Page 46 of Return to You

His final conscious thought before he spun out into oblivion was that he wasn't sure if he’d done enough, used his actions to let her know once and for all how he truly felt. He could only hope that if he hadn’t, he’d get another shot. And another. And another.

18

Ali had been doing her best to keep her anxiety under control but it kept finding ways to raise its ugly head. That morning she’d brushed her teeth so hard her gums bled. Yesterday, she’d caught herself talking to herself when she wasn’t even alone. Last night, she’d spent twenty minutes in the frozen food section of the grocery store deciding what kind of ice cream to get, only to realize she’d already put a carton of Mint Chocolate Chip in her cart. Tonight, she couldn’t get her foot to stop tapping on the wood flooring as she pulled out her double pointed needles from her knitting bag.

Her current WIP was beanies that she planned on selling at the rental shop. She grabbed her multicolor yarn. Her heel bounced in time to the click, click, click of needles scraping together from the women who were already working on their projects. She settled her yarn on her lap and started knitting. Conversation flowed around her but it just sounded like white noise, all she heard was the click, click, click.

There was a full house in the community room at the rec center, but the one knitter Ali wanted to see was not there. For as long as she’d known her, Jess had been perpetually fifteen minutes late to everything. Ali normally didn’t mind but today, she was going crazy. Today she had big news to share.

Two days had passed since she and Kade had done the deed. Or deeds since they’d had several encore performances. It had been the best night of her life, hands down. There wasn’t even a close runner up. Kade was…magic. That’s what he was.

She’d never known that sex could be the way it was with him. And she wasn’t talking about the physical aspects. Although those had been mind-blowing. But the thing that had really shook her to her core, the thing that she couldn’t seem to stop thinking about, was how connected she’d felt to him.

Since picking up her first bodice ripper in the library when she was fourteen, she’d read a ton of romance novels. As much as she’d loved getting lost in the world of multiple orgasms and souls intertwining, she’d always thought that was just a fairytale. Just part of the fantasy but not attainable in the real world.

But she’d been wrong.

What she’d shared with Kade had been otherworldly. Surreal. Spiritual. Out of body. All that and there’d been toe-curling orgasms to boot.

After their first time in the kitchen, Kade had carried her upstairs, drawn a bath for her, and given her a sponge bath making sure to keep her hand, knee, and foot dry as he washed her entire body. He also did things with the power sprayer that her body was still reeling from. She’d thought that was the end of their night, but she’d been wrong.

He’d dried her off and carried her to bed where he kissed her entire body, giving her another orgasm once again with his mouth and fingers. Then he’d made sweet, tender love to her until her limbs were noodles and she was exhausted. She fell asleep, in his arms, as he softly sang “In Case You Didn’t Know” one of her favorite country songs to her.

When she woke, her first conscious thought was that the entire thing must’ve been a dream. But it was real, and it felt so amazing to wake up cocooned in his strong arms.

They weren’t awake long before she felt Kade’s erection pressed against her backside and his hands knead her breasts. He’d lifted her leg, resting it on his as he entered her from behind. His new angle had him hitting spots in her body she didn’t even know existed.

Their romantic morning was suddenly cut short in the middle of breakfast when the boys had popped in before school because KJ had forgotten his gym shorts. Suddenly, reality set in and the bubble that she’d been floating in burst. The twins hadn’t walked in on anything salacious, but they could have.

She was reminded then that her life was no longer her own. Starting a relationship with Kade did not just affect the two of them. It affected KJ and Ricky as well. Kade said that he wanted more, but how could she trust that? He’d been gone longer than he’d been back. And what if he did stay? There was no guarantee this would work out. He was a part of their lives, their other legal guardian. Was it worth the risk?

She couldn’t put the boys through that. They’d already been through so much. Maybe someday she’d be able to have a relationship, but not now. Not with Kade.

Ali heard a spattering of clapping and looked up to see Jess entering. She waved as she weaved her way through her adoring crowd. The over-seventy set loved Jess. She was their hair stylist rockstar.

A grin spread on her face as she saw her friend’s shirt read “Knit Me Baby One More Time.” Last meeting it was a “Knit Happens” T-shirt. The one before that had been a shirt that had two balls of yarn sitting on her tatas with the phrase “Knits Out” beneath them. Ali had a suspicion that the only reason her friend had agreed to join her in the Needlepoint Mafia was so she could wear punny shirts.

“Sorry, I’m late.” Jess moved Ali’s bag from the seat beside her. “I forgot to set a reminder on my phone and was home eating leftovers when I remembered.”

Ali was bursting at the seams to gossip with her friend, but she waited for Jess to get situated. Some knitting clubs might be lax about people sitting around chatting while their hands were idle, but this one wasn’t one of them.

After she cast on, Jess glanced over at her.

“Is everything okay,” she whispered.

“Yeah.” Ali nodded.

Her friend’s brow peaked. “Do you want to start with your date with Coach Karate the other night or how you broke your leg?”

Small town gossip at work.

“It wasn’t really a date,” Ali countered.

“Well, your leg doesn’t really look broken, but—,” Jess nodded toward Ali’s wrapped ankle, “the rumors do seem to have some merit.”

Ali was so excited to finally get to talk about the past forty-eight hours to her friend she was practically bouncing in her seat, but she made sure to continue her purling as she spoke in a voice so quiet it would make a church mouse seem like David Lee Roth. “I thought I was going to a meeting. But it turns out you were right.”

“Of course I was.” Jess agreed before asking, “About what?”

---