I took all that in and let it settle deep in my bones. I’d never wanted to be a dad. Never. It wasn’t in my life plan, and Tatum had told me it wasn’t in hers either, so there would be no kids for me. But this… this was everything. I pressed a kiss to her forehead and then pulled back to meet her gaze again. “I got the better end of the deal. I got you.”
Tears slid down her face, but she smiled up at me and gave me her trademark wit. “True. Your life would have no meaning without me.”
I grinned at her. “What time’s your mum coming over? I need to get Tatum’s ass moving and in that kitchen if it’s gonna be soon.”
“I thought you were cooking tonight,” Tatum called out.
I turned my grin towards her. “You wore me out this afternoon, Vegas. A man needs to recuperate before he can spend hours cooking.”
She rolled her eyes. “If Dustin can manage to make every single thing I love to eat for one meal, you can surely manage to cook a damn roast.”
I placed my hand over my heart. “You wound me, woman.”
A knock on the door interrupted us and I headed down the hallway to answer it. I was surprised to find Billy fucking Jones on the other side.
“Billy,” I greeted him. We’d kept a civil distance to each other since Tatum had moved in, and while I’d come around a little in my opinion of him, we were far from friends.
He seemed as uncomfortable to be there as I was to have him there. Holding a folder out to me, he said, “These are for Tatum. They’re documents she needs for the case she’s working on.”
I took the folder from him. “I’ll pass them on.”
“Thanks.”
Silence descended on us. It was awkward as fuck while I waited for him to leave. I considered calling out to Tatum to let her know he was there, but I was a greedy asshole and didn’t want to share the time I had with her.
He turned to leave, but stopped and glanced back at me. “She’s a lot happier now.”
I nodded, not really wanting to have this conversation with him.
“Because of you, I mean. She was never happy before you.” He paused. “Don’t fuck that up.”
I clenched my jaw. I didn’t need Billy Jones coming to my house and telling me not to fuck something up that I never would. I gripped the door, ready to close it. The only thing stopping me from slamming it in his face was Tatum.
He didn’t wait for my response before leaving. Not that there would have been a response. At this point, the best I could manage was to simply keep the peace and not punch the fuck out of him. I knew Tatum hoped for more, but she never pushed me, and I appreciated the hell out of that. Who knew what the future held. I doubted Billy and me would ever be friendly, but Tatum had a way of getting me to do shit I never thought I would.
“Nitro!” Renee called out. I closed the door and headed back inside. “Mum’s on her way now, so you should start cooking.”
I passed Billy’s folder to Tatum. “Billy dropped this off.”
She smiled as she took it. “Thanks.” She didn’t appear surprised that he’d come or that I hadn’t called her out to see him.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Did you know he was coming over?”
She shrugged. “I figured he might.”
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. “You’ll be the death of me, Vegas.”
She waved me away with a laugh. “Go cook. I’m hungry.”
Fifteen minutes later I slid a roast into the oven and thought about how my life had changed. Only for her would I be in a kitchen cooking a damn roast when I’d rather be on the couch with her tits pressed against me. She’d fast become the woman I spent my time trying to make happy; the woman I worried incessantly over; the one I planned my future around and the woman I wanted by my side until the day I died.
* * *
“You’ve been holding out on me, Nitro,” Tatum said over dinner that night. “Who knew you could cook so well? Roast is one of my favourites so I think you’re gonna be cooking it a lot more from now on.”
Dustin frowned. “I never knew roast was one of your favourites. I’ll make it next time I cook for you.”
Tatum gave him a smile, but it wasn’t the kind of smile I saw women give him all the time. The type of smile that said they felt sorry for him or that they thought it was a shame that a good-looking guy like him didn’t have the intelligence they were looking for. Tatum’s smile was genuine and it said she appreciated his thoughtfulness and that she loved him for it.
I loved her for that smile.
“Thank you, Dustin. But honestly, roast can be so expensive. I don’t expect you to cook it for me.”
His face lit up as he thought that over. “I could substitute the steak for roast every now and then. That would work.”
I grinned at him. “Great idea, man.”
He had the family over for dinner once a week since he’d moved out. Every Thursday night was Dustin’s night. Unless he had to work, but generally he had Thursdays and Fridays off. He didn’t cook Tatum’s favourites every week, but rather he alternated between everyone’s favourites. I had to hand it to Billy—he’d given Dustin a stable job that seemed to be doing wonders for his confidence.
“Roast is one of my favourites, too,” Marilyn said. “But I prefer pork over lamb.”
Dustin’s eyes widened. “I never knew that!”
That was because Marilyn had kept so much about herself locked away inside for years. We hadn’t known the real Marilyn. She’d been attending her psychologist appointments religiously and working hard at turning her life around. She’d even finally gone back to work five weeks prior and managed to find a way to get through her days there regardless of the anxiety she experienced. I was so fucking proud of her.
“Pork crackling!” Tatum said, smiling at Marilyn. Turning to Dustin, she asked, “Tell me you know how to make good crackling. I will love you forever if you do.”
“I can google that,” he said, and I had to chuckle at his enthusiasm. But then, that was Dustin. Always trying to make others happy. I guessed he took that upon himself when everyone in his family had been so damn unhappy.
I stretched one arm across the back of Tatum’s chair and reached for my beer with the other arm. Whispering in her ear while everyone else was talking and laughing, I said, “Marry me.”