Tatum looks on the verge of tears from the moment I catch sight of her standing at her front door. Hurrying into my arms, she gives me a passionless hug. Her desperate embrace is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. She’s on the verge of the abyss, and I’m the only thing keeping her from toppling into the darkness.

I don’t know how to be THAT GUY. The hero, white knight, savior. My life’s always been easy. The closest I got to pulling a low card in life was having Toby Eddison as a biological dad. Even then, I still inherited doting grandparents. Then I scored a father upgrade with Hayes. Shit, my life hands me aces at every turn. How am I qualified to save a woman who only days ago was willing to die?

Holding her in my arms, I realize Tatum loses her way when we’re apart. Unfortunately, I can’t be with her every second. Deciding I’m incapable of saving her alone, I figure it’s time to call in backup.

“Do you mind if we stop at my sister’s house?” I ask once we’re in the car.

Tatum shakes her head, looking exhausted in an unhealthy way. We barely speak during the drive, though I do mention Cricket’s assistant and best friend is a great cook and will feed us at the house. Tatum nods, remaining silent as I leave Hickory Creek Township and return to White Horse where we belong.

After Mom married Hayes, my family eventually traveled to all fifty states. While I got a boner for the aesthetics of mountain states like Colorado and Wyoming, Cricket creamed her panties over New Mexico. Her Spanish-inspired house is filled with shabby chic décor. In the last few years, splashes of country boy sensibilities were added so Poet wouldn’t pull out his hair.

I park my SUV behind Bianca Bella’s gold one and come around to open Tatum’s door. She steps out, lifting her pale face to the cold breeze. Inhaling, she smiles a little, and I give her a quick kiss.

Before I can deepen the gesture, I remember Cricket’s fucking dogs and know they’ll attack at any second.

“These are Cricket’s dogs,” I say, pointing at the slobber machines running our direction. “The big one is Lobo. He’s harmless despite his size.”

“Are you sure?” she asks, bracing for the onslaught.

“About Lobo? Yeah. He’s all bark, no bite. Like my little brother actually.”

Tatum kneels down to pet the cocker spaniels before finally turning her attention to the huge bastard waiting for her acknowledgment.

“Can you wait out here with them while I go inside and talk to my sister?”

Tatum gives me a quick frown before nodding. “Sure.”

“If it gets too cold, you can return to the car or knock on the front door.”

“I’ll cuddle with the dogs to stay warm,” she says, hugging the black and white monster now licking her face.

Leaning down, I kiss the top of Tatum’s head and then leave her to play with the dogs. I glance back a few times to make sure she isn’t drowning in their love. Each time, I catch her smile growing at their excited devotion.

Inside the house, I find everyone cuddled in the living room. Wearing pajamas in the middle of the day, Bianca Bella stretches out on the couch with her feet resting on Cricket’s lap. In a nearby leather La-Z-Boy, Poet sits with the mini-twins who color on papers held by clipboards while he nods at their four-year-old jabber.

“I need relationship advice, and our parents aren’t home,” I announce.

“Mine are,” Poet says. “Want to call them?”

“No, I’m good, dirty biker.”

“Biker!” Minnow cries and triumphantly punches her fist in the air.

After a moment of oohing over her adorableness, I track down a bottle of wine in the kitchen and pour me a glass. I return to the living room where my sister watches her kids draw pictures of their great-great-grandfather.

“Peepaw Earlham looks like a hobo,” I whisper and sit down near the pueblo fireplace.

“My kids are natural artists,” Cricket says and then turns her dark eyes on me. “What’s wrong, lover?”

“Well, my sister keeps coming onto me, so that’s pretty fucking weird.”

Cricket giggles. “My birth control makes me super horny.”

“Horny!” Minnow yells and punches her fist in the air again.

“She always picks the most embarrassing word,” Bianca Bella says. “How do kids know to do that?”

“The devil helps them,” I mutter and clear my throat loudly. “Fucking pay attention to me.”

“Be cuter than them and we will.”

I punch my fist into the air and holler, “Bumfuck!”

“Bumfuck!” Minnow and Murphy yell.

Poet shoots me a death glare. “Thanks for teaching them that word.”

“Fucking-A right, because this is clearly the first fucking time they’ve heard the word fuck before.”

“What did you need, shit for brains?” Cricket asks me.

“I want to move Tatum into my house along with hiring her as my assistant. Do you think that’s coming on too strong?”

