Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 34451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34451 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 172(@200wpm)___ 138(@250wpm)___ 115(@300wpm)
“It’s really not. I’m not always good at this relationship stuff.”
She gave him a shaky smile. “Well, we’re buggered because, between the three of us, you’re the one that’s the best at this relationship stuff.”
“That’s not true. I’m great at this relationship stuff,” the Fox told them.
Brody winked at her, and she held back a giggle.
“I don’t ever want you thinking that I don’t want to be around you, Tutu.” He ran a trembling finger down her cheek. “That’s never going to happen.”
Biting her lip, she nodded. “Sorry. Sometimes, I just get worried. And you seemed to be pulling away . . . I thought maybe it was something I did.”
“Not everything is your fault. And if I’m doing something to upset you, then you need to tell me. I’m not like your grandparents. You don’t need to be silent and unseen. You don’t need to be perfect. If I upset you, then tell me, yell at me, kick me in the shin.”
“I’m not going to kick you in the shin.” She gave him a horrified look.
“You should. I caused you to nearly have a panic attack.”
He kicked out his foot and then let out a cry of pain. Grabbing his foot, he started hopping around.
Naked.
She stared in shock as he bounced about.
Wow.
“This is kind of turning me on. Should this turn me on?” the Fox asked.
“It shouldn’t . . . but I feel the same.”
He squeezed her. “Are you sure you’re all right, baby girl? No doctor?”
She blushed red with embarrassment. “Yes. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make it all about me. Definitely no doctor.”
The Fox kissed the top of her head, then lifted her from his lap, setting her down before moving over to Brody, who’d stopped jumping around and was now glaring down at his foot.
He was such an idiot!
All he’d wanted was to do something nice, but he’d ended up messing it all up.
You should have told them what you were doing. Then, none of this would have happened.
Crap.
But there was a reason that he hadn’t . . . because he wanted to do this himself. To prove that he could.
Yeah. And you made a big mess of things. Idiot.
“Brody-bear? Are you all right? Did you break your toe? Was it the bad fairies? Or evil Storm-Troopers? Magneto? Doctor Doom?”
He glanced over at Autumn, who was now standing and watching him worriedly. “Are you just throwing out names you remember?”
“Um. Maybe. Or was it the Joker hurting your toe, Boy Wonder?”
He shook his head. He wasn’t any sort of Boy Wonder. Just a pathetic nerd mucking everything up.
“It was just me. Being a dumbass.”
Autumn sucked in a breath.
“Boy Wonder, you don’t have a butt made of steel, so you might want to watch what you say,” the Fox warned.
Brody sighed. Sure. That was likely the sensible thing to do. But his brain was telling him that he deserved to be punished.
“Pup. Look at me.”
He shook his head.
“Pup. Look at me.”
Okay. Brody couldn’t ignore the command in the other man’s voice. He raised his gaze up to meet the Fox’s.
The Fox studied him for a long moment without saying anything. Then he nodded and took Brody’s hand, leading him to the chair. He also grabbed Autumn’s hand, bringing her with them. Then he pointed at the chair.
“Sit. Let me look at your foot.”
“It’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with it.” Brody didn’t deserve any fuss.
“Sit.”
Okay. Seemed that he was going to sit. He plonked his ass in the seat. Then the Fox grabbed a beanbag chair for Autumn, who sat facing him. The Fox crouched in front of him, poking at his toe.
“See, I told you it’s fine,” Brody said.
“Pup, if I need your input, I’ll ask.”
“Is his toe all right?” Autumn asked, giving him a worried look.
“I’m fine, Tutu. Promise.”
“Does he need an ice pack, Daddy? I can go get one.”
“No,” the Fox said firmly. “You stay there. I don’t want you running up and down the stairs when you’re Little. You know that. I need to put in a small freezer down here.”
Autumn nodded. “Yeah, Brody-bear gets lots of boo-boos.”
“I do not.” All right. Maybe he got the occasional one. He could be a klutz.
“It looks all right,” the Fox said. “Not swollen, so I don’t think it needs an ice pack. It is just a bit red.”
“See? Fine. I’m just a big old dork who kicks chairs,” Brody muttered.
“That’s enough,” the Fox said sharply. “Are you allowed to say things like that about yourself?”
“Um. No. But it is the truth.”
“It is not the truth,” Autumn added fiercely. “And you need to stop saying stuff like that. Daddy! I think Brody-bear deserves a hot bottom for speaking about himself like that.” She crossed her arms over her chest and nodded.
“Is that so?” the Fox asked, sounding amused.