She pushed my shoulder, and I laughed. “Now you see what it’s like,” she said.
I held on to her chin and kissed her, a smile on both our lips. She hadn’t pushed me away or insisted relationships weren’t for her.
We were dating. Officially. Also, having the hottest sex on the planet.
Seemed like progress.
Piper put on a movie, and we curled up on her couch. It was a comedy of some kind, and I didn’t pay it the least bit of attention.
I was just savoring this. Having her in my arms. But the clock kept ticking down.
Piper was thrilled she would see Ollie soon, of course. She showed me every photo Ollie texted from the game and the start of the drive back home.
Ollie had sent one selfie sitting in Callum’s passenger seat, covered in new Broncos merch. He was wearing a foam finger that barely fit in the frame. Then a picture of Callum driving and flashing a peace sign along with a huge smile.
I couldn’t wait to see them either. Especially Ollie, partly because I was really starting to care about the kid. And partly just because Piper adored him so much. It was amazing to see the affection between them.
It made me think of my own mom. She’d loved us deeply. It killed me that Piper never had that, and all the more touching to see her give everything to her son.
I wanted to give everything to both of them.
It was around ten o’clock when Callum’s truck drove up.Piper had been tracking their progress, so she and I were waiting on the porch. We went down to the curb as soon as the truck pulled up.
Callum parked and went around to the passenger side. He extracted a sleeping Ollie from the seat. “Conked out an hour ago,” he whispered, holding out Ollie’s bag to Piper.
“I’ve got it,” I said, taking the strap of the duffel. Callum did a quick double take, just now noticing me standing there.
Piper smoothed back Ollie’s hair. He was out cold. “Thank you so much, Callum.”
“We had a blast. I’ll carry him inside.”
Callum and Piper went in first, and I brought up the rear, setting Ollie’s bag in the living room. There was some laughter while Piper tugged off Ollie’s shoes and Ollie woke up, flopping around in Callum’s arms.
“Good, you’re awake,” Piper said. “You can brush your teeth.”
“I’m not awake, Mom.”
“Are you sleep talking?”
“That’s a thing!”
“But sleep arguing is not.”
They went to Ollie’s bedroom. I listened to them from the living room, leaning my shoulder against the wall with a stupidly happy grin on my face.
Fuck, I wanted this. Little family moments. The small, perfect memories that added up day after day to a good life.
My eyes burned as I imagined it.
Could I really have that with Piper and Ollie? Would she open up enough to let me?
Callum came out of Ollie’s room first. “Hey. Didn’t expect to find you here.” He gave me a quick hug.
“I was hoping we could talk. Do you have a couple more minutes?”
Callum clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Yeah, big bro. Can’tstay out too long or Zandra will kill me. But I’ve always got time for you.”
We went out to the front porch. Callum rested his weight against the railing, and I stood with my arms crossed over my long-sleeved shirt. I hadn’t bothered with a coat. The cold was welcome. Sharpened my mind so I could hopefully say the right thing.
