Page 35 of Mended Hearts

“And I gave my pajamas the night off, so don’t open that door unless you want me to have another thing to bitch to my therapist about.”

“Five minutes or I eat your danish.”

“I’ll take my sweet damn time, and if you like your balls on the outside of your body, you’ll do no such thing.”

Ollie chuckled. That glow in his eyes—pure affection.

“Jesus, I’ll wait on the balcony!”

“Thank yooouuu,” I sang, locking eyes with Ollie a beat before his lips crashed onto mine. Forcing myself to peel apart, I breathed, “Perfect. Let me get him outside. Keep him facing the city. You get outta here.”

“I hate this,” he whispered.

“Same.” I forced an unconvincing smile.

There was no way I was throwing Ollie to the wolf inmyfucking sweats. Paxton might be a teddy bear at heart, but he was six-foot-four, and two hundred and thirty-five pounds of pure muscle, with a protective streak a mile wide. He’d made my college boyfriend look ready to piss himself just bygettingout of the truck.

“Got a better plan than your star QB finding out his boss boned his baby sister?”

He grimaced. “I’d prefer a face-to-face. Ideally wearing my own pants.”

We both glanced at the very impressive tent in his lap.

“Still?” I chirped.

“It’s. Morning,” he grumped.

“Got another idea?”

With a sigh, he kissed me again—this one harder, more desperate. “Come by the house later?”

I nodded, but the crab of guilt was pinching at my belly.

What the fuck did I just do?

A single lapse in control and I could’ve rewritten my entire life. I’d never meant to be a one-night stand kind of girl, but dating Oliver? That could never be casual.

We were too intertwined. And dating a single dad skipped steps one through twenty in favor of mach-five, because the moment kids were involved… everything accelerated.

Especiallykids I loved with my whole damn heart.

What if Tillie thought I’d been hanging out with her just to get close to her dad?

What if this blew up and I couldn’t even be in the same room as the people I loved most?

My heart sank at the very real possibility that I finally took what I wanted and could lose three of my favorite people as a result.

As I turned to leave, Ollie caught my wrist and drew me back to him.

“Leighton.” His voice was hoarse, urgent. This kiss was molten—desperate, as he teased his tongue along the seam of my mouth.

“I can practically see you overthinking in that beautiful head of yours,” he whispered. “And I need you to know that you couldneverbe a mistake, Trouble.”

Oliver

Music—blasting.

Sun—shining.

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