“Wow!” I drew out the word, feigning my upset as I tried not to laugh. “I am not lumpy!”
She tried to say something, but it was lost among her wheezing giggles. From the hall, I could hear Harley chuckling.
“This is going good, right?” I asked softly enough for him to hear but not to catch her attention. “I’m doing okay?”
“You’re doing great,” he replied.That was the only thing I needed to hear.And I knew it eased a lot for him, too. It took everything I had not to lean out the door and check on him. To see that relaxed smile on his face.
“I have another question!” Aria announced, pulling me once more out of my own thoughts. She sat upright fast in a mess of curls. Her serious little face sobered me quickly, and I raised my brows slightly out of curiosity. “Are you going to stay?”
I stilled, the lingering remnants of my amusement vanishing. This wasthequestion. Harley had warned me about this line of thought and how much it mattered to Aria.
“Forever and a day,” I whispered, giving her the same promise I’d given Harley.
“Forever is a really long time,” Aria said.
“So is forever and a day,” I replied with a gentle smile. “I’m not going anywhere, Aria. You’re stuck with me, and your Daddyis stuck with me. Whatever you two need me for, I’m here. I promise.”
She studied me for a long moment, like she was trying to decide if my promise was real enough to trust. I couldn’t blame her. It was a big one for me to make.
And so I waited. I watched her think it over with the kind of seriousness only kids seemed capable of, her small face scrunched in concentration as she weighed my words. While she did, something settled deep in my chest—a realization that finally clicked into place.
Because for all the things Harley and I had said to each other over the last few days—for all the promises we’d made about getting things right this time—it finally hit me that this wasn’t just about the two of us anymore.
I wasn’t just choosing Harley.
I was choosing both of them. Choosing early mornings and school pickups. The endless questions and messy curls and the little traditions that made up their entire world. I was choosing to be someone Aria could count on, much the same way that I’d promised Harley I would be.
I was choosing to become a part of their family. And it should’ve scared the hell out of me. The responsibility. The weight of it. The sudden change of it all. But it didn’t.
Instead, it felt right.
CHAPTER 101
harley
That went good, right?” Maverick whispered as he followed me into the kitchen. Aria was preoccupied with fresh snacks for a tea party with the Knights of Chaos. That had been her first and only request after their conversation ended. Snacks. She just wanted snacks, which was a good sign. “I feel like that went good.”
“It went very well,” I reassured him. The anxiety I’d had over the two of them talking had faded with every giggle and playfulcomment that came out of her room. While Aria had been a little slow to warm up, hearing her come around had melted away the last bit of worry I had.
This was going to work.We were going to work.
“Are you happy?” he asked. The question took me by surprise. It was such an uncomplicated and basic question. It was one I hadn’t considered at all during any of this.
“I am.” I smiled at him. “Are you?”
“Mhmm.” He nodded, that devious grin curling his lips as he stared at me. His gaze darkened with something indescribable as it roamed over me in a slow, deliberate pass. The weight of it set my body on fire. I liked it when he looked at me like that. Like he was undressing me little by little. It stoked the hunger inside me, want and need swirling together inside me and building rampantly.
He took two steps toward me, pushing me backward gently. My lower back hit the counter, and his body pressed against mine as his hands braced on the counter. The cool granite bit into my spine through my thin shirt, a stark contrast to the heat radiating from his body. My pulse thrummed with anticipation and promise that put us in this position.
“Is this okay?” he asked, his mouth hovering over mine. My chin lifted slightly, and my lips brushed against his. The whisper of contact sent a pleasant shiver down my spine. “I feel like this is okay… I don’t know what’s okay… is she preoccupied enough for me to kiss you? I really want to kiss you—”
“Just kiss me, handsome,” I ordered as I grabbed a fistful of his shirt and dragged him toward me. The distance vanished in a heartbeat, his mouth crashing into mine with the hunger that never seemed to taper between us.
He groaned low into the kiss—a deep, muffled rumble that vibrated through my chest. I swallowed the sound as my lipsparted to let him in deeper. His tongue swept in, tangling with mine and drawing an uncontrollable moan out of me.
“Quiet now, princess,” Maverick murmured between soft kisses. “You’ll give our position away.”
“Mav.” I chuckled, trying to keep my volume down. “This isn’t some kind of secret operation here.”
