Page 92 of Until Nalia
“It’s not that I don’t want that too, it’s just we both have kids, and I don’t want any of them uncomfortable.” She pulls her eyes from mine and shakes her head. “And what if we get our lives all tangled up together and this ends?” She pauses, taking a breath, while my gut clenches. “That’s just going to make it harder for everyone.”
“I want my life tangled up with yours.” I take hold of her jaw. “And I don’t know about you, but I don’t see this ending.”
“Yeah, but you don’t know what might happen. You could decide that you hate that I can’t really cook and that my hair is always clogging the drain and that I’m okay with leaving dishes in the sink for more than a few minutes, which is something I know drives you crazy.”
“I don’t mind cooking, Drain-O is available at the grocery store, and I don’t give a fuck about dishes in the sink.” She raises a brow. “Okay, let me clarify that. I do think it’s important for the kids to clean up after themselves, and it doesn’t take much for them to rinse their dishes and put them in the dishwasher.”
“Immediately,” she says with a small smirk.
“Yes, immediately.” I lean in and touch my mouth to hers, but keep hold of her jaw as I continue. “We could talk about what ifs all day long. The thing is, I can’t predict the future, and neither can you. The only thing I do know is that I have never been happier in my life, and I’m willing to navigate things even if they are complicated to get us to a place where our kids are comfortable being around each other all the time.”
“I guess it’s something we can talk to them about. But…” She cuts me off before I can get my mouth fully open. “If any of them say that they are not okay with it, or that they are uncomfortable, we don’t attempt to talk them around or pressure them into agreeing to anything.”
“I can agree with that.”
“Really?” She gives me a look that says she doesn’t believe me.
“Scouts honor.” I hold up two fingers.
“You were not a Boy Scout,” she laughs.
“I was all through elementary and middle school.”
“Okay Boy Scout.” She pats my chest “You made me a sticky mess and I need to shower then feed you and get back to work.”
“I can definitely help you out with the shower.” I get to my feet and toss the blanket back over her before walking into the bathroom to turn on the shower. As I’m turning around to go back and get her, she walks in behind me naked, and my cock starts to come back to life. Not even when I was a teen did I have the urge to fuck like I do when it comes to her. All she has to do is walk by me, and I’m ready to drag her into a dark room and have my way with her.
Smiling because she knows exactly what she does to me, she laughs as I drag her into the shower.
Sitting in her kitchen thirty minutes later, I dip the grilled cheese and ham sandwich she made me for lunch into the tomato soup she also made as my cell on the counter between us beeps with a text. Seeing it’s a message from Kristy, I open it up.
Kristy
I just wanted to remind you that I’m getting Coop early from school for his dentist appointment.
I message her back that I remember then remind her that he has baseball practice today so she’ll need to drop him at the field.
“How’s she doing?” Nalia asks, obviously seeing that I was just messaging with Kristy. Like Billie, she’s been worried about her, but the truth is, I have no idea how she is doing. I’m not sure if Kristy already had her own suspicions about Aaron, but when I spoke with her Sunday night after the kids went to bed about the situation with Aaron being on a dating app, she didn’t exactly seem surprised.
I felt like I had just given her the news that it was going to rain the next day and that she’d need an umbrella. She was calm about the whole thing, only telling me that she’d talk to Aaron. Her reaction was strange, but I learned a long time ago that Kristy processes shit in her own way. And even if she was upset, I didn’t expect her to open up to me about how she was really feeling. We might be friends, but we are not the kind of friends who’d share our feelings with each other.
“She seems to be doing alright; I haven’t spoken to her about the situation since we spoke, but Billie mentioned that she thought Aaron was going to be moving out,” I tell her.
“Good, and he better hope I don’t run into him. I might just kick him in the shin for putting Krist and the kids through that.”
“I know, baby, and he should be terrified of your wrath.”
“Whatever.” She gets up taking her dishes to the sink then she reaches across for mine and adds them to the others then puts some water on them. When she’s done, she looks at me and raises a brow like she’s waiting for me to say something about her not putting them in the dishwasher.
“I didn’t say anything.” I hold up my hands and slide off my stool.
“Good, don’t, because I’ll do them later.”
“Come here.” I hold out my arms, and she walks to me and falls against my chest, wrapping her arms around me. “Coop and I should be done with practice around six. I’ll call and see what you and Zuri want us to pick up for you for dinner on our way home.” I hug her to me.
“You don’t have to get us dinner. Zuri has her first appointment with her therapist, so we can just get something and see you tomorrow.”
“That’s not happening.” I kiss the top of her head, then lean back to touch my mouth to hers. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”
