“I paid for so many rehabs. Skipped classes and called in sick at work to bail him out even more times. I love him, and I hate him.” I sob into Pres’s shoulder. “I blame him, and I blame me.” One arm tightens around my back while his other hand cradles the nape of my neck. “At the end of the day, he’s part of me, and I’ll never let him go. I’ll pick up every time that phone rings.”
“That’s fine, baby. Call him back.” He draws back enough to leave a little space between us and push the phone into my hand. “But change his name back to Bobby. ‘Trouble’ is taken now. And I refuse to share it with the man who makes you think something bad is about to land. You’re allowed to carry him in your heart, Mia. But he can’t cost you your joy. You don’t owe anyone that.” Then he kisses my forehead, nose, and dries my wet cheeks. So protective. Possessive, too. I feel safe and unashamed.
I call Bobby back three times, but he doesn’t answer.
“I’ll redefine that word for you, even if it’s the last thing I do, you hear me?” he says, cupping my face.
I grin through fresh tears, this time because I believe him. I don’t think this wholehearted man is physically or morally capable of breaking a promise.
“Yeah, that’s the smile I want to see on your face when you hear me calling you Trouble. Knowing how much you changed me, my life, my home. You’re the Trouble most people hope for, and I’m the lucky bastard holding you in my arms.”
I push him down on my bed and kiss him, slow, full of intention. Hoping my lips and tongue can convey the hurricaneof feelings in my chest and do his words justice. But I need him to stop. I’ll melt if he keeps talking. Maybe propose too. I can’t be held accountable for my actions if this man keeps sweet-talking to me like that; it’s simply not fair.
The image of the air mattress by Lily’s bed flashes in my brain, and I lift my upper body. “We need to discuss sleeping arrangements.”
“We do?”
“Yes. Mrs. Romano left an air mattress in Lily's room. Do you want to take it, or should I?”
“I’m sleeping right here”—his hand pats my bed—“with my girlfriend. I’ve already set the alarm for 5 a.m. and turned the baby cam on.” He pulls the monitor from his back pocket and shows me a peaceful Lily sleeping with her mouth open.
My head tilts sideways, suddenly too heavy with this new information. “Your what, now?”
“My girlfriend. It’s too late for you to unpack that now, but it is what it is. You’re mine, Mia. And I don’t share. That makes you my girlfriend. If you want to pretend that’s not true for a bit, knock yourself out. I’m too old to fake casual.”
That’s the kind of thing women highlight on their Kindles and never emotionally recover from. It’s me. I’m women.
Pres slips from under me. I’m too stunned to hold him down for further questioning. He pulls the cover and invites me to lie inmybed. Fine, it’s his house, but this is still my space. I nestle at his side, facing him.
“There’s no way I’m not sleeping with you in my arms tonight, Mia. Now strip and behave.”
“That sounds a little contradictory,” I say, peeling everything off but my panties.
“Not really. I just want you naked for when I wake up hard and ready in the middle of the night.”
“Pres,” I look up, worried, “Lily can’t know. No one can know.” I hook my fingers under the hem of his T-shirt and lift. He takes over, dragging it up and over his head.
His eyes soften in a way that looks suspiciously like gratitude. “Thank you for saying that. I know. I agree.” He tips his forehead to mine. “It doesn’t make you any less mine, though.”
I smile at the sound of that. He kisses me goodnight and strips till he’s down to his boxers. I bat my eyelashes once and fall asleep. To call this day intense would be the understatement of the year. I feel a hundred years older and a million pounds lighter.
I feel better than ever.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
preston
The buzzfrom my watch and a soft melody wake me up. I kill the alarm before it disturbs Mia and slip into my daughter’s room without a sound. She babbles nonsense in her sleep, and I try to decode it, chasing fragments of her dream.
I let myself dream wide awake—of a future I’ve got no right to imagine. Too soon. Too sudden. Yet, it warms my chest anyway, a future I’m not meant to hold, not meant to hope for.
Sleep drags me under again, and another alarm wakes me a second time. I climb into Lily’s bed for a cuddle and a tickle while we spin a quick story together. It’s one of our favorite pastimes. When we get up, she changes into her uniform, but her hair is a glorious mess, so I head to the bathroom for a brush.
Mia opens the door of her room, and I change course, striding toward her to steal a kiss and her breath. She’s still catching it, eyes closed, when I turn back and call, loud enough for both to hear, “Look who I found in the hallway.”
She follows me, footsteps uneven. Her smile is bright when she faces me, but it blazes when she turns to Lily. My chest swells, the air getting trapped in my throat.This could work.This could actually work. I let myself daydream a little more.
“Morning, Mia. Come, jump with me.” My little monkey bounces on her bed, one arm stretched in invitation.
