Page 94 of Scoring Grey

“What are you going to do?”

He furrows his brow in thought and I pick up his hand, the same hand that held mine in the hospital.

“Dad.”I turn over his wrist and hike up his sleeve. “Dash has this same birthmark behind his ear. I know he’s not Mom’s blood, butI thinkif you give him a chance, you’d love him no differently than you love me and Iverson.”

He shakes his head. “I’m sure I will. I intend to be in his life if that’s what he wants.”His hand covers mine. “But, Eloise, I need you to let it be. I’ve known the Westins for many years. Adopted or not, Dash had a good life. You, of all people, know we can’t rewind time. Had I known, our lives would look soverydifferent, but that wasn’t the hand we were dealt. But there’s something much worse than wishing you could rewind time.”

His soft brown eyes, Dash’s eyes, find mineandI ask, “What’s that?”

“Missing everything you have around you now,”he says as he nods down the bar.

I look over my shoulder and see my son sitting at the bar, wedged between his dad’s best friends with Cal at his back, all of them wearing big smiles as they listen to my brother tell a storyandthe sentiment in my father’s words affects me profoundly. We only get to live reality once. The second a moment passes, it’s in the past. It’s a memory. I don’t want to lose any more time than I already have.

“Thanks, Dad.”I hop off my stool and squeeze his shoulder. “I’m always here if you need an ear to bend.”I kiss his cheek. “I’m going to go soak up everything I have around me.”

I’m getting a second chance. I don’t plan on messing it up.

“Cal,”I whisper when I feel him pull me against his hard length in the middle of the night.We’vebeen alone for weeks, and he’s used to getting laid whenever and wherever he wants, but Adler is here now, and he fell asleep in our bed watching a movie tonight. “We can’t,”I moanwith disappointment. We haven’t slept together since I’ve been home from the hospital, which isn’t terribly long, but when you’re used to getting it every day, it feels like a drought.

His hand slides up my nightshirt, and he cups my breast before pinching my nipple. “I carried Adler to his bed, so unless you have another reason you don’t want to fuck your fiancée, I need to be inside my girl.”

He pumps his cock against my ass, and I reach back to stroke it over his boxers. “He’s a light sleeper. We’ll have to be quiet.”

I’m on my back before the words have finished leaving my mouth. “God, I’ve missed these,” Cal says, pushing up my sleep shirt before sucking one of my nipples into his mouth.

“Mmm,”I moan as I buck my hips into him. “I’ve missed your mouth on them.”My hand tangles in his hair as he moves to the other one. “Cal?”

“Hmm,”he moans against my breast.

“Come here,”I say.Hiseyes flick up to mine and narrow beforehenips and suckshisway up my chest until finally, his lips land on mine, where he kisses them softly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong.”I pull his mouth back to mine, kissing him long and slow and savoring the feel of his lips on mine, his weight on top of me, and the love between us. This is all I ever wanted, and it’s easy to gain everything and forget all the years we prayed for all the things we have now. I don’t want to forget. I want to remember every day what I have. I release his mouth and run my fingers through the hairs at the base of his neck. His amber gaze studies mine as he tries to get a read on what’s going through my mind. “Our son is asleep in the other room, and I have his father in my bed.”

“His father is trying to do more than share a bed.”He presses his length against my needy center and takes my mouth. His tongue strokes longingly against mine before he pulls back. “I’ve only ever wanted to be this man. Your man.”

“I’ve only ever wanted to be this girl. Your girl,” I echo his sentiments because nothing has ever been more true.

I feel his hand snake down my stomach, where he pulls my shorts and panties to the side before bringing the tip of his cock to my entrance. “You’ve always been my girl. You were mine before I ever knew your name. You ran away with my thoughts until one day, you ran away with my heart. I should have told you what you meant to me from day one.”

He slowly pushes into me as his lips hover above me.

“How could you have told me? You didn’t know.”

“Blondie, I knew from the moment I met you—you were different. We were different. It’s why I couldn’t stay away. I love you, Eloise Grey.”

“I love you too,”I say as he fully seats himself.

His lips brush against mine, but he doesn’t kiss me as he slowly starts to move inside of me. These past years have been hard, but we made it through the thorns, scars and all. He’s my everything, all I need and more. With every thrust, I feel him get deeper, I feel his heartbeat against my chest, I feel his love, and I know I won’t last. Sure, we’ve fucked, and yes, he’s had me long and slow, but having this way after the accident, after unveiling all the skeletons that lurked in our past and kept usapart,this time feels different. This time feels like forever. With every plunge, his tip charges deeper, dragging over the spot that drives me crazy. I wrap my legs around his back as my toes begin to curl. “Don’t stop.”

“Icouldn’tif I wanted to. You feel too good,”hesays,hiseyes lidded and tone raspy ashehovers above me. “I want to give you another scar.”

“What?”I pant breathlessly, his words not registering.

“Give me another baby.”

I slide my hands around his neck. “I neversaidno the last time.”

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