Well, that answered that. He was still laboring under the false impression she and Shane were more than friends, and he didn’t like it. She deflated. Even though their relationship was just for show, it hurt that he wasn’t open to viewing her as more than the babysitter. She’d always thought they got along well. She liked him, and she’d believed he liked her too. Apparently, he had a limit.
“Dad says he’s canky,” Hunter murmured, blinking up at her.
“I think you mean ‘cranky,’" Faith corrected, melting in the face of his adorableness.
“Yeah. So don’t take it wrong.”
“Thank you, honey. I’ll try not to.”
Dylan didn’t join them while he ate, opting to scoff his pizza in the kitchen before going straight back to his room. He came out a while later, seemingly in a better mood, and played hallway cricket with Hunter for a while. Eventually, they swapped to video games, and Hunter fell asleep. Faith carried him to bed and returned to find that Dylan had vanished into his room. She hovered outside his door, wondering whether to try talking to him, but in the end, she chickened out. Instead, she sprawled on the sofa, pulled a blanket over herself, and called Megan. She needed to hear a friendly voice, even if they’d spent all day together.
“Hi, gorgeous.”
“Hey, Faith. How are you?”
Faith groaned. “Confused. I’m so confused.”
“Oh?” Megan perked up. “Why is that?”
“It’s all the Walker family’s fault,” she grumbled, snuggling deeper beneath the blanket. “Hunter is the only uncomplicated one.”
Megan laughed. “Well, he is four. Give him sweets and a toy and he’s happy.”
“I wish all men were so easily pleased.” Faith sighed. “Dylan still hates me. He hasn’t outright said it, but he holed up in his room all night and wouldn’t even sit with us for dinner.”
“Sorry.” Megan’s voice was soft, and Faith held the phone closer to her ear. This was why she loved her friend. Megan was twice as empathetic as anyone else. “That must be hard.”
“It is,” she admitted. “This is going to sound stupid, but the worst part is that I keep thinking... why would it be so bad if I were dating Shane? This whole wedding date thing is fake, but he’s a great guy. It hurts that Dylan is so anti us because I’d always thought that if something happened between Shane and me, at least I’d already know his sons love me. But Dylan couldn’t make it clearer that he doesn’t want me anywhere near his dad.”
“Hmm.” Megan seemed to be mulling it over, and Faith waited, knowing she’d say something eventually. “From what you’ve said, Dylan is close to his mum, right?”
“Yeah, I think so. They talk on the phone most weeks.”
“So perhaps he holds out hope that she’ll come back. Maybe she doesn’t seem as distant to him as she does to everyone else because they keep in touch.” Something rustled, and Faith heard barking in the background. “Shh, Pix,” Megan ordered. “Anyway, what I’m saying is, he might think she’s going to turn up and that it’s his job to protect her place in the family.”
“Huh.” Faith could see the sense in that. Especially when she kept in mind that Dylan was still a kid, even if he seemed older at times. And that comment he’d made about his friend’s parents who’d reunited…. Perhaps he hoped the same thing would happen with his own parents. “I can see that. Thanks, Meg.”
“No problem. Just give him time. He’ll come around. Don’t try to force him.”
At this, Faith smiled wryly. It wasn’t in her nature to let a problem simmer on the back burner. “I’ll try.”
“Keep in mind that it could also be something else. Maybe he’s used to having his dad to himself and doesn’t want to share. Maybe he’s worried Shane won’t have time for him anymore.”
“Hmm. Maybe,” Faith mused. “Anyway, I’d better let you go. Kiss that sexy beast of yours for me.”
“Oh, I will. Don’t you worry.”
Poker night wasthe closest Shane ever came to feeling like a real person rather than just a dad. No one needed his attention, there were no messes to clean up, and he could drink a few beers, safe in the knowledge that his boys would be taken care of. For the first year after Diana had left him, he’d stopped spending Friday evenings with his friends, certain that he’d be an irresponsible father if he did. But by now he’d come to realize that, much as he loved his sons, he needed to get away sometimes, and he could trust Faith or Bex to keep them in one piece.
Logan Pride hosted the game in his apartment above The Den—the local pub. Usually Shane was reluctant to leave at the end of the evening, but this time, he was eager to get home and see Faith. He walked back with his hands in his pockets to protect them from the chilly air. The stroll home was a great way to sober up, but his state of moderate sobriety didn’t stop his heart from stuttering when he stepped into the living room and found Faith asleep on his sofa. She was cuddled beneath a blanket with only her head sticking out the top. Her face was slack, and she must have scrubbed it clean at some point because he could see a few of the freckles she typically hid beneath makeup.
Crossing to her side, he touched her shoulder. “Faith, wake up.”
She murmured something and rolled over, burying her face in the cushions. A curtain of red hair fell over the edge of the sofa, brushing the floor. His heart constricted. It felt so right to come home to her.
“Faith,” he repeated, shaking her shoulder more firmly. “It’s me.”
She moaned, and a bolt of desire shot straight to his groin. Dear God. He willed his body to calm down. She rolled over and blinked up at him, eyes slumberous. “Shane.”