Page 60 of Always Been Yours

*photo attachment of the swear jar with a twenty on top.

I decided to be nice and throw in a little extra for the girls on your behalf.

Vivi

Thanks but if you’re just going to pay for me I don’t really see the point of letting you introduce me to some allegedly enjoyable alternatives

Next time, I won’t have to leave you after only a kiss. Patience, Genevieve.

That’s never really been my strong suit

Trust me, I know.

Maybe I’ll have to find a mutually enjoyable way to teach you that lesson.

I must ask again…who are you?

Not the little boy next door anymore.

I’ve noticed

Good night again ?

Good night again, love.

Chapter Twenty

Grady

“What are you doing here?”

Vivi’s clearly surprised to see me standing on her porch, almost soaked to the bone. I didn’t bother to grab an umbrella or rain jacket when I impulsively decided to come see her.

We’ve barely talked since I dropped her off last weekend, but she’s been on my mind every minute of every day since. Dating with two young daughters is hard, especially when I get the impression that Vivi doesn’t want people to know we’re dating. If that’s even what you can call this now. I hope so. Who knows what she thinks?

I’m fine with giving us time to get on the same page, but I won’t allow it to break the growing trust between us. You don’t get a chance to push a woman like Genevieve against the wall and kiss her like your very life depends on it only to ignore her afterwards. Absolutely no reason is good enough.

Sure, I kissed her and kind of ignored her once before. But there was definitely no pushing up against any walls. Plus, we wereteenagers.This is different.

I sent her a few text messages throughout the week, andI surprised her with her favorite coffee and pastry from Brighter Daze—large iced dirty Chai tea latte with oat milk and an extra shot of espresso and a bear claw,thank you Lexi. She smiled so bright when I walked into her classroom, that it took every ounce of self-control I had to not kiss her.

I didn’t want a possessive, consuming kiss.

No, that morning when Vivi was standing at her dry erase board, in her purple wrap dress and her natural waves flowing down her back, all I wanted was a soft and affectionate brush of her lips.

I’m not saying that I’d ever be opposed to the chance of bending her over her desk—my dick knows I think about it enough—but I don’t only want her hot, pleasure-filled moments. I want her quiet mornings, sleepless nights, and everything in between.

“The girls are gone for five days. The house was too quiet.”

I dropped my parents, Stella, and Daisy off at the airport this morning before my classes began. It’s fall break as of this afternoon, and my parents were gracious enough to fly to Seattle for a long weekend with the girls, so I didn’t have to.

As much as I hate being away from them, the truth was… I didn’twantto go. I didn’t want to spend a weekend co-parenting with Arielle. I’m thankful we get along and things are amicable between us, but I’m ready to move on with my life and the girls’ lives.

And I’m looking at who I hope holds that future in the palms of her pretty little hands.

When I got home from work, and the house was silent, I lasted thirty minutes before I felt like I was going crazy. Before the feeling of my heart being a thousand miles away from me took over. Before I realized for the first time since my daughters were born, my heart was split into three and one of those pieces was five miles from me.

Without thinking, I got in my car and drove here. The promise of Vivi’s laughlike a siren song pulling me toward her.

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