Levy’s head hangs down in shame and I find that fascinating. Rocco calls him on the carpet and he fights back. Annabelle dresses him down and he gets repentant.

“Well, here’s the thing,” I tell the kids as I continue to dab at my sticky palm with the napkin. “Your Aunt Jules loves you three very much, and so she’s working really hard to give you a good life. And I’m working really hard to help her out, because I care about her too.”

“Do you love her?” Annabelle asks, and whoa fuck . . . just . . . what the fuck?

“Um,” I stammer, then stammer again. “Um.”

“Well, do you?” Rocco asks somewhat aggressively. “Because I think she loves you.”

I jerk in my seat and there’s no denying the feeling of euphoria that spreads through me at that proclamation. I lean toward Rocco. “You do?”

“She talks about you all the time,” Rocco says with a sage nod. “And she’s always so happy when you call her.”

“And we’ve seen her kissing you,” Levy adds in. “You kiss people when you love them.”

“And she’s really happy now,” Annabelle offers in a sweet voice. “Since she met you, she smiles all the time.”

Jesus fuck.

These kids.

I put my elbows on the table and steeple my hands as I look at these three little wise and perceptive rug rats. I don’t know if they know what love is, but I have an inkling. I’m not sure if that’s what I would call what I feel for Jules or vice versa, but I know for sure it’s something damn close to that. I know I’ve never felt this before in my life, and I have to say . . . it’s utterly fucking reassuring that Annabelle has recognized her aunt is happier since she met me.

“So here’s the thing about your Aunt Jules and me,” I say carefully to the kids. “We care about each other a great deal, and I’m glad I make her happier. She makes me very happy too.”

“So you love her,” Levy presses, and because this kid wants an answer and because I can’t lie to him, I need to do a very quick evaluation of my feelings.

Jules is an amazing woman. Her attributes are many, varied and spectacular. She’s devoted to the kids, a hard worker, and totally gives of herself. Not a selfish bone in her fucking body.

She makes me laugh . . . so fucking hard.

She makes me smile just by being in her presence.

She also makes me hard just by being in her presence.

I think about her all the time and I constantly yearn to be with her.

I look forward into my future and I try to imagine her not in it, and I just can’t do it.

Cannot even fucking envision it.

Even with all of the problems we face, and the limits on our time, and the fact that she comes with three kids, and I travel fifty percent of the time for my job, and things are so unstable for her right now . . . I cannot imagine being with anyone else but her.

I look Levy square in the eye and I tell him the truth. “Yeah, kid . . . I love her.”

I know it’s only been six weeks since I first met her, but I think I may have fallen a little in love with her that first night in the convenience store when I tried to help her peel the tape off Annabelle, and even though you could tell she was on the edge of defeat, she still had perseverance.

“You should tell her,” Rocco says.

“Don’t be afraid,” Annabelle says, and I turn to face her.

“I’m not afraid,” I assure her. “Just want it to be the right time, you know?”

She nods.

“So how about we keep this between ourselves, okay?” I ask the kids, turning to look at each one in succession.

I get three smiling nods in return.

“Okay, get cracking on those ice creams,” I tell them. “But we’re going to order pizza for dinner, and you each better eat at least one piece of pizza so your Aunt Jules doesn’t know I fed you ice cream this close to dinner.”

Chapter 16

Jules

I look down at the pale blue shimmery polish the technician is painting on my toenails and I’m happy with the choice. Stevie made it for me, and perhaps it’s the artist in me, but I appreciate his funky style. I knew Olivia was someone who could become an amazing friend just from that one night last week we hung together, but it only took me about twenty minutes after I met Stevie Magliano to know that he could be my soul brother.

Not that I would impede on his best friend status with Olivia, but it’s clear she’s not proprietary. They have a special bond that can’t be touched, but Stevie made me feel utterly like his second best friend right off the bat.

This may have had something to do with the fact that our spa day started off with massages together. As in all in the same room. As in Stevie had no qualms with dropping trou right in front of me before climbing on one of three tables that were arranged in a private room smelling of sandalwood and lavender with faint chiming music in the background. I hastily averted my eyes but figured . . . what the hell. He’s gay and clearly not interested in me, but I vaguely wondered if Max would be mad if he knows I got naked—albeit temporarily—in front of another man.

I’m thinking not, because he knows Stevie and knows he’s like one of the girls.

At any rate, twenty minutes into the massage and Stevie had managed to pull out my entire story. I told him and Olivia all about Melody and how close we were, and how horrible it was to watch her die. Stevie started crying, and he then went off on a tangent—a very important tangent—and told me about Olivia’s cancer. I knew a little bit about it from Max, but I got the full story. Then Stevie pointed me back in the direction of what he called “the really juice stuff” and had me spilling my guts about how Max and I met, and with no shame I admitted to him and Olivia how hard I was falling for him.

After the massage, the conversation was halted somewhat as we got facials, but then resumed again once we started in on the manis and pedis. And now we’re finishing up and I feel happy and refreshed.

“So seriously,” Stevie says as his nails get painted a bold neon yellow. “You and Max have got to figure a way to have some more quality time together. While I’m sure your niece and nephews are adorable beyond measure, you and Max need more alone time.”

“Totally agree,” I say wistfully, thinking back to the last time we were together intimately. One week ago to be exact and he fucked me so hard over the back of his couch, only to take me back into his bedroom and fuck me slow and tenderly.