“Too strong for a serial killer?” Bianca Bella asks. “No, not at all.”

Cricket rolls her eyes. “A serial killer doesn’t behave that way.”

“That’s exactly what a serial killer would say,” Bianca Bella teases.

Snapping to get their focus back on me, I sigh. “Tatum only seems happy when she’s with me. My taking over her life would help her. Despite my amazing generosity, I worry she’ll grow to love me for the wrong reasons.”

“You should view the misery she feels when away from you as a badge of honor,” Bianca Bella says. “It means she likes you.”

“Yeah, so what’s the problem?” Cricket asks and then gives me a dangerous look. “Don’t tell me you’re bored of the poor thing already.”

“No, of course not. She’s fucking perfection, but I worry she’s only with me because she has no one else. What if she stays with me out of desperation? How can I know her feelings are real?”

“Do you feel as if she’s using you?”

Thinking of Tatum outside with the dogs, I can’t help smiling. When she’s happy, the world fucking shines.

“No. She’s the one who pointed out how being my assistant would make her too reliant on me. She’s the rational one, but I think she doesn’t want to be. I think she wants me to take over and be in charge. I see how lost and sad she is, and I can understand why she wanted to kill Howler. Nothing matters without her mom. Now I can offer her a life jacket to keep her from drowning in sorrow. If I do, though, then what? How will we ever get on even footing in the relationship?”

“Equality in relationships is a mirage,” Poet says while drawing a sun on Murphy’s picture. “There’s always a dominant person.”

Cricket shakes her head, likely assuming Poet views her as the submissive one in their relationship. “What Tatum needs is a girlfriend to bullshit with.”

“That’s true,” I say.

“I know it is. She needs to be able to talk to someone about you. Like how I told Bianca Bella every single detail about Poet after our one-night bang-a-thon. I’m sure I described his penile perfection with so much detail that she could sketch a picture.”

“Could and did,” Bianca Bella says and winks at Poet.

Cocking an eyebrow, he glances at Cricket and shakes his head. “No.”

“Too late. Right, Minnow?”

My niece nods and pats her father’s face.

“I think you should get Tatum a real job,” Bianca Bella suggests. “So she won’t be dependent on you.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Poet says, instantly receiving frowns from Cricket and Bianca Bella. “Taking charge is the right move. Do you know how many times I thought about calling Cricket after our one-night stand? A dozen times a day probably, but I always figured she needed to make the first move. She was the one who left and said we wouldn’t work. She needed to be the one to realize we clicked and return to me.”

“And I did thanks to our pretty babies,” Cricket says, smiling at the mini-twins.

“Yeah, but what if you hadn’t? I could have lost out on all this because I respected your choices too much.”

“Respect is always a bad move in relationships,” Bianca Bella says and returns to reading.

“Ignore her,” Poet tells me. “I’m the one with a woman and kids.”

“Hey, I could have a woman and kids too if I wanted. I choose this lonely, pathetic life!” she cries before bursting into fake sobs.

Murphy and Minnow immediately climb off Poet’s lap and run to Bianca Bella. They climb on her and bounce until her feigned tears end.

“I feel better. Thank you,” she says, but they refuse to get off her lap, so she sets aside her tablet to focus on their drawings.

Poet turns his gaze to me. “Tatum is alone in a new town with only one person who cares about her. What’s the point of waiting for her to figure things out? Unless you’re more worried about feeding your ego than her happiness.”

“Feeding my ego, huh?”

“You want to know she wants you for you and not because you saved her and fixed all her problems. That’s your ego. If you’re sure this girl is the one, then you should put her needs first. What Tatum needs is for you to take control and fix shit. So who do you care about more? You or her?”

“That’s not wise,” Cricket says, standing up and standing between Poet and me.

“What?” he asks.

“You’re wrong,” she mutters through clenched teeth. “Chipper needs to protect himself. We don’t even know this woman.”

Bianca Bella snorts. “Paranoia.”

“I’m watching out for my baby brother. He’s been hurt before by his not-so-sound choices.”

“Chevelle and Tatum are nothing alike,” I say, staring up at Cricket. “My feelings for them are nothing alike. Chevelle was my childhood ideal. She fit in the box my immature brain thought was love. Tatum, though, is just perfect as Tatum. She doesn’t fit anything I’ve ever had in mind, yet I don’t want her to change at all. She can say or do anything, and I only want her more.”

