crook between my neck and shoulder. My breath caught as his tongue licked a stripe from my ear to my collarbone. The goosebumps multiplied, and my nipples hardened at the contact.

“Did you have fun last night?”

His shifted his arm around my waist so that his palm was splayed out over my lower belly. My body came to life as his fingertips grazed the top of the tiny panties which were the only thing I’d worn to bed.

“Yeah, we had a good time,” I answered, although my mind blanked on the details of last night as his index finger traced the seam of my panties where the fabric covered my clit. My hips bucked ever-so-slightly, and Ryan’s sleepy chuckle reverberated in my ear.

“How was your night?” At my question, his body stiffened and he pulled his hand away. When he shifted to put some space between us, I turned my head so I could look over my shoulder at him. The look on his face had me sitting up to face him.

He pushed himself up to rest his back against the headboard, his expression grim.

“What’s wrong?” I asked hesitantly. A tendril of dread unfurled in my stomach, making me doubly glad I’d not overindulged on the margaritas last night.

“I need to tell you something, but I don’t want to upset you,” he began, which was pretty much a guaranteed way to upset a person.

I tucked the covers under my arms to hold them in place, uncomfortable with my nudity when we were clearly about to have a difficult discussion.

“Mitch tried to pull some shit,” he said, then hesitated. He reached for my hand which was resting in my lap, threading his fingers through mine. “Grady found out about when we got to the restaurant and told me what he was planning, so I put a stop to it before it could happen.”

The tendril of dread was joined by another, and then another, until my stomach was clenched.

“Tell me,” I demanded, barely daring to breathe.

Ryan squeezed my hand as if to reassure me, then looked me directly in the eye without flinching.

“Last week, Mitch mentioned getting a couple of strippers for the party. I shut that shit down and told him that absolutely was not happening. He decided to hire them anyway and planned to have them meet us in the private room at the bar.”

My stomach heaved and I jerked my hand from Ryan’s grasp. He reached for me, taking hold of my upper arms and pulling me to him as I tried to get out of bed.

“Listen to me, sweetness. I know you’re upset, but I stopped him. I made him call to cancel them before we even ordered our food.”

“Why would he do that after you told him not to?” As another thought hit, I asked, “And why didn’t you tell me that he asked last week?”