Page 68 of Sneak Attack

That left only a few other places where she could be, and I had my suspicions, so after throwing back a quick glass of water to smooth the frazzled nerves after that confrontation I’d deal withlater, I headed up the stairs. My legs ached, proof of the workout earlier and the day and my ribs ached from a particularly difficult hit I took against our defense. Not quite a tackle, but he’d gotten his feet tangled up with our left guard and down I went.

Outside my bathroom’s fan humming quietly, the upstairs was as quiet as downstairs which meant she could only be in one place. Of course, the fact that Jasper’s door was wide open would have pointed me there anyway.

This definitely wasn’t how I wanted them to meet, but at least she’d been there tonight to help him. It was better than Jasper either sitting inside, terrified of what was going on or coming downstairs and watching everything explode.

I would have had to physically hold Selma back from taking him from me and that wasn’t a trauma I wanted on my kid.

Damn Selma and her need for attention and ridiculous notions she refused to drop.

Pushing open Jasper’s door, the most beautiful sight awaited me, and I leaned against the doorframe to take it in. Light from the backyard flooded through his cracked blinds and his nightlight illuminated his bedroom so I could see both of them clearly. Eden, legs kicked up on his bed, back against the pile of pillows where I read Jasper his books at bedtime. Two books from his nightstand, his current favorites, were closed and on her lap. Her head was tilted back, and her eyes were closed, but she wasn’t asleep. A soft, gentle smile curled the corners of her mouth up and her fingers were running through Jasper’s hair.

His head rested against her stomach, and he had an arm draped over her lap. His favorite stuffed giraffe and blue baby blanket he still slept with were tucked between his stomach and Eden’s hip.

Beautiful.

A piercing pain pinched my chest as I took in the sight and all the years I didn’t have with her slammed into me.

Thisis what we should have had. What I’d always wanted for us.

I cleared my throat, careful not to be too loud to wake up Jasper again and Eden’s eyes peered open.

Her smile vanished and she whispered, “Hey.”

“He’s asleep, you know.”

“I didn’t want to move until I knew things were okay.”

They weren’t. I wasn’t sure how to make them so, either. I’d figure it out, though, because no way in hell was my son going to be with a woman, ever, who would think it was a good idea to throw him in the car after who knows how many drinks and scream like she’d done to me earlier.

I walked toward her, holding out my hand for her to take as I moved closer. “Selma’s gone, so it’s as good as it’s going to get for the night.”

“Oh.”

I helped her slide out of the bed, lifting Jasper’s arm slowly as she did. The bed barely moved before she was on her feet, and I moved Jerry the Giraffe and his snuggie under his arm.

Jasper moved, curled up his leg toward his chest and brought Jerry closer to him until it was tucked beneath his chin.

He made no other movement and once I was certain he’d stay that way, I guided Eden out of his room and closed the door behind us.

“Want to tell me what happened?”

“Not really, but also yeah.” I wrapped my hand in hers. Like everything else with Eden, her hand, so much softer and smaller than mine, fit into mine perfectly and I skipped past the stairs to the other side of the house.

“Cole—”

“Shhh. I need this. Five minutes with you, talking, in my bed to relax and get rid of the night. I won’t even kiss you if you don’t want it.”

Kind of a lie, I’d probably try.

“All right.”

I left the door to my room open in case Jasper woke up and slipped out of my slides before I slid onto the bed, on top of the covers, and pulled Eden down with me.

She landed with a soft bounce and rolled to her hip, resting her hand on my stomach.

Like it was the most natural thing to touch me.

Like she’d done it a thousand times.

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