Page 51 of Until Forever

I stroke her cheek. “I fucked up once, and I’m not doing that again. I feel like we’ve got a second chance here, and I’ll be damned if I’m walking away from that. I want to be where you are, where my son is.”

“So you want to move in?” She drags her question. “Don’t you think that’s a little fast?”

“Not at all. We’ve got history, baby. And that doesn’t just go away. If tonight taught me anything, it is that we fit. Even after all this time, we bind the way we should.”

“I don’t know, Jas.”

“You can trust me.”

“Can I? Tonight was great, and I definitely needed it, but you have an entire life somewhere else. And yes, you’re here now, but for how long? You’ll do whatever this is we’ve been doing this past month until when?”

“Forever,” I blurt. “I’m here—until forever.” I lift her chin so that she’s looking me dead in the eye. “I’m not going anywhere, and the way I see it, I have a lot of ground to cover with JJ—with you. What better way to be a family than to be under the same roof? I’m here nearly every night anyway. I’ll step up with JJ because you’re no longer alone in this. We’re going to do this together from now on.”

She drops her gaze and toys with a loose thread on the sheets. “Sounds like you’ve thought about it long and hard,” she points out.

“I have. Besides, I’m tired of paying for that damn hotel room.” She chuckles. “Unless you’re telling me you don’t want this?”

“We can’t just jump back into old habits,” she tries to convince me.

“We’re not. Nothing about our lives today fits what we had at eighteen. We’re grown now, with careers, a kid, and years of maturity. We’d be foolish to think of it any other way. I know what I’m asking, and I’m telling you it’s worth it.”

“JJ would love that.”

“He would,” I add.

“It was nice having the help and coming home to a clean house.”

I nod with a cocky smirk.

“I don’t want to confuse him. We have to take it slow, and you can sleep on the couch. I don’t want him asking questions that we don’t even have the answer to yet. And we can’t do this.” She gestures between our naked bodies.

“Oh, you’re out of your mind if you think this is the last time I make love to you.”

She swallows.

“We’ll be careful around him, I’ll even sleep on the couch for a little while, but I plan to be inside you every night.”

“I’m serious,” she chides.

“So am I. You’re mine, and the sooner you realize that, the easier this is going to be.”

She’s quiet for a beat, and I allow her a moment to let my words sink in. I meant what I said, and deep down, I know she knows that.

“Are you in?”

“You sleep on the couch?” she repeats, though it comes out as more of a question.

I lean over the side of the mattress for my pants, snagging another condom from my wallet and put it on. Then I yank her to me, turning us so that I’m back between her legs, my dick already coming to life again.

“Yeah, but first, you’re going to scream my name at least one more time tonight.”

I devour her mouth and slip into her wetness, swallowing the moan that escapes her.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

LATOYA

A loud bangshakes me from my sleep. I crawl up in the bed, my head pounding from a hangover. It takes me a moment to fully adjust, all of my senses coming to life at once.

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