Poet leans to the side so he can see around Cricket’s ass. “Then don’t let your ego keep you from giving Tatum everything she needs. If Hayes thought your mom needed something, he’d get it for her. He wouldn’t ask for permission. Your mom is no pushover, but Hayes takes charge, and she’s happy in their marriage. So take charge with Tatum and stop being rational or else you’ll just fuck up things. Or at the very least, you’ll waste time like I did with your sister.”

I look at the mini-twins and my sister and then back at Poet. This is what I want for Tatum—a home where she’s surrounded by people who value her in the way her mother did.

“Tatum deserves happiness, so I’ll force it on her with no concern for common sense or long-term plans. Deep inside, I knew that was the answer, but I appreciate Poet agreeing with me.”

“He’s wrong, though,” Cricket whines.

“When I picked up Tatum a half hour ago, she looked so miserable I wanted to get her a bottle of happy pills. Except she doesn’t need meds. You should see how happy she got once she met the dogs. Yeah, forcing her into my life feels like the right answer here.”

Frowning, Cricket pokes my chest. “Wait, roll back to the part I care about. Tatum is here now?”

“Outside with your pooches.”

Cricket pushes past me even though I’m not in her way. Grabbing her jacket, she hurries outside. Bianca Bella is hot on her heels, and Poet doesn’t help by announcing to the mini-twins that we have a visitor. They run for their jackets and soon all five of them are out the front door in search of my shy breezy.

Knowing Tatum’s location, I use the garage as a shortcut and arrive at her side before Cricket finds her.

“They’re coming,” I tell Tatum who sits on the driveway with the dogs resting around her. “There’s still time to escape.”

“Wha—?”

Cricket sprints around the corner of the house and gasps. “Oh, she’s so beautiful.”

Bianca Bella—still in pajamas—leans around Cricket’s shoulder and stares wide-eyed. “It’s a girl, Ma. A real live girl.”

Rolling my eyes, I offer a hand to Tatum and pull her up. “Be ready to fight them off.”

“Why are you acting so weird?”

“Because they are,” I whisper and stand behind her. “Cricket wants to absorb you into her sphere of influence.”

Tatum watches my sister warily. “Did you get boozed up while inside?”

“No. Well, I drank a little wine, but I’m not drunk.”

“Are they?”

Cricket creeps closer, and I see how much she wants to laugh. Her expression remains freakishly in awe as she approaches Tatum.

“Don’t be afraid,” she whispers, still moving forward. “I’m Cricket. I want to be your friend.”

Tatum leans away from her. “Okay.”

Cricket finally reaches us and smiles. “You’re Chipper’s girl, and that makes you special to me.”

“Thank you.”

“I want to be your friend.”

“What do you bring to the table friendship-wise?” Tatum asks, and I nearly high-five her.

Cricket blinks wildly and glances at me. “Is she making me interview?”

“Apparently. Unfortunately, you hurt your chances by acting like a wacko when you came out here.”

“I’m excited.”

“And you’re very fucking wacko when excited.”

Tatum backs away from Cricket and Bianca Bella. My sister views the behavior as a challenge, and she can’t help pushing back against it.

“Christmas!” Murphy yells while running toward us. “I like Christmas!”

The tension eases from Tatum’s body immediately. She kneels down to where a bundled-up Murphy stops in front of her. Minnow races to join her brother.

“What’s your name?” Murphy asks.

“Tatum. What’s your name?”

“I’m Murphy. That’s my sister.”

“I’m Minnow. That’s my brother.”

“We live in that house.”

“Is that your mama?” Tatum asks, gesturing at Cricket.

The kids nod wildly. Murphy points to Poet. “That’s our daddy. He has a motorcycle.”

“Brumm!” Minnow cries.

“Are these your dogs?”

The mini-twins love talking to people. I don’t ever remember being half as friendly as they are, but I also don’t remember being four. Minnow and Murphy bounce and point and cry out words as if Cricket fed them speed for breakfast.

Tatum listens to the mini-twins without once looking for someone to help her get rid of them. She relaxes around Murphy and Minnow in the way she did with me last night at my house. In her element, she’s the woman from months ago before her mother’s illness and death. Tatum isn’t weak, just lost. When something clicks for her, I see the same chick who days earlier planned to kill Howler and claimed I only helped her for the nookie. This is the Tatum I fell for and the one I plan to save.