Epilogue

DALLAS

Dallas was exhausted, and he knew Kylen was too. That afternoon was the first time they'd been face-to-face without it being part of their relationship. But this was a matter of Flora and school. The evaluation request had gone through at the worst possible time.

Bronx and Lucas had just gotten in, and Dallas was still in the middle of bringing over his things so he would be officially living with Kylen and Flora. He and Kylen had been a little snappy with each other over what Dallas wanted to keep and what he wanted to leave behind, and then they'd gotten the meeting request.

Everything else was put on hold. It wasn't Dallas's first IEP evaluation meeting, but it was Kylen's, and if Dallas's gut was right, it wouldn't be his last.

Luckily, the hard part was yet to come. This was to get it all started. In Dallas's experience, the big emotions happened when the team got together to read the results. But he could sense Kylen's nerves and wished more than anything he could hold him there at the table.

"We have a wonderful team," Mrs. Contreraz said. She was the school counselor, and she'd been there forever. She was one of the few people in admin Dallas genuinely liked. "The evaluation takes about a month. We'll be observing her in class as well as pulling her out to do various testing. At her age, we usually associate the testing with some sort of play so she doesn't feel like it's something she will pass or fail."

Kylen's shoulders sagged with relief, and Dallas threw caution to the wind, stretching his leg out to touch his boyfriend's ankle with his foot. Kylen's lip twitched, but otherwise, he didn't react.

"What does Mr. Reed do?"

"I fill out a lot of questionnaires and forms," he said with a small grin. "It's about as much paperwork as you're going to have at home. And of course, the team is here for you if you have any concerns."

And so was he. In more ways than the school was presently aware. But they'd also decided to keep that to themselves until Flora was no longer in his class.

The meeting wrapped up, and Dallas could tell Kylen was feeling a lot better. He gathered up his collection of paperwork, and the two of them lingered in the classroom until the rest of the team filed out.

"This is a good thing, right?" Kylen asked when they were finally alone.

Dallas smiled. "Yeah, babe. The OT and speech pathologist are both really great. And I love Mrs. Contreraz. She reminds me of my granny."

Kylen's smile was a little tense. His own gran was doing fine. Still hanging in there, ornery as ever and giving the staff a run for their money, but she was less stressed, and so was he. Dallas fought the urge to cross the distance between them and kiss him .

"Look, the evaluation won't change anything," Dallas said as he grabbed his satchel and his keys off his desk. "The only thing that will be different is that she'll have access to services to help her thrive. And she'll have a team that can assess the best way her brain learns so she'll be on an even playing field with the rest of her peers. It's all good, okay? And I will be here to protect her, even when she's not in my class."

Kylen let out a puff of air. "That actually does help. God, I love you."

Dallas smiled. "I love you too. Now, let's go rescue Lucas before he changes his mind and begs my brother to move back to Tennessee."

Kylen laughed and held the door for Dallas, and the pair of them made their way to the playground. Lucas was standing at the edge of the wood chips, wearing Audra in a baby sling on his hip. Flora was on the monkey bars, yelling at Lucas to watch her.

She hadn't quite grasped the concept that he couldn't see, and he didn't seem to care. He was clapping and shouting, "Way to go. That looks amazing!"

"She's behaving herself?" Kylen asked as he approached the teen.

Lucas turned to face them, digging the tip of his cane into the ground. "She's great. She was a lot like me at her age. I was massively sensory-seeking, so I was always climbing over everything. And not just because I needed to touch stuff to figure it out."

"Lucas is the best kid I know," Dallas added. "She'll be lucky to be like him."

"I'm starting to feel lucky all around," Kylen said. "You all ready to take off? Katie's supposed to meet us soon, right? "

"Yeah. And I did promise this one Korean barbeque as payment for babysitting," Dallas said.

Lucas grinned and held his hand out, searching, so Dallas stepped into his touch. "Best uncle ever. I will totally work for bulgogi."

Dallas snorted. "I will also pay you, kid. Don't worry. But I need to stop by the house, so why don't I meet you later," he said to Kylen, turning to face him. "You good with stuff at home, or you want me to bring you something?"

"I'm good, babe." Kylen glanced around, then leaned in to steal a swift kiss. "Oh, I have a confession to make."

Dallas frowned. "What's up?"

Kylen heaved a sigh, looking stressed, and Dallas tried not to panic. "So, yesterday I took a poll…and one hundred of the people inside that tent were pissed."

Dallas blinked, then groaned and yanked him close. "I hate you."

Kylen smiled up at him, their gazes locked. "Nah. You love me."

Dallas leaned in to take those lips against his own. "Yeah. And I'm pretty sure you love me too."

Coming October 10th- Book four in the Words We Never Said series: Loving You. PREORDER now.

"How petty would I be if I brought a boyfriend home to meet my dad who was almost the same age as him?"

Bronx doesn't mind being used as a pawn in the hot lawyer's plan to piss off his father. After all, he probably would have done the same thing if his dad introduced him to a new step-mom who was barely six months older than him.

And it helps that Monty is not only ridiculously good looking, but he's smart, kind, and has an accent that makes Bronx weak in the knees. He's also an amazing distraction from the fact that Bronx's husband up and left him and his son without warning, turning their lives upside down.

But what starts as game quickly becomes something else, because as much as Bronx was sure he had no more heart to give, Monty turns out to be everything he had once looked for in a partner.

It's too bad Monty isn't interested...

Right?

Yeah.

He's definitely not interested.

Loving You is the fourth book in the single dad's series, Words We Never Said. It features a fake relationship to reach epic levels of petty, a young lawyer, an older, tired veterinarian who thinks animals are almost always better than people, a meddling teenager trying to play matchmaker, and two men who can't see what the universe is offering them on a silver platter.

It's a high heat, high swoon, age-gap romance to make your heart flutter and toes curl.