“Nope. Maybe her mind doesn’t make the connection. I don’t know.”
Things get quiet and awkward rather quickly after that. I nibble on my dinosaurs in silent contemplation, wondering how else I can make things weird. So far, I’ve stolen his t-shirt and brought up his dead wife while watching cartoons. What else can I possibly do to make this worse?
Finally, after about fifteen strained minutes, Micah sets his plate down on the coffee table and lets out a huff of air as he runs his hands through his dark hair.
Shit. He’s gonna send me packing.
“Micah, I—”
“Iris—”
We both stop, and Hailey erupts in a fit of giggles.
“Jinx!”
Somehow, her laughter is infectious enough to relieve the tension in the air. Micah and I both snicker. He recovers first, and when he speaks again, I’m taken aback.
“I’m sorry I’ve been a jerk, Iris. I’m still not used to talking about Lisa, so when you started asking, I kind of felt lost. I don’t know how to talk to people about what happened yet.”
I twirl my wine glass between my fingers and watch the liquid slosh in the glass. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. It’s absolutely none of my business what you let Hailey watch, or how she reacts to what she watches. You weren’t a jerk; I was.”
Micah pushes off the couch and extends a hand to me in the beanbag chair. “How about we agree that neither of us is a jerk? I think this is new territory for both of us. We should give ourselves a break, huh?”
I shake his hand to seal the deal. “Start over, maybe? After the movie. This is a good one.”
“Daddy, come sit with us!”
Micah and I exchange a glance. “Hailey, I don’t think there’s room for all three of us in this chair. You’ll get squished.”
She shakes her head, sending golden curls flying. “Nuh-uh! Daddy and Mommy and me used to all sit in it all the time. There’s plenty of room.”
Things could have gotten awkward again, but Micah just shrugs and tugs at my hand. “Come on. She does have a point. If you two get up and let me in first, this will work better. No squished kids.”
I let him pull me out of the beanbag, and once he’s back in the massive stuffed chair, he holds his arms out for us to join him. I climb in on one side, snuggling close to make room for Hailey, and she jumps in, landing on his taut stomach. Micah lets out an exaggeratedoofas she bounces on him, and after a few more minutes of giggles she finally settles down wedged on top of both of us. Micah’s arm ends up resting behind my shoulders, and his warmth feels nice. I’m glad I came over, awkward moments aside. I could sit like this for a while.
Halfway through the movie, Hailey falls into a gentle doze. Micah strokes her curls with his free hand, while the hand trapped behind me rubs my shoulder. His heart thunders under me, and I don’t know what could be making it race like that. Surely not the movie, and definitely not me … right?
“Hey, Iris?” he whispers, I assume so as not to wake Hailey.
“Yeah?”
His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows hard. For some reason, he shifts his hips on the beanbag, and the hand rubbing my shoulder changes from a soft, gentle touch to a firmer grip. “I really want to kiss you right now.”
The whisper is husky, and it sends an electric jolt to my nether regions. Now it’s my turn to shift my hips, and I make sure to shift them more in Micah’s direction. “You do?”
“Would that be wrong?”
I’m not sure what he means by that. Wrong because Hailey’s sleeping on top of us? Wrong because of Lisa? Wrong because we’re neighbors? I have tons of questions, but I doubt those questions are what he wants to hear right now.
Instead of putting voice to my curiosities, I turn away from the TV to Micah’s eager face. The intensity in his dark eyes melts away any insecurity I might have had, and my lips part in preparation for him to move in. “I think it would be wrong to ignore that feeling.”
The arm behind my shoulders pulls me closer, and he lifts his face to meet mine. When our lips touch, he lets out a small moan. His soft mouth fits mine perfectly, and I fight to maintain my grip on the here and now as his hand slips up behind my neck, holding me to him. I put a hand on his broad chest, more to cop a feel than to try to stop him, and when I splay my fingers over his muscular pec he rewards me with the tip of his tongue.
As my hand explores, I notice that he’s got at least one nipple piercing, and it’s my turn to moan. I slip my fingers under the fabric of his shirt and toy with the metal ring. Micah gasps and dives deeper with his tongue.
“Ew!”
I jerk back as Hailey expresses her distaste for adult activities, my face burning. I’m sure I must be red clear up to my hairline.
