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“I think she felt bad for hurting the boy.”
“She shouldn’t feel bad. He shouldn’t have kissed her.”
“Honey . . .” I turn so my front is to the back of the couch. Once I’m facing him, I rest my hands against his chest. “You’re right. He shouldn’t have kissed her, but she shouldn’t have hurt him.”
“Yes, she should have,” he growls.
Seeing the look on his face, I realize what I’m doing. I press my lips together to keep my mouth shut. It’s not my place to argue with him about how Madeline should or shouldn’t act.
“What’s that?” His brows pull together as his eyes scan my face.
“What?”
“You. What’s that look that you just got? One second you’re ready to battle with me, and the next you’re pressing your lips together like you’re attempting to keep quiet.”
“Nothing.” I turn back to face the TV, which is now playing the news.
“Talk to me,” he demands, putting his hand under my jaw to force me to look at him.
“It’s nothing. It’s not my place.”
“Not your place.” His eyes turn kind of scary, and I try not to flinch. “You’re in our lives. In my life. I want to hear what you have to say. I want to know what you think.”
“I . . . I’m . . . It’s not my place to argue with you about Madeline.”
“Pardon?”
Even though I can hear the slight warning in his tone, I still say softly, “I’m not her mom. We are all just getting to know each other, so I don’t think it’s my place to tell you how Maddi should or shouldn’t act.”
“When does it become your place?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know how these things work,” I say quietly.
His jaw twitches. “Maddi was going to freak Sunday when you said you were going home. She didn’t want to miss out on time with you. Twice now you’ve lain in bed with her and read her a bedtime story, shared something with her that has only been mine since the day she was born. She never even asked her mom to read to her. We like you being here, and I plan on you being here for a long fucking time. So tell me, baby, when will it be your place to give me your opinion?”
He noticed that Maddi didn’t want me to leave Sunday? Holy cow, she’s never even asked her mom to read to her at night?
“I can tell by your expression that you don’t get what I’m saying, so let me make it clear. I want you in my life. I want you in Maddi’s life. I want to know how you feel. I want to hear your opinion, even if I don’t agree with you.”
“Okay,” I agree.
My heart beats so hard that it feels like it might explode out of my chest. If I had any doubt before about what he wanted, I don’t now.
“Okay.” He shakes his head, then his eyes go to the television.
I give his waist a squeeze and wait for him to look at me before I say quietly, “I’m proud of her for sticking up for herself, but she shouldn’t have kicked him so hard that he had to go to the nurse’s office.”
His lips twitch into a smile, then he kisses the top of my head and mumbles, “Yeah, but I bet he’ll think twice before he kisses another girl.”
“This is true,” I mutter back.
He laughs hard, then his laughing mouth is covering mine and he’s laying me back against the couch and covering me with his body. When his tongue slips between my lips, I lose myself in his kiss.
“Heads up,” he states when he pulls his mouth from mine minutes, or maybe hours, later. “You’re staying here with me from Friday to Sunday, so you might want to plan for that.”
“What?” I blink and attempt to focus on him and not my overheated body or the way my blood seems to be singing through my veins.
“Or we’ll stay at your place. Either way, don’t plan on doing anything this weekend, because I plan on keeping us both busy.”
“Oh . . . ,” I breathe.
“Oh yeah.” He smiles once more before his mouth covers mine again.
I lose myself in his kisses.
Chapter 10
THE EX IS BACK IN TOWN
COURTNEY
“What do you think?” I turn to face Merida, who’s sprawled out on my bed with her legs up in the air and her head tipped back in my direction. She rolls to her stomach and sits up, her head tilting one way, then the other. “Do you think it’s too much?” I ask, even knowing she has no idea what I’m saying. “It’s probably too much.”
I look down at myself, then turn to face the mirror. When Lucas told me last night that we would be spending the weekend together, I knew what that meant. I also know that I’ll be ready for everything that will hopefully happen between us. More than ready.
