Page 96 of Biker Orc Baby Daddy

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"You have the magic touch."

"Or I'm boring."

"You're soothing. There's a difference."

"I'll take it."

I lean back. Let the quiet settle. It feels. Different. Not comfortable exactly. But. Possible. Like maybe we can actually do this. Build something functional from chaos.

"Public-facing boundaries," I say eventually. "We should figure that out."

"Right. Yes." Gunther shifts carefully. Orry still draped across him. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking Poplar Springs is small. And nosy. And the second people find out you're Orry's dad they're going to haveopinions."

"What kind of opinions?"

"The judgy kind. The speculative kind. Theoh-how-scandalouskind."

"We didn't do anything scandalous."

"We had a one-night stand that resulted in a baby. That's the literal definition of scandalous."

"Fair point."

"So we need a story. Something simple. Something that doesn't invite a million follow-up questions."

"Like what?"

"Like. We met. We had a brief thing. Life happened. Now we're co-parenting and figuring things out."

"That's the truth."

"Exactly. Just. Vague enough that people can't pick it apart."

"Will they try?"

"Oh they'll definitely try."

"Great."

"Welcome to small-town life."

He groans. Quiet. Defeated. "I hate gossip."

"Everyone hates gossip until it's about someone else."

"That's cynical."

"That's realistic." I nod, fully aware of the gossip about Orry and me.

A key rattles in the lock.

I freeze.

The door swings open.

Colum sweeps in like a theatrical wind. Arms full of poster board. Grin wide enough to split his face.

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