Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 51525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51525 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 258(@200wpm)___ 206(@250wpm)___ 172(@300wpm)
“Fuck,” he rumbles, pulling me against him, curving his hand around the back of my head, and holding me close. “It’s cold. I gotta get you inside.”
I nod but don’t move from where I am, and neither does he. We stand just like that until I start to shiver, and only then does he take me back downstairs. We make love, slow and unhurried, building each other up until we both come apart. Then he tucks me against him with my head on his chest, his heart beating in a solid tempo against my ear.
“What do you want baby?”
“You.”
“You have me, you’ll always have me.” I rest my forehead against his and close my eyes against his skin.
“I wished for you,” I whisper my confession. “When I was just a kid I wished on a shooting star that you’d notice me, I wished that you’d be mine.”
“Bre.” He slides one hand up my back into my hair his voice sounding tortured.
I open my eyes and look down into his handsome face and beautiful eyes. “It took a while for my wish to come true but I’m really happy that it did.” I touch my mouth to his and lick against his lips, and when he kisses me back I pour into our kiss everything I feel for him, wanting, no needing him to know that he’s everything to me.
Chapter 11
_______________
Aubrey
STANDING IN THE KITCHEN AT the stove, I dump a jar of pasta sauce into the meat I already browned while I listen to Ly. I watch her as she colors a page in the coloring book in front of her, and laugh as she talks a mile a minute about what she did while I was gone. When Denver and I returned back into town this afternoon, he brought me home, said a quick goodbye to me before he gave Ly a long hug, and told her he’d be back to the house for dinner tonight.
I didn’t know we were going to have dinner together, but I was happy we were. After the last two days with him, I didn’t want what we shared to come to an end. I wanted to keep living in the moment, to keep feeling happy and complete, and to keep adding on to what we were building, but to stir Ly into the mix to make it even better.
“When you and Denver get married, can I call him Daddy?” At Ly’s sudden and unexpected question, my hand stirring the sauce stills and my heart starts to pound.
“I….” I have no idea what I’m going to say, but I don’t get a chance to say anything, because she continues without looking up at me.
“I know he’s not my daddy,” she says before lifting her head. “But Penelope said he would be my stepdad, so can I call him Dad?” Holy shit! I thought I was ready for this. I was totally, totally wrong. My mind scrambles for a way to answer her question as she drops her eyes back down to what she was doing, continuing on to something new to freak me out. “Can I be the flower girl?” A vision of me walking in a wedding dress toward Denver while Ly tosses out flowers in front of me fills my mind. It’s a beautiful image, one that scares the crap out of me and makes me want to do girly cartwheels all over the house. “Can I wear a dress like Princess Elsa?”
How cute would that be? Crap, I need to grab a hold of this and be an adult, not start searching for a flower girl dress. “Baby.” Her eyes lift to meet mine. “Denver and I are seeing each other, but we are not getting married anytime soon.”
“But Penelope said you guys are in love, had always been in love with each other.”
Okay, my baby sister, who is only a few years older than Ly, has a big mouth. “She said she overheard Grandma Shel and Grandma Joe talking about it.”
“Honey—”
“Are you in love?” she asks, sounding like the wrong answer will send her into a tantrum.
“Yes,” I answer honestly, because we are, and because if things keep going like we both want them to, we will one day be a family.
“Then I want to call him Dad.” My stomach muscles twist as I stare at my baby. She has always seemed wise beyond her years. Even looking into her eyes when she was just days old, it felt like she already knew everything there was to know about life and how the world works. “Even Grandpa said he’s been my daddy since I was born.”
“Grandpa said that?” I whisper, and she nods.
“Your daddy was Gabe, Ly,” I say gently, and she looks away. I have spoken to her about Gabe since before she was born, and I have talked to her about him as much as possible since she took her first breath. He would have been so happy to find out we were pregnant, and I know he would have been an amazing father to her. As much as I love the love she has for Denver, I don’t want her to forget about Gabe. I move around the counter toward her and crouch close to her side. “I know you never met him, but Gabe is a part of you, and you’re a part of him.”