Page 71 of Long Road Home

I woke with a jolted start.My eyes jumped open and I immediately saw soft, dark sheets against my chest and beneath my hand. Deep navy walls in front of me and a white door leading to a bathroom.

Jordan’s house. I was in his bed and as I stretched my limbs, the memories of the night before assaulted me. His body on mine, his lips on me. His mouth devouring me.

Sweet, sweet heavenly bliss.

I spread out in bed, the sun shining brightly through slightly opened blinds and reached for him even though I somehow knew I was alone.

Another thought hit me, making me leap out of bed. Toby.

I scrambled to my feet and hurried to the bathroom. I’d left my clothes in a pile on the floor and after quickly tugging on my shorts and going back to his room to put on my bra, I dug through Jordan’s dresser and found a gray t-shirt.

It fell to my knees, so I quickly tied it into a knot and went to the bathroom where I splashed water on my face and scrubbed away yesterday’s mascara from beneath my eyes. It took minutes to make myself look presentable enough for Toby to see me, and I felt no shame in digging through Jordan’s drawers to find a hair-tie, hoping I’d come up empty. When I couldn’t find anything, I smiled, grabbed the toothbrush I used last night and brushed my teeth.

Then I hurried out of his room and down the hall, coming up short when I saw Toby’s door open and his bed covers a mangled mess, but the bed was empty.

Sounds hit my ears coming from downstairs, followed by a manly chuckle which had to be Jordan. A lighter one quickly followed and before I knew it, my cheeks ached from grinning so large.

I reached downstairs and paused in the entryway of the kitchen. They hadn’t seen me yet and I took a minute to watch father and son work, making breakfast, and an even larger mess. Waffle batter was spilled all over the kitchen counter in front of them. Three glasses of juice were set aside, and Jordan stood next to Toby. One so tall and one so small, but so very similar, a tear fell down my cheek as Toby grinned up at his dad, laughing again while they poured the batter into the waffle maker.

I could watch them all day. Every day. And except for my own insecurities, there was no longer anything keeping that from happening.

With that thought, I stepped into the kitchen. “Are you two making a mess or breakfast?”

Toby slid his tongue out from his pressed together lips as he concentrated on pouring the batter into the maker.

Jordan grinned at me over his shoulder. “Morning sleepyhead. You slept in.”

I hadn’t checked to see what time it was, but a quick scan of the microwave and the clock in blue numbers said it was well after nine. I couldn’t remember the last time I slept so late. “Must have needed it.”

I went to Jordan and stepped between the two of them, kissing the top of Toby’s head. Jordan’s arm curled around my side and he kissed my cheek, hugging me quickly and letting me go. “Good morning. Sleep okay?”

Heat sparked at my neck and traveled upward. His look was knowing, also remembering. I cleared my throat and stepped back. “Yeah. It was a good night.”

“The best.”

“Gross you guys.” The laughter in Toby’s voice made me jump and I turned.

“What?”

“You two. Touchy feely and all that talk you think I’m too young to get. It’s gross.” He squished his face up and rolled his eyes. The look was utterly adorable, but he’d hate it if I pointed out how cute he was. And based on his expression, he was more pleased than displeased.

The teasing was new, too. If Jordan and I had been trying to hide we were trying out reconciliation, we’d clearly done a poor job of hiding it from him.

Not that he seemed to mind.

“Right. I’ll can the sweet stuff,” I teased him and stepped away from both of them. They went back to checking the waffles while I helped myself to coffee. Since they looked like they had everything under control, I spotted a stool across the island from them, slid onto it, grinning while I drank my coffee.

“Did you guys have anything planned for today?” Jordan asked. He’d propped his hip on the counter across from me. Peeling my eyes off the exposed skin around his waist was difficult. He was wearing light blue pajama bottoms, tied and slung low on his hips. I remembered Toby was in the room, feet from Jordan, and conquered the task of lifting my eyes from Jordan’s stomach to his face.

Based on his smirk, he knew my thoughts had driven straight to the gutter.

“Not really. I need to finish packing Tillie’s things. Thought today would be a good day to work on it.”

Two black brows slowly lifted. “You’re packing up her stuff.”

It was more a statement, tinged with something heavy I didn’t quite understand. “Yeah. At some point, I’ll have to get rid of it. And I don’t think she’s decluttered since the mid-nineties. There’s a lot to go through.”

“Right.” A muscle jumped in his jaw and he took a drink of coffee.

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