Page 52 of State of Grace

“It’s over, Anakin.” Harper proudly declared. “I have the high ground.”

“Master, please.” Blake held up her hand to Harper, who took a few steps back.

“You were the chosen one.” Giggling, Harper hopped off the stairs and ran over to Blake. She plopped down on her chest as Blake let out a huff of air. Harper’s small arms wrapped around her neck as they rolled around in the grass for a few moments while giggling. Blake caught Alexis’s eyes when she sat up and put Harper in her lap.

“I can handle it.” Shrugging, Blake handed Mason her lightsaber back and they resumed their playing a few feet away. “She’s one hell of a kid.”

“Yeah, I kinda like her.” Alexis’s eyes sparkled as she teased.

“Hey, I have a question for you.”

“Shoot.”

“Team Iron Man or Team Cap?”

“What kind of question is that?” Alexis snarled her nose in mock offense. “Team Iron Man, all the way.”

“I knew it,” she mumbled as she shook her head, looking over her shoulder at Mason.

“Did Mason tell you I was Team Cap?”

“She did indeed.”

“She loves playing tricks.” Alexis laughed. “You’ll get used to her antics.”

“I knew no woman of mine would be Team Cap.” Blake regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. It made Alexis seem like she was Blake’s property when that was entirely not how she meant the statement to come across.

Thankfully, Alexis seemed to enjoy the choice of words. “I’m your woman, huh?”

She leaned forward ever so slightly as their lips touched once more. Blake was relieved that Alexis didn’t seem bothered to be kissing in front of Harper or Mason. Maybe the walls she had built up around her heart were starting to fall. If that were the case, Blake would kiss her until they were nothing but heaps of rubble on the ground.

Chapter 18

Saturdays in the park with Sophia and Harper were Alexis’s favorite part of the summer. While Harper ran around with the other kids on the playsets, Alexis and Sophia enjoyed their lunch at their favorite picnic table under the large maple tree. Alexis had been anxiously awaiting the lunch so she could finally tell Sophia about what had happened with Blake after game night a few nights before.

Alexis was still processing it herself. The last thing she’d expected to happen after her panic-ridden meltdown in front of Blake was for them to be lip-locked several times in her apartment after putting Harper down to sleep. She knew that if Blake hadn’t left when she did, something more would have happened, and that fact scared Alexis.

It’d been years – nearly six of them, to be exact – since Alexis had wanted to be touched the way her body ached to have Blake touch her each time they were together. She hadn’t been in any relationship since she’d become pregnant with Harper, and Alexis had already resigned to the fact she’d be single forever. Dramatic, she knew, but it was how she felt nonetheless. But Blake was making her question that whole mentality. Blake made her want to open up.

“So,” Alexis took a sip of her Arnold Palmer drink as she looked across the wooden table to Sophia, “I think Blake and I are dating.”

The sparkling water came out of Sophai’s mouth and nose in a flurry.

“Quoi?” Sophia dabbed at her mouth with a napkin. “When did this happen?”

“After game night.”

“Two nights ago?”

“I wanted to tell you yesterday, but you had your summer class in the morning, and Harper and I hung out with Blake and Mason for a bit, and by the time I got home, you and Emily had the front door locked, and I was so not knocking.”

“That was wise.” With a smirk, Sophia pointed her fork at Alexis before taking another bite of her salad. “Emily got this new…”

“Ahh.” Alexis held up her hands and shook her head. “I don’t need details.”

“Well, I do.” Sophia leaned onto the table. “Spill, Lex.”

“That’s really it.” She shrugged as she popped a fry into her mouth. Alexis and Harper had split a cheeseburger and fries, and Alexis was thankful Harper had scampered off to play before finishing all her fries. “She carried Harper over from your apartment, and we tucked her in, and then we talked on the couch and then,” she giggled, “she kissed me, and then I kissed her, and it was great.”

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