Page 127 of Back to Willow

What have I gotten myself into?

We eat the rest of the food, speaking about random subjects—Dylan’s excitement monopolizing most of it. Nana keeps quiet for the majority of the remaining time, her eyes often swiping over the three of us. Automatically, I do the same in an attempt to engrave this moment into my brain.

“I’m done.” Dylan jumps off his seat. “Let’s go finish the tree.” We all chuckle but finish up and follow him nonetheless. He rules the house, it seems.

When Liam reaches Dylan, both standing by the tree, he crouches down and puts him on his shoulders. I hold the star and hand it to my son, giving him the honour of putting the final touch on the tree.

After that, Dylan refuses to get off his shoulders, and the dummy is happy to oblige, carrying him around until he gets tired and slouches onto his head. I can’t get enough of this day.

“Thank you for this,” I tell Liam.

“No,thank you,” he counters. “I’m loving today.” With that, he tries to look up at a sleepy Dylan.

“Let’s get him to bed; it’s been a hectic day, and he’s tired.”

He nods, following me up the stairs. Dylan doesn’t even fight us on going to bed, that’s how tired he is. If the sun hadn’t set by now, I wouldn’t even have felt that time had passed by today.

“Hey,” Liam whispers when I close Dylan’s bedroom door behind me. His arm wraps around my waist, bringing me closer to him. “Alone at last.”

“It was a busy day,” I whisper back.

“It was amazing.” His hands grab my cheeks gently, and his thumbs caress the skin underneath my eyes.

It feels wonderful—so good I have to suppress a sigh. His touch has always ignited something in me, and this time is no different.

His mouth opens with his eyes locked on mine. He wants to say something, but I can see the internal war going on in his brain. What does he want to say?

But then he surprises me. “Fuck it! I can’t wait anymore,” he mumbles before crashing his mouth on mine.

His hands slide to the back of my neck while mine wrap around his shoulders. He keeps me in place while his lips mould to mine, reviving all of my nerve endings. The bliss takes over like a hurricane, warming up every crevice on my body.

This overwhelming wave happens every time, somehow still surprising me. Every new kiss feels like the first one.

“I need to be around you all the time,” he mumbles in-between kisses. “Touch you.” One kiss. “Kiss you.” Another kiss. “It’s torture to have to control myself at all times.”

“Liam…” I trail off, pushing him away. “There’s still so much to fix yet.”

“I don’t care. I’ll wait.” He nods his head, trying to reassure me. “I want to have everything—not just Dylan— you, too. The two of us together, with our son.”

My chest constricts as the panic slithers into my body. “I—you don’t know what you’re saying, Liam.”

“Let’s try, please.”

“What about Johanna?” I can’t help but ask.

He frowns. “What about her? We’re friends. Just that.”

“Well, she wants more.” He deadpans but I continue, ignoring him, “She does. I can see it in her eyes...the way she looks at you.”

“How is it she looks at me?” He leans his head back with an arched eyebrow.

“I—”

How does she look at him?Like he’s her whole world. Like she loves him.Like I do.

“The same way I do,” I blurt without thinking.

“Hmm.” He smirks, leaning his forehead on mine. “Does that mean you want more, too? Because that’s all I want, all I can think about.”

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