she not know about me, until he was certain we were going to stay together for the foreseeable future.
Did that mean…?
“I think he’d be the bestest boyfriend,” Willow insisted. “He gives good hugs and he doesn’t make
grumpy faces at me.”
“Yeah, he is a good hugger, huh?” I wasn’t sure what in the hell was going on in there, but I heard
sloshing water and more laughter. I got up, grabbing a few extra towels to sop up the inevitable flood
on my bathroom floor. “I bet he’s not a better hugger than me though.”
“Hmm,” Willow hummed. “I don’t know. He might be.”
“Oh, that’s it! Now you’re gonna get it!” Laughter echoed through the apartment. The two of them
nearly barreled into me as Corey tickled his daughter while he carried her to the bedroom. “Oh, hey!
Sorry, we, uh…”
I followed his gaze to the bathroom floor, which was, as expected, flooded. I laughed, shaking my
head. “The two of you are going to keep me on my toes, aren’t you? Go, get her ready for bed while I
clean up this mess.”
“I can get it,” Corey offered. Willow tried wiggling out of his arms and I caught her. “Thanks.
She’s slippery when wet and wiggly.”
“Reminds me of someone else I know,” I teased, making sure to keep my tone low. “Get her ready
for bed and we’ll find a movie to watch. And after she’s sleeping, I have a surprise for you.”
Corey cocked his head to the side. It was killing him to not ask.
“Patience, sweetheart,” I whispered to him as I bent down to kiss the top of Willow’s head.
“Does she need another dose of fever medicine?”
Corey chuckled. “You’re cute when you go into papa bear mode. No, she’s fine for now, just
warm from the bath. I’ll give her more in a little bit to help her through the night. Not sure what’s
going on, but I don’t think it’s anything too major. You’re sure you don’t mind us taking over your bed
for the night?”
“It’s fine.” I wished I could say more to reassure him I wasn’t upset about crashing on the couch,
so they’d be comfortable. It would be easier than trying to explain to her why Corey was sleeping
with me if she woke up in the middle of the night. It was something we would have to address sooner
than either of us had planned on, but that didn’t mean it needed to be tonight.
“Okay, well then I’m going to see if she’ll go down with a story. We can do movie night some
