His movements slow as I come down from the high. I rest my forehead against his shoulder, struggling to catch my breath.
He bands both arms around me and holds me there. “Are you ok?”
Boneless and sated beyond measure, I offer him a weak smile and a nod.
He brushes his lips across my cheek in a whisper of a kiss. “How do you feel?”
“Good. So good.”
Atticus chooses that moment to pounce halfway across the blanket, making himself known. In my defense, I got caught up in the moment and forgot he was here.
He pounces again, and it’s then that I notice the large spider crawling rapidly toward us. I squeal and scramble away from the scene. Jaxon doubles over laughing as Atticus pounces a third time, capturing the spider.
“Good job protecting your mom, buddy.” Jaxon holds out his hand, and Atty places his paw in his upturned palm.
My mouth drops open on a feigned gasp. “When did he learn to do that?”
He shrugs, pulling a treat out of his pocket. Atticus flops onto his back and presents his belly. I stand there slack-jawed as my cat falls in love with Jaxon Hayes, and I’m pretty sure I’m not too far behind.
Chapter 25
Everything in Between
? Easy to Love - Kyle Schuesler
Callie
After returning homefrom another shift at the library, I realize two things all at once: it smells like us, and it’s beginning to feel an awful lot like home.
I hang my keys on the hook by the door, and my attention snags on two pairs of tiny pink cowboy boots lined up beside Jaxon’s worn ones. I follow the sound of giggles to the living room, and the sight before me stops me in my tracks. Jaxon is hovering over a giggling Gracie as he tickles her senseless while Emmy Lou hangs off his neck in some kind of ineffectual defense of her sister.
Jaxon’s smile stretches across his whole face, his eyes crinkling at the corners beneath the skewed glasses perched precariously on the tip of his nose. He’s never been more beautiful.
A fleeting image of an older Jaxon, hair greying at his temples, and a little girl with emerald eyes flashes across myvision, but it’s gone before I can grab hold of it. It’s just as well; thoughts like that are far too dangerous.
In one fluid motion, he whips his arm behind him and flips Emmy onto her back, depositing her gently beside her sister. She lets out peals of laughter as he continues to tickle them both.
“Stop stop stop,” Emmy pleads.
He pauses and smiles expectantly. “What do you say, Emmy Lou?”
“Uncle Jaxy is the bestest uncle in the whole world,” Emmy says, the words rushing out of her in a frenzy.
He helps her to her feet. “Don’t you forget it.”
Gracie crawls away, headed straight for Atticus, who’s perched in the armchair.
“Hold on, Gracie girl,” Jax says, his tone gentle but firm.
She looks back at him, brow furrowed. “Kiki,” she says, pointing one chubby finger.
He hoists her into his arms. “Big Kiki. We have to be very gentle, ok?”
She makes grabby hands toward Atticus, and Jaxon lowers to his knees. He takes a treat from his pocket and places it in her open palm, then he helps her offer it to Atty.
Atticus sniffs at the tiny hand and carefully takes the treat from her. She giggles as the whiskers tickle her palm. “Again!”
I wasn’t sure how he’d react to kids, having never been around them before, but he’s tender and subdued with her. My heart squeezes at the sight.
