She rinses off the dish she’s holding and places it in the drying rack, her shirt slipping off her slender shoulder with the movement, revealing a pale pink bra strap and tanned skin beneath. It’s all I can do not to lean in and kiss her there in front of her sons.
“Why don’t you guys go in the other room and play with your new games?” she suggests, somehow reading my mind. The boys nod, both still looking a little stunned as they move towards theliving room, and the moment they’re out of sight, I do just that, pressing my lips to the sweet spot I love and inhaling the familiar scent of citrus that will forever mean home.
“DoIgetaturn?” I call as we move into the living room after having finished with the dishes. Alex pauses the game and raises an eyebrow at me.
“You play?”
I shrug, glancing over at Steph to find an expression of disbelief mirroring her son’s. “A little.”
He tosses the controller in my lap as Steph and I take up seats on the other side of the L-shaped sectional.
“Have at it.”
Matt unpauses the game, and I proceed to kick his ass. Alex takes over, and I trounce him, too. Twice.
“This is bullshit,” he mutters, shoving the controller back at his brother, who only laughs good-naturedly.
“Never seen Lexi go down so hard,” Matt says, meeting my eyes with a grin.
“Don’t call me that,” Alex shoots just as Steph issues a similar warning, but I’m too busy holding Matt’s gaze to notice. Mythroat stings with the significance of this moment. This day. He may not know about our familial relationship yet, but nonetheless, I’m bonding with my son.
Eventually, I manage an answering grin, throwing in a conspiratorial wink for good measure and causing Matt to laugh some more. We play a while longer, and I take a dive, letting Alex win the next round.
When the night winds down, I follow Steph out onto the porch, glancing over my shoulder to make sure the boys are otherwise engaged. They’re still engrossed in the latest game, so I sweep her up into the kiss I’ve been dying to give her all night. She kisses me back, passionately, her tongue sliding into my mouth on a soft moan that I echo.
“I didn’t know you were a gamer,” she murmurs against my lips when I reluctantly break the kiss.
I shrug, dropping my arms from around her waist. “I’m not, or … I wasn’t, until recently. When the Christmas gift went over so well, I figured it might be something we could eventually bond over. A thing we could do together, someday. So I got myself the same system and games. Lola is a gamer, so I asked her to show me the basics, and it went from there. We even play together online sometimes, though it’s not often we’re both off work and free at the same time.”
She studies me for a long moment before looking away, nibbling on her bottom lip as she stares off into the distance.
“So … you’ve been practicing for months, in the hopes of one day playing with my boys, even though for all you knew I’d never get around to letting you spend time with them?”
She meets my eyes once more, and I hold her gaze, nodding silently.
“That’s—” she lets out a shaky breath. “That’s just so—” but she cuts herself off once more, staring up at me in wonder. And the smile that slowly creeps across her face isthe one.I don’t know how I know—her every smile lights her up, and this one is no different, yet … it is. It’s the one I’ve been waiting for. The smile that tells me her heart is truly in this with me. She may not have said it yet, but it’s there, in her warm brown eyes.
She loves me.
One hundred and fifty-nine.
Idriveinlazycirclesthrough the neighborhood, admiring the homes as they grow older and statelier the closer we get to the waterfront. I’ve got no destination in mind, I’m only killing time waiting for a text from Steph telling me she’s retreated to her bedroom for the night.
When it finally comes, I quickly pull a three-point turn and make my way back. It’s Saturday, and I know Matt and Alex will stay up late, so I’m conscious of that as I park down the street and steal my way quietly along the south side of their house in the dark. Steph’s bedroom window is open for me, and I chuckle softly as I unfold the little step stool she’d tucked in behind the gas meter after the first time I’d clumsily climbed through her window. After months of sneaking around, though, I’ve now perfected the maneuver, and I slip quickly and easily into the room just as she emerges from the adjoining bath.
“Hey, baby,” I whisper, crossing the space and taking her in my arms. “I missed you.”
She huffs out an amused breath, pushing against my chest so she can look up into my face. Hers is now devoid of makeup, pink from having been freshly scrubbed, and as her eyes sparkle happily up at me, I can’t help but think she’s never looked lovelier.
“You only just saw me a half hour ago.”
“Feels like forever,” I murmur as I lean in and press a kiss to her cheek, then her jaw … under her ear. She lets out a soft sigh as I move slowly, with purpose, kissing my way down her neck—
And then Matt’s voice sounds through the door. “We know he’s in there with you, Mom.”
Steph gasps, pushing at my chest and stepping away from me when I grudgingly release my hold on her. She bites her lip, her eyes going wide.
“It’s gross,” he continues, and I can’t help the snort that slips out.
