Page 37 of Forsaken Hearts
“We made breakfast.” Pride filled Ben’s voice.
She looked toward the kitchen and saw a plate waiting on the counter with another plate on top to keep it warm.
She didn’t even care what was on that plate—she already loved it.
Her throat closed so fast she couldn’t swallow. Nobody made her breakfast.
“Ben helped with the eggs,” Vander said.
“I only burned one alittle.”
Vander cocked a brow at him. “Two.”
Ben gasped. “Traitor. I thought you weren’t going to tell on me.”
He shrugged. “Moms see everything anyway.”
Ben studied him for a beat and nodded as the truth of Vander’s words sank in.
Summer laughed before she could stop herself. The sound startled her as much as the new warmth filling the room.
And Vander watched her too close, that expression in his eyes—reserved yet soft at the same time—almost pulled her right into his arms.
She folded her arms tightly, trying to pull herself together before this got worse.
Vander’s stare held hers.
“Vander.” It sounded like a plea. “We already talked about this.”
“I know.”
“This can’t turn into…” She gestured between him and Ben because saying it out loud hurt.
His expression closed off in that way that hurt worse than any argument could, not that they ever had any.
“You should eat before it’s cold.”
That should have made all this easier, but the ache in her chest only increased because he respected her boundaries even while looking at her like he wished she’d change her mind.
Ben let out a cry as his video game character fell off a cliff. “Backup! I need backup!”
“I got you, buddy.”
She shook her head and moved toward the kitchen before either of them noticed her eyes filling with tears.
As she pulled off the top plate and saw what was beneath, one tear slipped free. The toast actually had butter melted all the way to the edges. The eggs were a little crispy on the edges but someone had taken the care to fold a napkin beside the plate and a coffee mug waited for her to fill it.
It felt…like family.
Emotion closed in the walls of her throat.Thiswas how people ended up in impossible situations—not sex or chemistry but because a man slept on her couch to protect her family and woke up early to make breakfast with her son.
Through a haze of tears and blinking rapidly to hold them back, she poured coffee and stared out the window, trying not to lose it completely at how carefree Ben sounded as he laughed in the other room.
Vander’s voice did something entirely different to her. It was low and teasing. It sounded like he belonged here.
How quickly her little world seemed to shift around him once he stepped into it.
She settled with her food and began to eat. The eggs, though crispy, were perfectly seasoned, and the toast she didn’t have to make for herself tasted gourmet.
