“You mean it?”
“I do.”
18
CADE
I wake up to an empty bed, my hands reaching for my butterfly, but he’s flown away.
Sitting up, I scrub at my face, my ass sore like I expected. But fuck me, what a good feeling. What a good night. Not only did he beat Dalton at Monopoly, but I was hisfirst.
It makes my chest swell and my heart flutter; a beating of wings.
What has this guy done to me?
I push myself up, use the bathroom, and then pull on some pants. I need to find out where he went.
I need a good morning kiss and possibly another fuck.
I need to know he’s okay.
It’s weird, worrying about someone other than myself. Don’t get me wrong, I obviously worry about my siblings. Especially when I know they’re walking into a dangerous situation without me.
This level of feeling for Ansel is completely different. Possibly unhealthy.
And I couldn’t be fucking happier.
Wandering around the house, I find Ansel in the kitchen chatting with Jules and Dotty. I linger behind a wall, wanting to see how they all interact. Of course, Jules is his happy self, but what makes mepause is Dotty. She isn’t running his feet over with a vacuum or squirting his chest with a bottle of bleach.
She’s actually smiling. Well, what constitutes a smile for her. It’s a tilt of her lips, in a minor scowl, but it’s a smile nonetheless.
“I’ll help you with the laundry when I’m done here,” Ansel says, and Dotty tuts at him. I rarely hear her speak, but she makes her displeasure known.
Not with Ansel though. She seems positively smitten.
Maybe she’s had some kind of fall and her brain chemistry has shifted. Maybe it’s made her nicer.
I step out from behind the wall, and while Jules gives me a wave, Dotty’s face falls back into the angry grimace she always wears. Well, it seems she didn’t suffer some kind of brain alteration.
It seems she just likes Ansel.
As she should.
“What’s for breakfast?” I ask as I take a seat next to my obsession.
He’s eating pancakes with strawberries and powdered sugar. It looks delicious, and Ansel’s wearing some right on his lips. I make sure to kiss the mess on his mouth right up.
He sighs against me and looks almost shy.
“How are you this morning?” he asks quietly, almost a whisper.
I don’t bother keeping my voice down. I want everyone to know what Ansel’s done to me. “So fucking sore.”
He blushes and peers over at Jules and Dotty, making sure they don’t hear. I hope they do. I hope they know that my man wrecked my ass.
Suddenly, a plate is set before me, and I stare down at the perfectly fluffy pancakes Jules whipped up. I have no idea how he always manages to make food look like it belongs in a magazine, but he does. This man works miracles. It’s no wonder that Harley’s obsessed with him.
I take a bite and moan around the forkful. “Delicious, Jules. You always outdo yourself. Please don’t leave here.”
