Page 28 of A Little Thankful

“Say my name again,” I demanded. “Say it again.”

“Hunter. Fucking Hunter, you feel so fucking good.”

When I slid my hand between her legs and felt her warmth, and listened to her moan when I slid my fingers deep inside her, as I ran my thumb over her perfect clit, I longed to be inside of her. To be one with her. To feel her body clamp down on mydick, making me feel as though she truly wanted me to come inside her. To wash her womb with my seed.

I feasted on her until she shattered, reaching a climax that tore both of us apart. When she was almost finished, I mounted her, gazing deep into her eyes, wanting her to know how much this meant to me. How much she meant to me.

This time when we touched, when we kissed, when we connected, we made love. It wasn’t just sex. It was something much more.

Her hands slid over my shoulders, down my arms and my back. They felt like silk touching me, loving on me. My skin felt as though it was on fire. I somehow knew she wanted to be part of me, wanted me to be with her… now and forever.

We kissed, and it wasn’t just about how our tongues touched, or how her lips encircled mine, it was about a feeling I didn’t fully understand. Not really. It was something I couldn’t put into words. It was beyond anything I’d ever known before and something I truly didn’t want to lose… not ever.

And as I gazed down into her lovely face, and saw the tears streaming from her eyes, knowing my own eyes watered with emotion, I knew that from now on, what we shared during this moment was far more than just sex.

We made love, and I wanted to make love with her for the rest of my life.

AFTER A MUTUAL three-alarm shower that I initiated, and a sexy towel dance, we finally got around to eating that decadent dessert we’d boxed up the night before, a large soft chocolate cookie, topped with more chocolate and a scoop of incredibly smooth peanut butter. It was so good, we ate every last bite.

As it turned out, both her mom and her aunt had won the Apple Pie Bake Off and the Cranberry Sauce Challenge.They’d sent a bunch of pictures, but we’d been too busy to see any of them until this morning. Sage had checked with her grandmother about Autumn, who was simply the happiest baby on the planet, but her gram had never once mentioned the wins.

Her mom made the wins known this morning with a phone call. Apparently, the win meant more to her mom than Sage realized, and she rushed home to congratulate her with flowers, and assorted baked goods from Just Desserts.

Once Sage left, I walked over to visit Forrest. I knew he was next in line to spend time with her. I also knew that by this time tomorrow, we would know who the father was. I personally didn’t care which of us was Autumn’s bio father. If Sage decided to remain in Cricket, I hoped she would want to live with or at least date all three of us. If she instead decided to just go with the bio dad, I hoped like hell it was me.

“I don’t even want to know,” Forrest said. “At least not yet, because if we find out who it is, that might sway her into thinking she should have only one daddy for her little girl, and two of us would be left out in the cold. I’m not ready to be abandoned by her again. Now that she’s back and I’ve had a chance to spend some time with Autumn, like I did last night during all the contests, I want to be part of her life. I hope Sage moves back here, but it would have to be her idea. Not ours. If she stays because we somehow convince her to, I don’t think it will be long lived.”

We sat in his living room, a modern expanse of white sectional sofas and black leather arm chairs and recliners. The entire far wall was a bank of windows that had a view of the river, and the other walls were vintage red brick. No pictures, just a couple book cases loaded down with non-fiction books mostly about statistics, probability, and accounting. The man lived and breathed numbers and odds. Not exactly father material, in thesense of getting down on the floor to play, but a great family provider, of that there was little doubt.

“How do we convince her that a group relationship with us will work?” I drank down some of the beer that Forrest had offered. Yeah, it was probably too early for a beer, but these were desperate times, and desperate times required beer.

His own beer sat next to him on a coaster, on a glass end table. The golden liquid went down easy, probably too easy. “I know there are a lot of group relationships in this town, but this town isn’t the outside world. Plus, it doesn’t seem like her dad will accept that kind of relationship for his daughter. I know her parents have a big influence on her, so we may be shit out of luck on that one.”

“Let’s not be too quick to cross that possibility off the list,” Forrest said. “I had a long talk with her grandmother and she’s all for whatever makes Sage happy.”

“I second that,” Mace said, as he walked into the room, carrying his own beer, looking calm and rested despite all the chaos that must be going on at his bakery. He might not be selling pumpkin or apple pies, but he made rolls of all kinds, and folks ordered them by the dozen in this town. I knew because every year my team and I would put out several oven fires for folks who’d forget about those damn rolls warming in the oven. “I thought I heard you come in.” He was talking to me.

“Yeah. Glad you’re here. I was hoping we could come to some kind of mutual agreement on how we move forward, especially since those results will be coming in tomorrow.”

“Sooner than that,” Mace said, and sat in one of the black chairs while both Forrest and I sat on the long, corner sofa. “Dr. Charles stopped in for scones this morning. We’re not usually open on Mondays, but with all our orders, we couldn’t afford to keep our doors closed. That said, I’m taking a few hours off. I couldn’t work knowing the results were ready. Dr. Charleswill be dropping them off sometime this afternoon, once she completes her home visits. She said that she would like to deliver the news. It’s just easier if she does, rather than just sending the results in an email.”

“Does Sage know?” I asked Mace.

“Dr. Charles said she sent her a text this morning.”

“She was with me and never mentioned it,” I told him.

“I think she’s just as nervous about the results as we are,” Forrest said. “We have a date at three today. I’m picking her up at her mom’s. Why don’t we all show up, instead?”

“That’s not fair to you. It’s your day,” Mace told him, after guzzling some of his beer.

“Yeah, we all need time alone with her,” I told him.

“I spent time with Autumn last night. She’s a great baby. Always smiling. Like nothing ever bothers her. A lot like her mom. We have to figure this out. I know it’s ultimately her decision, but we should at least present a united front.” Our phones dinged with a message. “It’s from Sage.”

“She’s inviting all three of us to her mom’s house at four today,” Mace said, confirming what we were already reading.

“Okay. Okay. We have three hours to come up with a united front,” I told them.

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