He used legal jargon, but I wasn’t following. I just wanted to know our chances of getting everything thrown out. Logan responded, “We’re not going to just win. I’m hoping to do a rain dance on his ass.”

“That’s good?”

He only grunted. “Stop doubting me. I kick ass, and you know it.”

The result, we won. Kinda.

Social services needed to check out the house, do a walk-through, and it would be fine. A caseworker needed to sign off on us as well, and it was just a formality so Royas’ lawyers couldn’t come back later and claim anyone had been negligent.

It was after our last meeting as the caseworker was leaving when Quincey asked, “That’s it?”

Logan glanced over, chuckling. “That’s it.” He’d been flying back and forth the whole time. I didn’t like the reason he was here, but I enjoyed being able to see him on a regular basis again. I missed being in Boston with them all.

“We can travel with Nova? There are no restrictions on that?”

“Nope. You’re in the clear. You are Nova’s father, legit. Duke can’t come after you anymore. She’s yours.” His eyes went to Quincey. He shifted back to me, narrowing when he saw my face. “You’re thinking of visiting, aren’t you? You miss us.”

I shot him a smirk. “I think you’re the one missing me. You keep flying out here. You won’t stay away.”

I expected a smart comment back, but Logan laughed. “I do miss you. It’s not the same. I also miss being on the West Coast, too. There’s just something about this side of the world. You know?”

I did. “Mason’s team is there.”

Logan frowned at me. “I know.”

He was confused.

Hell. So was I. Why had I said that?

Quincey was giving us both a tentative and nervous smile. “I—actually—need to head in for rehearsals. Are you…” She trailed off. “You know, never mind. I’ll be back tonight.”

Logan watched her go. She was heading back in to say goodbye to Nova. Emily was here today, and then she’d head to the city.

“During all of this, she started dancing again?”

I nodded. “Yeah. She explained that it’s a new type of production. She seemed excited about it, but with her dad, we’ve not been fully focused on that. You know?”

“Dierek did sign her?”

“He did.”

Logan was still staring in the direction she’d gone before turning speculative eyes my way. “You want to fuck her, don’t you?”

“Jesus, Logan. Tact.”

I wanted to fuck her, but I wasn’t going to talk about it. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to think about it. But fuck, yeah. I wanted to pound inside of her and I wanted to do it hard. Goddamn. I wanted to do it long, and then do it again, and again. I wanted to keep going until both our legs gave out, and then I wanted to thrust back inside of her one more time.

Fuck, though. Fuck.

He looked around. “No one else is here. Are you going to fuck her?”

“She’s Nova’s mom, or the one most likely to fill that role.”

“If you’re not going to fuck her, what are you going to do when you fuck someone else?”

“Would you shut up.” It wasn’t a request.

He wasn’t fazed. “That’s an issue. If you do fuck her, and you don’t want to keep fucking her, she’s a chick. That’s going to be a problem.”

“She’s not like normal chicks.”

“Your situation isn’t normal. You didn’t think that through when you offered to bring her in here.”

I hadn’t, but I wasn’t in any hurry to kick her out.

Not that it would ever get to that place.

I glared at him. “We just tackled one issue. I don’t need you creating another one.”

“I’m not creating it. It’s there. I’m pointing it out, and I’d not only be a bad best friend, but a bad SBCer, and a bad lawyer if I didn’t point it out to you. You think you could love her?”

“Logan!”

I was getting a headache. A giant fucking one. It was named Logan Kade.

He kept on, nonplussed, “You don’t love anyone, not like that.” A beat. He seemed to consider it. “You love your sister. You love me. You love Mason. I think that’s it. You’re fond of the soccer kid.”

I had to grin at that. The soccer “kid” would have something to say about being called a “kid.”

But… Logan was right.

There was something wrong with me. There’d always been something wrong with me.

“She told me that I should’ve been with Valerie.”

His eyebrows went up. “What? She did?”

I nodded. “It was the night of the surprise baby shower from you guys. I sat her down to tell her about Duke, and she knew it. None of it fazed her, and she said all that about her sister.”

He whistled under his breath. “Is it true? Should you have been with the sister?”

I considered it, considered Valerie.

I’d already gone down that road.

I shook my head. “No. Valerie was nice, and I did like her. I cared about her, but something was missing. I don’t know. She wasn’t the one for me, so I never made a move for more. We were simply good doing what we were doing.” I considered him. “You think I messed up? Not going for Valerie?”

“I mean.” He winced. “That’s hard for me to answer. Only you know, but I do think you have a future problem on your hands if you hook up with Quincey and it goes bad. You guys are acting like you’re a married couple, both Mom and Dad to Nova. I love your kid, but boundaries at some point will need to be decided.”

“She just escaped a bad situation.”

“I know.” He held his hands up. “I totally get that. I’m only saying, think for yourself in this situation. You know?”

I grunted. I knew what he was talking about.

“So, she’s dancing?”

“Yeah.” A wave of pride rose through me. “She dances a lot every day anyway, but she told me not long after that night that she had a part in a show coming up. Between rehearsing and everything with Duke, it’s like she’s a ghost. When she’s home, she’s with Nova. When she’s not with Nova, she’s gone.”