Page 93 of Breathe Again

“Want me to stay home tonight?”

I stepped in front of him, and he leaned forward, resting his forehead against my breasts. I stroked my hands through his dark hair.

He wrapped his arms around my hips. “You going out for girls’ night?”

“Just to Rebecca’s. Rhys will drive Willa and me home. But I can stay if you’re too tired, or I can drive myself and come back early, right after I help Bex with whatever last-minute stuff she has going on?”

He released my hips, pushing me back so he could stand up. “You go, baby. It’s good for you. You had therapy today, right?”

“Yes.” I pulled out my chair and sat down to chat with him.

“How’d that go?” He pulled a beer from the fridge and sat back at the table unbuttoning his dress shirt, his long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankle. He always looked so good to me. I ignored my libido and concentrated on the conversation.

“Pretty good. We talked about boundaries, and setting them with my mom, and having there be consequences to her overstepping the boundaries.”

“Playing with fire now, baby.” He smirked at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“I know.”

“Give me an example of a boundary and a consequence.”

“Okay. Say she’s criticizing Rhys…”

“She does that?”

“Oh, yeah.”

He shook his head. “She’s something else, man.”

“I know. So, say she’s criticizing Rhys, or Willa, or whoever, I might say, I won’t talk to you if you’re going to be critical of the people who are close to me. Then, if she does it, I either leave or get off the phone.”

“As fair and just as that sounds, she’s going to go ballistic.”

“I know. But maybe her reign of terror should end.”

“Her reign of terror, hmm? Seems a bit dramatic.” He paused, then grimaced, as he replied, “You’re not wrong, unfortunately.”

“It’s crazy, right?”

“She is.” He thumped his beer down on the table. “I smell good smells. Does that mean Olivia and I have dinner, or should I order in for us?”

“It’s all ready for you. I cooked enough for Rhys and the twins as well, and I made a special meal for Willa, Bex, and I. Olivia and I made cookies yesterday too, so you guys have dessert, and I’m bringing some to Rhys and the kids.”

“You’re too good, do you know that?” He stood and stepped into my space, bending his neck to look down at me, his chocolate eyes soft and melty on my face. “I don’t want you making yourself tired. You have a lot going on, making lots of changes. Just conserve some energy, okay?”

“Okay.”

I felt warm from his words and his concern. I tilted my head back, smiling into his handsome face as he leaned over me.

I got the eye crinkle. “Good.” Then he dipped down further, gave me his hard, quick kiss, and went to get changed.

I watched him walk away. I hated to watch him walk away. My heart hurt with how much I needed to be close to him.

Ten minutes later, Olivia, who had grown accustomed to me going out and was happy to be with her dad, let me go easily, and we were on our way to Bex’s house.

After being bowled over by the twins and putting dinner out for Rhys and the kids, we escaped to Rebecca’s workroom. Turned out there were only the floating lanterns left to assemble so we set to work finishing those up before we dove into our snack-meal.

“This is the mother of all snacknics.”

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