Page 61 of Until Nalia
“How would you feel if I said yes?” I tread carefully.
“I don’t know.” Her gaze drops from mine, and she shrugs. “She seems nice, and I like Zuri.”
“Right now we’re just getting to know each other, but I like her.” That’s an understatement.
“More than you liked, Mom?”
“Billie....”
“It’s just you seem different with her.” She cuts me off. “And it’s weird because I…” She rubs her lips together. “I don’t remember seeing you like that with Mom.”
“Like what?”
“Soft, or when you just look at her all funny.”
Shit.
“Your mom and I were young when we got together, and we were always friends; we were better off as friends.”
“But you loved her.”
“Yeah, and I still care about her,” I say gently.
“Do you ever regret being with Mom?”
“Absolutely not,” I say firmly. “There is not one thing I would change about my life, not meeting your mom, not having you kids, nothing.”
“Okay.” Her chin wobbles, and she hides it with her coffee cup.
“Your mom and I had a great life together.” I wrap my arm around her and kiss the top of her head. “We just grew up and became different people; that happens sometimes. It doesn’t mean that we didn’t love each other, or that we wish we hadn’t been together. Okay?”
“Yeah, Dad.” She drops her head to my shoulder.
“I love you.”
“I know.” She mutters, using the sleeve of her sweatshirt to wipe her face. “I should go make sure Cat’s up.”
“Alright, honey.” I kiss the top of her head, then watch her leave while dragging in a breath. A heart-to-heart this early in the morning? Being a parent is fucking hard.
“I got it,” Coop yells when the doorbell goes off, and I hear him pound down the stairs. Turning down the griddle, when it gets quiet, I walk out of the kitchen and find Coop and Zuri sitting on the floor. Nalia is squatted down next to Dozer, rubbing his stomach.
“Dad, you have to get me a rat,” Coop says, and I blink at him, then notice the small grey and white rat with a pink nose and paws in Zuri’s grasp.
“Sorry,” Nalia whispers, and I look at her. Fuck, she’s beautiful, even with no makeup and her hair in a messy bun.
“Don’t worry, I brought his travel cage,” Zuri tells me, then asks, “Is Billie here? She wanted to see Pippin.”
“She's upstairs,” I mutter, and Zuri grins, getting to her feet and Coop follows, getting to his then without a word the two of them run up the stairs. The next thing I hear is Billie shout oh my god he’s so cute instead of oh my god why do you have a rat in the house.
“I should have called and asked if it was okay to bring him over,” Nalia says, and I turn my attention to her. “I’m sorry.” She shifts on her feet when I don’t say anything. “I can take him home if you want. Zuri was just insistent that Billie wanted to see him.”
Turning, I walk back into the kitchen and stop. A second later, when she comes around the corner and I pull her against me, hearing her gasp, then press her back against the wall and cover her mouth with mine. I kiss her like I wanted to last night, every time she laughed, every time she smiled, every time she relaxed her weight into me. I kiss her like I’m starving, and maybe I am, but that’s because I have never been so desperate for someone in my life. As I slide my tongue across hers, her fingers tangle in my tee, and my hand wraps around her jaw. She tastes just like I remember, but with her guard down and her soft body pinned to the wall by mine, this moment is better than the last by a mile, and that was the best kiss of my life.
Sliding my free hand down her waist, I move it back up under the edge of her shirt, and she whimpers against my tongue when my hand comes in contact with her skin. She’s so soft, so warm. I press closer, taking more, then I groan in frustration when I hear the kids upstairs. Ripping my mouth away from hers, I drop my forehead to the top of her head and attempt to catch my breath, feeling her lips skim my jaw when she lets her head fall back against the wall. My cock throbs in response, and my fingers dig into her side as I attempt to ground myself and calm the fuck down before the kids inevitably come downstairs.
“Morning,” she says quietly, and I laugh, hearing her do the same before I pull back to look her in the eye.
“Morning.” I smooth my fingers across her jaw while studying her smile.
