Selene nuzzled Winnie without hesitation. “Oh, sweet girl,” she murmured, rocking her side to side. Winnie folded into her like a sigh, still sniffly, still fussy—but quieter now. “You’re burning up.”
Winnie’s arms wound tighter around Selene’s neck, her little fingers clutching like she was trying to anchor herself. The sight punched the breath out of me.
Selene’s whole body had shifted. It was like watching someone switch dimensions. She was still the woman I’d had my hands all over this morning, but now? She was a mother, full and entire. Protective. Soft. Unshakable.
Something in my chest cracked open.
Brian’s gaze shifted to me, and heat flashed in his eyes. Not a smile—more like a knowing smirk. His eyes dragged over me—bare chest, sweatpants, clearly not a neighbor stopping by for sugar.
The cat is definitely out of the bag.
“You’re always so good with her. I knew no one would make her feel as good as Mom,” he said with genuine affection woven into his words.
Selene offered him a tight smile and nod as she swayed with Winnie in her arms.
“Should I stay? We can take care of her together.” Brian’s hand landed on Selene’s shoulder.
I watched him touch her, blood tightening in my temples. White-hot jealousy ripped through me.
Asshole.
Selene swallowed hard, but she said nothing in response. She simply adjusted Winnie on her hip and whispered something into her hair before easing away from Brian’s touch. “No, thanks.She probably just needs a little Tylenol and some rest. I’ve got it.”
I stood there, useless. My coffee cooling in the kitchen. My head spinning.
Brian lingered on the porch, clearly not wanting to leave, but he eventually relented. I tracked him as he moved down the porch steps and disappeared behind the wheel of his car.
Selene carried Winnie inside but didn’t look at me right away. She was too busy shushing Winnie, too busy smoothing back her hair and guiding her to the couch. But when she did glance over, something in her expression had changed.
Our bubble had burst.
I wasn’t her maybe-lover standing barefoot in her kitchen anymore. I was a bystander in the middle of her real life. Selene was already on the couch, cradling Winnie close, murmuring nonsense into her hair. She looked up at me once, eyes a little apologetic.
“Do you want me to stay?” I asked quietly, rubbing the back of my neck.
Selene looked up, eyes soft but distracted. “No, it’s okay. I’ve got it.”
She smiled—polite and grateful, but distant. It was not the smile I’d kissed this morning. Not the one that had broken me open an hour ago while she’d moaned my name into the pillows.
Was she embarrassed that Brian had caught us together?
He had known a part of Selene I would never be privy to. Having a child together created an unbreakable bond, and I couldn’t help but feel like the scum of the earth for wishing it weren’t him that had that piece of her.
“I’ll call you later,” she added, her voice light but unreadable.
I nodded, even though I wanted to ask for more. Even though I hated leaving when she might need some help.
“Yeah,” I said, forcing a smile. “Okay.”
She nodded again. Her focus was already on the girl curled in her arms, her whole world shrunk to a sick child and the instinct to comfort.
I grabbed my sweatshirt and headed for the door. As I stepped out into the late-morning sun, I tried to shake the weight in my chest. I let myself out, the door clicking behind me, and crossed back to my side of the duplex with the oddest sensation in my chest.
Like I’d just stepped out of something warm and gone barefoot into snow.
The muffledsound reached me before the sun did. A soft thump. Then a hiccuping cough. Something wet. The strange noises filtered through the thin walls and were followed by Selene’s voice—low and cracked and not quite right.
I sat up slowly, my hand braced against the bed, listening harder. Another sound. Not quite crying, but notnothingeither.
