Page 58 of Saving You

“Come on, boy. Let’s get you some breakfast, and I’ll let you out to pee.”

He follows me down the stairs and into the kitchen. I turn on the coffeepot then fill Finn’s bowl. Once he starts chowing down, I begin scrambling eggs and putting bacon into a frying pan. As I finish plating breakfast, Bailey wanders into the kitchen wearing only my shirt. I hand her a cup of coffee and kiss her.

I enjoy being able to kiss her whenever I want and I’m going to take advantage of it. She smiles at me before settling into a chair at the kitchen table.

“What do you want to do today?” I ask her.

“I don’t have any plans.”

“So you’re saying that I can keep you naked until we need to leave for the game?”

She smiles and blushes.

“I love that colour,” I say.

She raises an eyebrow, and I reach forward and brush the backs of my fingers over her cheek. Leaning down, I whisper, “The pink your cheeks turn when you blush.”

Goosebumps erupt over her skin as my breath dusts over the shell of her ear, and I grin at her body’s reaction to me.

When we finish eating, we place our plates in the sink. I lift Bailey into my arms as she giggles and wraps her legs around me then I rush us upstairs. We spend the next few hours in bed, either exploring each other’s bodies or talking.

She tells me about her parents and their deaths and how that left her with no other family as her parents were only children and her grandparents had already passed. Lily was the only friend who stuck by her when she got pregnant.

It takes everything in me to not ask for names and addresses to go over and give these people a piece of my mind. Who abandons their friend just because they get pregnant? I could never imagine pulling away from Josh and Olivia or from Max and Sarah because they’re expecting.

I tell her about my father dying overseas while I was a teenager and how my mom raised Max and me by herself. She listens, taking in every word. I almost tell her how I’ve been requesting records from the military to find out more about my father’s death, but I’m not able to work up the nerve. I haven’t told anyone yet, not even my mom or Max.

At 3 p.m., we get up and get dressed before heading to the game. I have Bailey hook her phone up to the car stereo and I find out she listens to a lot of pop, particularly a lot of Taylor Swift. We ride there with my hand on her thigh as she sings along. When we get there, I kiss her before she joins Olivia and then make my way to the dressing room.

CHAPTER 21

Bailey

As Caleb heads to the dressing room, I join Olivia on the bleachers. Charlie is sitting beside her with paper and crayons and seems content with drawing. She doesn’t even notice me sit down.

Olivia smiles at me before she leans in and whispers, “You’ve got a post-orgasmic glow.”

I blush and make a zipping motion over my lips.

“You don’t have to say anything, but at least tell me, was it good?”

I blush even more before I lean in and whisper directly in her ear, “Best sex of my life.”

Her head turns to me with wide eyes and a slack jaw.

“Yeah,” I say, confirming.

“Good for you!”

She tells me all about her night with Charlie, and it sounds like they had fun. Charlie eventually notices me, jumping up and hugging me. I bury my nose in her hair, enjoying her smell. Charlie doesn’t spend nights away from me often. With it only being the two of us and Lily, there haven’t been many opportunities.

“Did you have fun at AuntyLiv and Uncle Josh’s?”

“Yeah, lots. I want to go again,” she says excitedly.

I chuckle. “We’ll see.”

The guys come out and make their way to the ice. When Charlie spots Caleb, she runs at him, calling his name. He hears her, and a smile spreads across his face as he crouches to meet her. The whole scene has me melting. This man is genuinely happy to see my daughter. My entire body is warm as I look at him, and all I want to do is be closer to him. I think I’ve fallen in love with him. But it’s only been two months. How could I have possibly fallen in love with him that quickly?

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