“And us,” I cut in.
“And you guys.” She gives me a sidelong glance, finally giving me a real smile, and I feel the vice on my heart lessen its grip.
“I could fucking kill that asshole,” I grit out.
She turns her head to look at me, still resting it against the couch, and I mirror her.
“Easy, tiger,” she says around a laugh, trying to add levity.
“You deserved better,” I respond.
I don’t know when, or how, but we’ve managed to scoot closer together. Our thighs, barely brushing. Our heads are only inches apart.
“I know,” she says softly.
“Good.”
We hold each other’s stare, neither one of us looking away. She studies me, and my gaze quickly drops to her full, pink lips, then back up to meet her eyes. The tension between us grows, getting heavier every second the silence stretches.
“Wes?” she asks.
“Hm?” I feel drunk, and not from the beer.
“Um,” she whispers. “What if–”
She doesn’t continue, just lets those few words hang between us for several seconds.
“What if,” I repeat. “What if what, Ivy?” My voice is hoarse, damn near unrecognizable to my own ears.
She bites the corner of her lip, like she’s deciding if she should follow her train of thought.
“Ask,” I say.
I don’t think I could stop this if I tried.
“What if,” she finally responds. She only pauses for a second, before she finally puts me out of my misery. “We kissed, just once. Just one,” she says, and my pulse quickens. It feels like time stops, and warps all at the same time.
I want to taste those lips. I know once won’t be nearly enough, but I’ll take what I can get. I open my mouth to respond, but before I get the chance to say yes or beg for more than just one, I hear it. I hear the universe stepping in.
Sniff.
“Daddy?” Lilah’s watery voice comes from down the hall.
Ivy’s eyes widen, and it’s as if a cleaver fell, severing whatever bubble we were just in. If that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is.
My eyes slowly fall shut, and I release a ragged exhale. I feel Ivy’s shoulders begin to shake, and when I reopen my eyes to look at her, I see her covering her face, laughing. She drops her hands, and looks at mebriefly before glancing away, lifting her legs off the coffee table and moving to stand.
She looks shy all of sudden, or maybe embarrassed. I don’t want her to be embarrassed. Fuck, I felt it too.
I place my hand on her leg, stopping her and squeezing gently. “Thank you. For telling me all of that.”
She freezes, and slices her gaze down to where my hand grips her. She looks over her shoulder at me, and with a polite but strained smile, she replies, “Maybe one day you can return the favor.”
“Yeah, maybe I will.” I remove my hand, and stand just as Lilah finally emerges.
“Daddy, I had a bad dream.” She sniffs, rubbing her eyes. “Can you and Iby tuck me back in?”
I scoop Lilah up and look over to Ivy in question. She nods in answer, cheeks still a little pink.
