Michael nodded. His friend Theo was a game warden and Andre loved to ride along with him. Andre also spent a lot of time at the Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild animal park with his aunt and all their friends…human and animal.
“Is that a problem?” she asked after Michael hadn’t responded. “That we talk and you didn’t know?”
He shook his head immediately. “Of course not. I’m just surprised.”
“Why? I like videogames and I like cute animals and…okay, I don’t like alligators, but I do like hearing about things that Andre gets excited about.”
He believed her. Even if Michael hadn’t already known that Ami cared about his son, the flashing in her eyes and the firm tone in her voice would have convinced him. “I just didn’t know that about you.”
“Wonder why,” she said. She was looking at him with clear challenge in her eyes.
And suddenly Michael wasn’t so sure he was up for this challenge. Whatever it was.
He wasn’t exactly sure what she’d meant by that, but he was either too tired—or too chicken—to find out.
“And you just happened to have cosplay makeup here with you?” he asked, wanting to change the subject back to something that made her happy.
“No. We had to make a trip to New Orleans….” She narrowed her eyes. “I know I didn't ask your permission to take him to New Orleans, but I did get Naomi’s.”
Michael nodded. “It's fine.” Michael totally trusted Ami with Andre.
“Good. I know the rule is not to bother you at work unless it's truly an emergency, so I didn't want to do that, but he was so into it, and it’s less dorky than doing it by myself.”
“Is it?” he asked. But he gave her a grin. Andre would love to have someone spend an entire evening doing nothing but talking about and dressing up as Warriors of Easton characters.
She finally relaxed and smiled again. “A little. I mean, none of my girlfriends are into trying green and purple makeup, adding extra eyes, or figuring out how to make scars or tusks. And he said none of his friends around here would be into it. Though we did send photos to someone named Henry, who lives in Iowa. But we are the perfect pair.”
For a moment, Michael was speechless as he contemplated Ami and Andre’s friendship.
Andre was only nine. He'd spent his entire life in Autre. His mom had died when he was only a few months old, and he didn’t remember her at all. What he knew of Lauren was from photos and stories told by Michael and Lauren’s families. But her parents and brother had moved from Autre not long after the explosion at the community center that had killed her and several other people.
Andre was growing up surrounded by Michael's immediate family and their friends, who were like additional grandparents, cousins, and aunts and uncles. So there were lots of female influences. But Michael never had Andre spend much time with women who weren’t like family to him. Not women that Michael would consider dating. Michael didn't date. In part because of Andre, but also because adding more commitment to what he already had going on in his life seemed overwhelming sometimes.
So he kept his relationships superficial and short-term.
Which meant that those women never spent time with his son.
Ami was a Landry. Technically she was a part of the big extended family. This should feel just like it would if Charlie, Ami’s sister, was over here taking care of him or if Kennedy or Jordan, two of her cousins, were here watching him.
It didn't.
There was something different about Ami, and Michael thought it was kind of amazing.
And potentially a whole lot of trouble.
“He must have been in heaven,” he finally managed, hoping she wouldn’t notice how his voice sounded rougher than usual.
“Oh, I was too. A lot of adults think there’s a Warriors book for kids and then a Warriors book for adults, but the kids’ version is very cool.”
So she did know about the erotic romance novel. Michael cleared his throat. “You’ve read both?”
“Now I have. I was waiting for Andre to read the kids’ version, so I started with the adult version. And I’m not saying I didn’t like that one too.” She grinned a playful and dangerously sexy grin. “But there is a lot less sword fighting and witches hexing things in that one. It’s like Harry Potter meets Game of Thrones and hey”—She glanced at Andre’s sleeping form—“s-e-x is great, but I can read that other places, you know? I want dragons setting shit on fire.” She winced. “I mean s-h-i-t.”
He laughed even as he tried valiantly to not think about how Ami Landry had just said sex is great to him.
It didn’t work. Ami had spelled the word sex and he was suddenly feeling a lot warmer than he had been a minute ago. Yeah… this was a whole lot of trouble.
“Anyway, we had a ton of fun and I’m so glad I have someone I can geek out with.”
She gave Andre a soft, affectionate look and Michael felt his heart kick against his ribs.
She looked back up at Michael. “And I definitely don’t mind being Andre’s favorite,” she said with a grin. “It’s nice to be more popular than Charlie for a change.”
The three Shreveport Landry sisters were three distinct personalities. Charlie was the bubbly, charming, impossible-not-to-love sister. Abi was the quiet, scholarly bookworm. She wasn’t shy, but it was clear that she was an introvert. Though she was a Landry, the big family gatherings were a lot for her, and it was not uncommon to find her sneaking off to some time alone with either animals, a book, or both.
Which left Ami. Ami was… a little harder to categorize. Some considered her the party girl. But that wasn't accurate. Yes, she loved having a good time, but she was no wilder or more daring than the other girls. She was just very easy to be around. She was friendly, funny, sweet, sassy, and fun.
But most of all, she was gorgeous. Genuinely gorgeous. Her two sisters were beautiful. The Landry girls all turned heads. But Amelia was more.
And Michael hated thinking that. He'd actually heard her mother say, “She's the pretty one.” He knew that's how people thought of her. When they thought of Charlie, they thought of the bubbly, outgoing one. When they thought of Abi, they thought of the smart, quiet one. And when they thought of Ami, they thought of the pretty one.
He hated being one of the people who thought of her that way.
But it was kind of like thinking the sky was blue.
“Well, I really appreciate your help,” he said, trying to steer the conversation into another direction from s-e-x and Ami being pretty. Any other direction. “Was he well-behaved?”
“Sure. I mean, well-behaved is in the eye of the beholder,” she said with a little grin.
“Does that mean you had trouble with him?”
She frowned and laughed. “Andre? Michael, you have one of the sweetest, maybe most serious kids I've ever met.”
Michael wasn't sure if that was a compliment, an insult, or neither. Andre was an only child, growing up in a family where there weren't a lot of kids. At least not yet. Michael had started young, and many of his friends were just now settling down. Andre spent a lot of time with adults.
“He laughed and talked nonstop doing the makeup and cosplay. We read the book twice,” she said. “Don't worry, it was a great night.” She paused. “In fact, we already made plans to hang out next time I’m in town. If that’s okay with you.”