Invisible Strings

Chapter Thirty

Delaney's POV:

True to my word, I left it up to Chloe and Colton about whether they wanted to see their father over the upcoming weekend. Of course, they wanted to –something that I had already known would be their answer but I didn't want to give Alex the pleasure of thinking that he could waltz in and out of their life whenever he wanted and I would just cater to his wants. The kids loved everything about the track, so it was a no-brainer that they would want to go.

I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't excited about spending the weekend at the track too. Not because of Alex –God knows I would love it more if he wasn't there– but because it means that I got some much needed time with Layla, Amanda, and the kids. In fact, the only thing that I'm not looking forward to the traffic that comes with traveling to Atlanta. The upside though? I wasn't making that drive alone.

When I'd told Brantley about coming to Atlanta, about spending the weekend at the track, he'd insisted on coming. And I didnt put up any sort of argument. He claimed that he had been wanting to catch a race –and that might have been the only reason– but I know Alex being there had something to do with it too. But honestly, if he wanted to spend the weekend at the track, if he wanted to spend the weekend with me and my kids, I was more than fine with it.You damn sure wouldn't hear any complaints from me, mostly because it meant that I got to spend time with him, with Barrett and Bray, and it meant that I would have someone to hangout with while the kids were with Alex. Not that hanging out with Amanda, Layla, Chase, and Ryan wouldn't have been enough because let's face it, hanging out with them is a given, but they couldn't have given me what I wanted. Only Brantley can do that if you catch my drift.

As Brantley drove my SUV to the speedway since all the car seats wouldn't fit in the truck, I sat in the passenger seat with the fingers of my left hand entwined with his atop the console. The kids sat in the back, each of them talking non-stop. But it was Braylin's question of why Chloe's daddy was such an ass that had me cutting an eye at Brantley before turning my attention to the backseat.

"She must have heard me talking to Kod last night." he said, keeping his voice low. There was a lack of caring on his face, telling me that he didn't regret anything else that he might have said about Alex to his brother.

"Braylin, 'ass' is a bad word and we don't say those, do we?" I said, locking eyes with the little girl. And just like her daddy, she didnt care what she'd just said. There was no remorse and she wasn't sorry in the least.

"No, but daddy said it. And daddy always tells the truth." said Braylin.

"Daddy is an adult, Bray. And sometimes, adults say bad words when they are talking to other adults. That doesn't mean that kids should repeat them." I said, trying to explain things in ways that her four-year-old brain could comprehend.

"I know that, Dee-Laney," said Bray. "But 'ass' is also a donkey."

I couldn't help but laugh at her words since they proved just how smart she was for her age. There was a satisfied smirk on her face and I knew exactly where it came from since it was the same one that her daddy would wear when he was being a smartass. I knew that by laughing it would only spur her on, that it would make her think that she could do something wrong and then it would be okay as long as she could make someone laugh, but I couldn't help myself. Leave it to a kid to be a true smartass without really meaning to be one.

"Braylin Hendrix," Brantley said, trying and failing to sound as if he was about to scold the little girl for her sassiness.

"Daddy, you told us that a donkey was a jackass. You said that when Uncle Kod put that stuff in his beard and you called him one. You said he looked like a jackass." said Barrett, coming to his sister's defense.

I turned my attention to Brantley then, seeing that same smirk that Braylin had been wearing moments ago on his face. And against my better judgment, it made me fall for him even more. It proved that while he was a man that had the means to do whatever he wanted in the world, he was also just a regular guy who was stumbling his way through life, trying to do his best by his kids.

Turning back to the backseat, I looked at all four kids and said "lets just agree to not say those words anymore, okay?"

"Does that mean Brantley is going to put a swear jar in his house like Poppa and Gigi did?" asked Colton, chiming in for the first time.

"You know, that doesn't sound like too bad of an idea." I said, looking at Brantley once more, a smile on my face. "A quarter for every bad word he says should be good enough right?"

"Babe, I tried that. Even I don't make the money required to keep up with the funds that need to go in."

"Well, don't you just have a regular potty mouth?" I asked.

As soon as the words left my lips, I knew that I'd walked right into his next come-back; leave it to him to find a way to bring sex into a conversation that was about the kids using cuss words. I'll give him credit though, he did lower his voice when he said "you weren't complaining last night."

Since we were stuck in traffic, I locked eyes with him. His words made a blush creep up over my skin as I thought about all the dirty, sexy, and hot things he'd said last night –and this morning. And he was right, I wasn't complaining; and I never would. His potty mouth was only one of the many things that I was falling for, the man himself and the love he had for his kids being the main thing.

Breaking the trance as the SUV began to move once more, I looked back into the back seat, looking at each of the kids. "We'll have to come up with something else to make sure Daddy cuts back on the bad words, at least when y'all are around."

"Ohhh, I know. He can't ride his motorcycle." said Barret excitedly.

"No, he can't have his coffee." said Braylin, wanting to one-up her brother.

"He can't play guitar for a day for every bad word he says," said Colton, a gleam in his eye.

"No, he can't kiss mama anytime he says a bad word," said Chloe.

"All of those sound fu-freaking horrible." said Brantley, catching his almost slip.

"Give you motivation to be a good boy." I said, looking over at him as he navigated the SUV off the highway and towards the track. I hadn't realized we were as close as we were but I guess I should have since traffic was so backed up.

Again, he kept his voice low as he said "if I promise to be a good boy, do you promise to be a bad girl." Again, I realized too late that I had set him up for the perfect innuendo-laced response.

"Guess we'll just have to see." I replied, keeping my voice low as well. I then turned back to the backseat. "So, we agree? No more bad words from little mouths and we come up with a way to help daddy/Brantley clean up his potty mouth?" All four kids nodded in response.

No sooner than I'd turned around in the seat, my phone chimed from the cup holder. When I lifted it, I saw a text from Brantley. I cut an eye at him as I opened the message.

B: I like when you call me Daddy Brantley

I couldn't help but roll my eyes, but I would be lying if I said that I wasn't going to tuck that little piece of information away for later; like maybe when I'm riding him the next time, pulling out that daddy when he's hitting that spot that was pleasurable for both of us. 

**NOTE**

Short chapter, I know. But I promise to try and get more out later today.  As always, thank you for all the reads, votes, and shares. I've said it before and I'll say it again, y'all will never know how much it truly means to me that y'all spend your time reading my ramblings.