Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
I hid her baby’s baby.
“I’m so excited for you. We’ll find a place in the city.”
“The hell you will,” Maeve says beside me, giving me a dark look. “You are both welcome here. I have rooms available and would love to have you here. I know your parents don’t want you so far away in town. Not when we have time to make up for.”
I meet a pair of eyes that match Thatcher’s in every way. The darkest brown. I swallow hard, my throat working as I choose my words carefully. “Are you sure?”
It’s Don who speaks next. “Why are you asking that? You are always welcome here.”
I feel like I’ve been thrown off a roof, that stomach-twisting feeling as I hold Maeve’s gaze. “I thought you wouldn’t want me here after everything.”
Don sighs deeply as Maeve just watches me. Her lips turn down in a frown as she sighs just as deeply as Don did. “You are family, no matter what, Audrina,” she tells me, reaching out to cup my face. “I love you like my own, and as hard as it is for me to understand what you and Thatcher have going on, I will because I love you more than my need to know why you ran and kept my grandchild from me.”
My chest tightens. “I’m sorr—”
She squeezes my chin, stopping my words. “None of that.” She taps my nose then looks at Arwen. With the widest grin imaginable, Maeve signs, We will go shopping tomorrow to buy you everything for a brand-new room!
My own room? Like Bluey? Arwen asks, looking from her baba to me.
“What is Bluey?” Mom asks, and I grin as I nod to my baby.
“It’s this really cool show with this awesome dad. You’ll watch it on repeat when you hang with Arwen,” Thatcher says then as he carries in a box. He crouches down, opening the flaps and looking at Arwen. This one?
She nods happily and then signs, Daddy, I get a room here. Baba is taking me shopping for my own room. Like Bluey.
Maeve pats his arm. “We’ll go while you’re at practice. She can have the room next to yours, and Audrina on the other side.”
“Oh, we have been sharing,” I start, but Maeve waves me off.
“She needs her own space, and you do too, my love. I promise.”
Thatcher looks at me. “Are you okay with that?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I’ve always slept with her.”
“And you still can,” he promises, leaving me speechless. He looks down at Arwen, grinning just for her. Just like you wanted. Are you excited?
She wiggles. So excited. Can I have a Bluey bed?
He chuckles. I don’t think Mommy would fit in a Bluey bed.
She’ll sleep in your room with you, and I’ll have mine.
God help me. The thought of sharing a bed with Thatcher again has me burning all over. Thatcher snorts at that and then looks at me, waggling his brows. “I like the way she thinks.”
“Not funny.”
He thinks it is, but then he says, “I thought you’d stay at your mom’s?”
I roll my lips before licking them, unable to look into the brown orbs of my dreams. “They’re renovating, so your parents offered.”
“Okay, cool. So, I should unload everything here, then?” he asks, clapping his hands.
“I can.”
He squeezes my shoulder. “No, I’ll do it. You stay and hang with everyone.” He leans in, his hand coming up to cup my cheek. His voice is low as he asks, “Are you okay?”
Unable to resist, I look into his eyes, and they’re staring intently into mine. There is a fire burning in them, leaving me gasping. I want to fall into them, get lost in all the promises, and I know that’s bad. One thing is for sure, I wouldn’t need any damn song to make me kiss those lips again.
Not now that I know what they taste like.
I nod. “Just overemotional.”
He brushes his thumb along my jaw. “Understandable.” He sighs. “I’m gonna unpack the car and leave everything down here. Then I’ve got to head back to my apartment and pack some of my stuff.”
I’m apparently not comprehending what he is saying until Maeve asks, “Are you staying here too, synok?”
His eyes are on me, and it’s clear he doesn’t see any issue with staying in his family home with his baby mama like I do. How am I supposed to resist him if he is right beside me? He nods with a grin on his handsome face. “Yeah. Wherever Audrina and Arwen are, I want to be near when I can.”
My stomach does more flips than a gymnast in the Olympics, and all I can do is stand there as he winks. Why does he say things like that? Doesn’t he know he confuses me more and makes me think there is a glimmer of hope between us? Because there isn’t. There can’t be. But as I watch him lean in and kiss Arwen’s head, I wonder if he’ll kiss me. Shit, do I want him to kiss me?