He threw the pencil he’d been holding at my head. “No. I didn’t grow a vag.” He glanced at Luke, and then the ground. “I’m going to ask Lexi to marry me.”
We were all quiet. We all knew, but this was the first time Dash had said it out loud, with Luke in the room. The typical response would be to give him shit, or to clap him on the back and tell him congratulations. But this was a sensitive subject. No one quite understood Luke and Lexi’s deal, nor did we understand why he wouldn’t want her to be happy with the father of her child. They were odd, those two.
Luke turned to Dash, his hand extended. “That’s great, man. I’m happy for you.”
Tension officially broken. I smiled, reaching out and slapping him on the knee. “Yeah, bro. Congrats!”
Smith crossed his arms. “You figured out how you’re going to do it?”
He shook his head. “I’ve come up with a few different ideas. Her ring will be ready tomorrow, so I need to figure it out quick. Y’all got anything?” He turned to Luke. “I know this is weird, but you’re her best friend…”
Luke visibly paled but plastered a smile on his face. “No worries, man. I’ll help you come up with something.”
Well, that was awkward as fuck. Luckily my phone vibrated in my pocket again. Saved by the text.
B: Sorry, babe. Rain check. Diane is here.
J: Be up in just a sec
“I gotta head up for a bit, Landry’s social worker is here.” I put my phone back in my pocket and set my guitar to the side.
I closed the door to the studio, hiding my bandmates in the soundproof room. Just in case they did start to rib Dash about proposing. “Diane, it’s nice to see you again.”
“You too, Jacks.” She looked toward the backyard. “Where is little miss Landry?”
Uh, was it wrong that I suddenly had no fucking clue? Hadn’t Bryan just told me…? Counselor? Tutor? I crossed the room and stood next to Bryan.
“Those boys lose all sense of time when they are down there in the studio.” Bryan put her arm around my waist, slapping my chest slightly. “Landry is in the other room, meeting with Mark, the child counselor.”
“Oh, today isn’t a John—I mean, tutoring day?” Diane looked slightly disappointed. Did every woman get horny to the sound of that man’s voice? Holy hell.
Bryan shook her head, smiling. “No. I’m afraid not.”
“Well, while Landry is finishing up, why don’t we have a seat and Jacks can tell me what’s been going on.” Shit. I couldn’t tell her what’s been going on, I’d been in the studio every damn day. I held tight to Bryan’s hand, making sure she was going to come with us. We sat at the dining room table. “How is Landry doing, Jacks? I know you guys have been trying to keep her busy, trying to keep her worry at bay. Which I think is a good call. But I want to know how you’re feeling right now. How are you adjusting to fatherhood?”
I felt like I needed a whiskey drink. “Landry is doing so well, despite the incident with Amelia the other week. She keeps us laughing. She’s a really funny, bright kid.”
“And her schoolwork? What did you decide to do about her starting school in the fall?” Diane looked like everyone’s favorite grandma, but she was on point today. This woman was good at her job.
I squeezed Bryan’s hand under the table. I knew this one, I knew we’d talked about it. Bryan had told me what John and Mark had decided…but… “Um, well, after we talked to both her tutor and her counselor…we, uh…”
Bryan put her hand on my arm. “You know, Jacks, I don’t think I even told you what the final decision was.” She smiled warmly. “They were going back and forth and they certainly wanted Landry’s opinion. It was just decided last night that they thought keeping her out of public school until she moved to Texas was going to be best for her.” Bryan let out a soft chuckle. “Landry is so advanced, and John is really confident that he can have her ready for fifth grade by the time everyone moves.”
Diane looked at me. “And Jacks, you agree?”
I nodded. “One hundred percent. Switching schools like that is never easy.”
“Now, Bryan, I know you are in charge of Landry’s schedule and all the day-to-day activities for her. What is going to happen after the move? Jacks, will you hire a new nanny?”
My heart started to pound. What did I say? Was I allowed to have a girlfriend? Was that frowned upon to have your girlfriend take care of your kid? Were we going to get deductions for this? I had been either in the studio, playing with Landry, or in bed with B for the past two weeks. I thought we had this in the bag. “I, uh, well, actually… Things have changed a little. Bryan and I are, um, dating?”
Diane raised an eyebrow at the question in my voice. “Dating? How long has this been going on?”
I cleared my throat, “A few weeks now. We have been friends for a while and having her here…things have progressed.” I winced. “Is that a problem?”