26. Cin

26

Cin

T essa has stayed out of my way this afternoon. I'll admit that I've been playing up my injury to coerce some sympathy, but it's no longer working. Aside from one worried glance when I winced as Harry dived on my legs, she's barely given me a second look. She must have gotten wise to my strategy.

Her chilly attitude wounds me, but I refuse to let her keep this up indefinitely. Whatever I've done to offend her can be fixed. I just need to find out what my fuck-up is. No doubt it was something I said. Or did. Or didn't do.

If there's one thing I've learned about women, it's that they can carry a grudge for all eternity. Thankfully, I am blessed with charm in abundance. I feel certain I can win over our grumpy guest.

She's had a horrible time lately, so perhaps some romancing is in order.

Harry works on a puzzle game loaded on the iPad I gave him while I muse on the best course of action. Tessa typically disappears once she puts the kids to bed. I have no idea what she does in her room. Read a book maybe. Or sleep.

I bet she'd appreciate some adult company. Maybe if we have a movie night with snacks, she'll relax. Netflix is available on the television, so there are hundreds of movies we can watch. I prefer action movies, but I don't mind suffering through a romantic comedy.

Not sure Madden will appreciate the finer details of something sappy like The Notebook, but he can deal.

While Harry's occupied, I heave myself up, ignoring the pain in my leg, and hunt for snacks in the kitchen. We have popcorn, some candy leftover from Christmas, and a large bag of mixed nuts. Perfect.

"Movie night, tonight," I announce when Tessa comes back into the living room with Chloe in her arms. She looks tired. The dark rings beneath her pretty eyes tell me she's not been sleeping properly. Hardly a big surprise given what's happened to her.

Her eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

"Movies?" Harry looks up from his game.

"Grown-up movies. Not for little dudes. Sorry."

He throws himself backward and moans dramatically. I swear that kid has a future in Hollywood. He can act with the best of them.

"Not fair!"

"Harry! That's enough!" his mom scolds.

"It is fair. Your mom deserves a break from you little horrors, so once you're in bed, she gets one." I wink at Tessa, hoping to make her smile, but she's too busy frowning at Harry.

Harry scowls, unhappy at the thought of missing out on something special.

"We can have kids' movie matinée tomorrow," I tell him.

"It's fine, I have a book to finish--" Tessa tries to say, but I shake my head. Nope. She's not getting out of this.

"What's a mat-in-ay ?" Harry asks, his face all screwed up at the unfamiliar word.

"An earlier showing of a movie so kids can watch without falling asleep or throwing massive tantrums because they're tired."

"I don't have tantrums," he grumbles. "I'm not a little kid anymore."

Tessa snorts at the same time as me.

"Really? So that was some other kid screaming earlier when he wanted a second cookie and his mom said no?"

He turns red and pouts adorably. "Yeah, thought so, little dude. So mom gets her movie tonight and you can watch a kid's movie tomorrow afternoon, with popcorn and candy. Deal?"

"DEAL!" He leaps into the air with excitement and fist-bumps me.

"Right, now settle down and finish that puzzle you're working on." Like the good boy he is, he sits back down and continues working through the problems in the app I downloaded for him.

He's a bright kid and more than ready to start kindergarten. Fuck knows when that's going to happen, though.

"You don't need to do this," Tessa murmurs in a low voice when I stand and walk to the coffee machine.

"Yeah, I do. So once the kids are in bed and settled, we'll watch whatever you like. Pick the worst, most nauseating romance ever made and I promise not to vomit."

She grins at me, and I mentally high-five myself for coming up with this idea.

"I'm more of a horror movie fan than a romantic," she says.

I pretend to shudder. "Not gonna lie. Horror movies scare me. You may have to hold my hand."

From the way she rolls her eyes, she thinks I'm bullshitting, but I'm not. Give me a mindless action movie starring Chris Hemsworth or Keanu Reeves any day. I've seen enough horrible things in my life to not want to see fake gore on screen.

"Sure, whatever," she scoffs, and I smile.

She smiles back, and for the first time in days, I sense her resistance faltering.