She moves in again and shoves me once more in the chest. “Quiet,” she hisses.
“But you guys can stop sneaking around now,” our son continues as a grin spreads over my face. “Riley’s a big dude, and that window’s … not. It’s okay if he wants to use the front door.”
“Oh my God,” Steph mouths as I pump the air with my fist. This level of acceptance this early on is beyond my wildest dreams, though clearly the boys have been onto us for a lot longer than we’d realized.
There’s a long pause as we wait with bated breath to see if he’s going to say anything more. He doesn’t, but the otherwise creaky floorboards remain silent, indicating he hasn’t moved from the other side of the door either. Once it becomes clear he’s waiting for a response—and that Steph’s not going to be able to give him one, I shout, “Thanks, Matt!”
A faint chuckle sounds from the other side as I officially corroborate my presence. It’s followed by the groan of the old floorboards as he moves away down the hall.
Steph lets out a whoosh of air, her eyes still wide and her face now flushed much redder than might be explained by her earlier scrubbing.
“I can’t believe that just happened.”
The grin splitting my face is borderline painful as I say, “I know, but I’ll take it.”
She presses her hands to her hot face. “I’m so embarrassed, though.”
I sober. “I know, Sunshine, I get it, but this is the best possible outcome we could have asked for today. It means I can come around anytime—all the time—and they’re accepting of that. Ofus. Sure, it’ll still be weird and a little uncomfortable, at least for a while. They don’t like to think about you with a man, and you don’t like to think about them thinking about it.” I bite my lip with mirth. “And it’s probably a very begrudging seal of approval on Alex’s part, but it’sreal. I mean … this ishuge. We’re doing this, Steph.”
I peel her hands from her face and force her to look up at me, watching her warm brown eyes soften as she takes me in. I know what she sees … the emotion shining in my eyes. The relief and utter fucking elation. It’s surreal how happy I am. That we’re here.Finally.
She goes up on her toes then, wrapping her arms around my neck and sniffling into my chest.
“Thank you for today.”
“I’m the one who’s thankful,” I murmur, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head.
“I just … I feel so full. Like my chest is expanding and I … I can’t describe it.” She pulls back, staring up into my face once more. “Can it really be this easy?”
“I don’t know. I hope so.”
She sniffles again, shaking her head with a frown. “The thoughts … the fear. It’s been insidious, casting a pall over all of the new moments we’ve shared … our reconnection.” She drops her gaze, adding with a whisper, “I’m sorry I let it rule me for so long.”
“It’s okay, baby.” I swallow thickly, emotion clogging my throat at her words. “I’m sorry if I was impatient. For pressuring you.”
“I think I needed the push to get out of my own way.”
“Maybe, but your feelings, your worries, are valid. It’s okay to still feel them. We’re here now, though. We’re a team. And we’ll deal with the rest—anything else that comes, together.”
I take her hands in mine, urging her to meet my eyes and blinking back tears when she does. Hers are equally shiny with emotion when I tell her, “He’s incredible, Steph. They both are. You’ve done an amazing job with them.”
Her soft smile, her pink lips, beckon me to kiss her. I lean in, taking her mouth gently, then pull away only to have her chase me with a groan. She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me back for another kiss, immediately taking it deeper. I walk her backwards towards the bed, never once breaking the kiss as we tumble together onto the mattress. Removing her clothes is the work of a few seconds, and when she’s splayed out, naked and perfect before me, I close my mouth over hers once more.
She moans.Loudly.
“We might be busted, but I’m still going to need you to be quiet,” I murmur against the skin of her throat.
I proceed to pin her in place while I claim her lips once more. Then I crawl torturously slowly down her body, trailing teasing wet kisses across her skin as I do. When I reach the apex of her thighs, I shove them open, making a place for myself as I settle between them and grin fiendishly up at her. I’m not sure which one of us enjoys this more.
“I’m going to taste you now, Sunshine.”
39
Riley
“ThoughtIwashereso you didn’t have ta be,” Bobby says with a raised eyebrow as I approach the bar.
Steph’s having a girls’ night tonight, so I’d reached out to my brother and asked if he wanted to get a drink. Things are still a little awkward between us—tentative—but he agreed to meet me after his shift ended. I figured I’d check in with Bobby while I wait and decided to head over to Aroma’s early.
