Page 115 of Perfect Pairing
“You’d do that for me?” Hansen asked, voice full of awe.
I softened. “Of course. I’d do anything for you.”
“Are you my new mommy?” he blurted.
Ezra was so startled by Hansen’s question that he dropped his spatula, and it clattered loudly to the floor in the now-silent room. Slowly, he spun to his son, moving around the island to set a plate of breakfast in front of Hansen then turning him and settling his hands on Hansen’s shoulders.
I was stunned stupid, my mouth gaping like a fish as I tried to find something to say. But there wasn’t anything Icouldsay. I would never delude myself into thinking I could replace Shannon, and truthfully, I didn’t want to. That woman had caused this family untold amounts of pain, but for all her faults, she was still Hansen’s mother. Without her, he wouldn’t exist. I knew I’d never meet her, and while I wanted to hate her for the way she treated my man and his boy, I couldn’t, because without her, they wouldn’t be here with me now.
“Do you like Brie?” Ezra asked Hansen.
His eyes darted to me then back to his dad. “I love my Baker Brie,” he said quietly, and my heart squeezed painfully.
“I love you too, kiddo.”
“And I love you both,” Ezra said. “I know your mom’s not here anymore, and it’s okay if that makes you sad. But I think, if you’re okay with it, we’ll keep Brie around for a while?”
“A while?” I asked, quirking a brow.
Ezra shushed me, though he winked before refocusing on Hansen.
“I want her around all the time,” Hansen said with a shrug.
Ezra reached out for me, and I laced our fingers together. “I think we can make that happen. What do you say, honey?”
“All the time works for me.”
Ezra swallowed audibly, his eyes going a little glassy as we sat there, hands clasped, the three of us connected. Such a quiet, early morning moment, and I knew it would become one I looked back on fondly and frequently.
Though the spell was quickly broken by Rik clearing his throat from the breakfast nook.
“Don’t I get a say in this?” he asked, rising from his seat to bring his empty plate to the sink, rinsing it then loading it in the dishwasher.
“I guess,” Ezra said with an overly dramatic sigh, letting go of me and Hansen to return to cooking.
Rik looked at me, grinning, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “You know I adore you, Brie, and I’m happy to have you become a part of this family.”
“Thank you—”
“But…”
Ezra groaned, and my cheeks heated. I should’ve known it wouldn’t be that simple.
“Dad,” Ezra warned. “Brie is our guest and my girlfriend. Tread carefully.”
It was the first time he’d called me such, and I flushed with pleasure under my anxiety over whatever Rik was about to say.
“It’s nothing bad,” Rik said, waving a hand to dismiss his son’s protests. “I was just going to say that if you’re going to engage in…adult playtime…maybe you could be a little quieter about it? Or do it somewhere else.”
I felt all the blood drain from my face as I slapped a hand over my mouth.
“Fuck,” Ezra breathed.
“Dad, you said a bad word!” Hansen piped up. “Swear jar!”
My blood roared in my ears as I thought back to last night, to the hours Ezra and I had spent tangled around each other in his sheets, of the ways he’d played with my body, strumming on my clit and pounding into me with his fingers and cock until I was boneless with pleasure and completely spent. Being with him had always unlocked something in me, a confidence and inhibition I’d never found with anyone before. And while I’d tried to be quiet, there was no guarantee I’d succeeded…
What could Rik have heard?
