Page 50 of Raising Love
“Are you still on birth control?” I rasped.
She nodded quickly.
“Aight.” I swallowed hard. “So, then… we’re good… right?”
“Yeah,” she whispered.
“I always use a condom,” I said, clearing my throat. “This is the first time I didn’t, so…”
“Same.”
Ivy inhaled an audible breath and was about to say something else when we heard the sharp cries of Baby Love from his nursery. Ivy gasped next. Both of our attention went to my door that was still open.
No doubt all that shit we just did woke him from sleep. I’m pretty sure we woke the whole fucking neighborhood… or what was of it.
“I’ll get him,” I told her, turning to focus on her again. “I got it.”
It was my attempt to get away from her. And I did. After getting dressed and going to the baby’s nursery, I gave him his bottle, and he fell asleep while drinking it. I could’ve returned to my room, but I chose to spend the remainder of the night in the nursery, falling asleep on the rocking chair.
The next day, I had to be in the city for training and spent a little extra time in the gym practicing, too damn concerned about what would happen if I returned to Greene Gardens.
I went on a date with Vanessa that night and was distracted, just like tonight.
I had asked Vanessa out to eat every night after that night with Ivy. It was now the third night after, and I was out with Vanessa again… distracted.
“You think you’ll come back to my place tonight?” she asked, running her manicured nails through her short hair while batting her long lashes.
“Damn.” I chuckled nervously. “Can we eat first?”
She giggled. “I just thought I’d ask. While I love that we have been going out literally three nights in a row, I would love for you to hang with me at my place after.” Her hand was across the table again as she laid it against mine. “I really, really miss you, Leo.”
Her touch was missing something.
I appreciated Vanessa’s caring nature. She agreed to hang out with me at short notice and with no hesitation. She was always like that. But there was always something about our relationship, if you could call it a relationship, that always seemed like it was missing something. There was always something in all my relationships where I felt like I was missing something.
But that wasn’t the case the night Ivy and I hooked up.
Though the situation was so wrong, she felt so right. We felt right. I fit inside her like a puzzle piece. Where her hands laid on me just came naturally. Like they were always supposed to be there.
And that finish? I had never experienced a nut like that in my life. It ran through me like electricity, making me feel like I’d been blasted out of this planet for several seconds. It was wild.
I couldn’t get it out of my head.
I don’t know.
After everything, things were awkward, true. But in the act, while we were doing what we were doing, everything was so damn right. Perfect. Pure. Addictive? Because I’d only done it once, and it didn’t even last that long, and already I was feeling a sense of withdrawal.
“Leo,” Vanessa said across from me.
I switched my head in her direction. “What’s up?”
Her eyes moved to my right before she was pointing that way. “Our server asked what would you like to have for dinner?”
I peeked that way, noticing the woman standing there with her pencil and notepad, wearing a smile and waiting.
“Oh.” I sat up. “My bad, I didn’t even see you standing there… ummm…” I lifted my menu and went with the first thing my eyes fell on. “I’ll have the herb-crusted halibut. Thanks.”
When our server had finished taking our order, leaving Vanessa and me alone again, she wasted no time asking, “Is everything okay?”
