Oh, but I do.
Grinning, I say, “It’s a good thing she loves spending time with her big brother.”
“If Everett finds out?—”
“He won’t,” I assure her. “Not unless we decide this is what we want.”
Her teeth sink into her bottom lip. “This is crazy.”
My grin widens. “Does that mean you’re willing to see where this goes?”
She meets my gaze, her green eyes filled with a combination of hope and trepidation. “If it all gets too much?”
“We can walk away,” I promise, the idea sitting like lead in my stomach. If the last two months are any indication, there’s no way I’ll survive losing her. I’m already in too deep.
Voices float down the hall from the kitchen, and I know our time is limited.
Leaning in, I press a soft kiss to her lips.
“Give us a chance, pixie. What do you say?”
My stomach flips when she finally nods. I slip my phone from my pocket and hand it to her. With shaking hands, she types her number in, and my lips tug into a smirk when she saves it under ‘Pixie’.
“Mama?” Tinsley calls, and Juliet quickly passes my phone back before reaching for the door.
As she slips out of the room with a soft smile, I return to the dollhouse, unable to hide the massive grin on my face. For the first time since I was fourteen, I feel like something is actually going right in my life. Juliet is giving me a chance at something I never thought I’d ever get, and I’m determined not to fuck it up.
Juliet wasn’t kiddingwhen she said it wouldn’t be easy to find time together. With her parenting responsibilities, my soccer commitments, and the hectic rotating shifts of my clinical placement, almost a week and a half passes before we can see each other.
Pixie: Hi…
Blake: Hi yourself. What are you doing?
Pixie: Finishing some accounts. You?
Blake: Getting ready for work. I’m on afternoon shift for the next three days.
Pixie: Tinsley’s having a sleepover at your place tonight…
Blake: What are you saying, pixie?
Pixie: That I’ll be all alone in an empty house.
Blake: I won’t finish my shift until ten.
Pixie: Did I mention how lonely I’ll be?
Blake: We can’t have that.
Pixie: See you tonight?
Blake: See you tonight.
“What are you smiling at?” Everett asks, walking through the front door as I slide my phone into my pocket and grab my jacket.
He dumps his bag on the hallway bench as he kicks off his shoes.
“Nothing,” I say, picking up my keys.
