Ignite

Now they were playing their favorite game, which was to stand next to me while I slept and talk shit about me.

Hallie scrambled into the bed too, forcing me to move to the middle to accommodate them both. “Can we sleep in here?”“Do I have a choice?”“No.”

On one side of me, Hallie snuggled closer and brought up her knees, which jabbed me painfully in the hip. On the other side, a sleeping Luna rolled over, slapped a hand on my chest, and kicked me. But they were still breathing, which meant I’d successfully kept two humans alive for one more day.I called that a victory.

“Get dressed and we can go for donuts on the way to Aunt Bree’s.”“Mom doesn’t let us have donuts,” she said.“Mom’s not fucking here,” replied Hallie.“Hey!” I gave my older daughter a sharp stare. “No cursing.”“But you do it all the time.”“That’s because I’m a grouchy old man, and I earned the right.”

“How come Mom says she’s still young and you say you’re old, but you’re both thirty-four?”

Twenty minutes later, we were heading for my sister’s house, eating glazed donuts and banging our heads along to some hard rock, which the girls called “Dad music.” In the rearview mirror, I looked at my daughters, and as always, I was half-stunned to see them sitting back there—was I really a father?—and fully knocked out by how much I adored them. Sometimes I thought I might be having a heart attack when I looked at them. The feeling was that powerful.

“I’m definitely the boss of my teeth. I will not bite my nice new neighbor.”But I paused when I reached the top. “Unless he asks me to.”

“She could be a lunatic. Or a serial killer.”“But she has princess Band-Aids. And she believes in happily ever after!” shouted Luna.“Then she’s definitely a lunatic.”

“The girls have no fucking filter.”She smiled at me sideways. “That’s what they said about you.”“Oh yeah?”“Yes. They told me all sorts of interesting things about you when they came over today.”Groaning, I tipped up my beer. “Like what?”“Ohhh, how grumpy you are, how much you snore . . .”“Assholes,” I muttered.“They also mentioned how hairy you are and that you swear too much.”“That is a fucking lie.”

“Maybe I’m not as nice as your dad.” I tried to sound menacing, but I was so fucking turned on it was difficult. “Maybe I’m better at saying no.”She laughed like she knew better than I did. “Maybe. But even a Navy SEAL has some weaknesses.”Blowjobs, I thought, watching her lick her fingers and imagining her tongue brushing across the tip of my cock.

And we decided we don’t care if you swear anymore.”“You don’t?” No more napkins in the bag. I opened the glove box.“No, because we need money in the box for Future Cat. So swear all you want.”“Fuck,” I muttered, unable to find another napkin anywhere.“That’s a dollar-fifty, Daddy.”“A dollar-fifty!” I turned around and looked at them in the back seat. “You said yesterday the F word was only a buck.”Hallie smiled sweetly. “Prices go up on Sunday.”“Because of Jesus,” added Luna.

“This isn’t easy for someone with big hands, okay?”“You do have big hands,” she said, rubbing my leg. “But I like them. And I’m sorry I laughed. You’re just concentrating so hard, it’s adorable.”I gave her a dirty look before turning the dress inside out. “I am not adorable. I am manly and tough. Even when I’m sewing.”

“So how was it?”“Hot.”“How hot?”“He threw me down and ripped my dress.”“Oh my God!” Ellie’s jaw dropped. “Your grumpy old man crush is a beast.”“He’s not a total beast—he sewed up the rip afterward.”

“Don’t be afraid to do things that seem scary. Even make mistakes. It’s how you grow and learn.”

She was leaning out her doorway, a playful grin on her face. “I had fun tonight.”“Me too.” And then I relaxed, because I knew what was coming.“But I don’t love you.”I grinned back. “I don’t love you either.”