Page 45 of Falling Together

Blair put a hand up to stop Erin. “I don’t mind if you don’t mind.”

“Are you sure?” Erin asked, looking legitimately surprised that Blair would offer to do something that honestly felt like a minor request to Blair. “For a small human, he definitely knows how to take up a ton of space.”

“I’m sure. It’s no big deal at all.” And Blair meant that. The bigger deal to her was the fact that Nolanwantedto snuggle in her bed with her. It made her heart feel like it was growing inside of her chest. This little boy had crawled inside of her heart and was burrowing himself deeper and deeper with every day that passed.

The smile Erin shared with her cracked Blair open even more. Clearly, Nolan wasn’t the only one who had made it into her heart. The scary part was, Erin didn’t really have to try. Every little thing she did made Blair like her more.

When Erin looked away from her to focus her attention on Nolan, Blair could still feel the effects of that smile throughout her whole body. “Since Blair said it’s okay, then that’s fine with me, but you need to brush your teeth and get your pajamas on first.”

“Okay.” Nolan quickly jumped out of the bed and ran toward the bathroom.

While Erin and Nolan were occupied in the bathroom, Blair took the time to clean up their food and put on her own pajamas, which were really just a tank top and a pair of boxer shorts.

Erin must have approved, because as soon as she walked out of the bathroom, her eyes burned a path up Blair’s body. When her eyes met Blair’s, she swallowed hard. “You’re all ready for bed.”

“Almost.” Blair couldn’t stop herself from smirking. She loved that she had this effect on Erin, even if Erin was trying her damndest not to let it show. “Just need to brush my teeth.”

“Of course.” Erin limply pointed toward the bathroom. “It’s all yours.”

After brushing her teeth and going to the bathroom one more time, Blair walked back out of the bathroom to find Nolan and Erin sitting in her bed, reading a book together. She leaned against the doorway and let herself enjoy the scene in front of her. How couldn’t she? It was so fucking cute the way Erin did different voices as she read, and Nolan laughed hysterically at each one as if it was the greatest thing in the world. And in that moment, to Blair, it kind of felt like it was.

“And that was a nice story,” Erin said as she closed the book.

“Night night, Mommy.” Nolan yawned and snuggled into Erin’s side.

“Night, buddy.” Erin kissed Nolan’s forehead and tried to move away from him, but he grabbed her even tighter. “I thought you wanted to snuggle with Blair tonight, sweetie. You have to let Mommy go to her own bed so Blair can get in here.”

Nolan shook his head. “I want to snugglebothof you.”

The blush that had taken over Erin’s cheeks when the front desk woman assumed they were a family came back with a vengeance. “Oh, honey, the bed isn’t big enough for all three of us.”

“Yes, it is.” Nolan nodded matter-of-factly. “We all ate on the bed.”

The kiddidhave a point. Blair wasn’t sure how Erin was going to argue with that logic. Instead of arguing with him, Erin looked to Blair for backup, which Blair was sure she was going to find was a mistake because Blair couldn’t care less about sharing her bed. “He has a point. I’m cool with sharing. We’re all small. We can make it work.”

Erin squinted her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows at Blair, and Blair could tell exactly what she was silently saying to her.This is a terrible idea.Blair didn’t disagree, but it also kind of felt like aterribly wonderfulidea, so she simply shrugged and threw Erin her most charming smile to soften the blow.

Erin shook her head at Blair, and even though Blair could tell she was trying not to, her lips curled up into the slightest smile. Blair took that as permission to get back into bed and situated herself on the other side of Nolan. Nolan immediately grabbed her arm and wrapped it around himself. Within a few minutes, his breathing had leveled out, indicating that he was asleep.

“I’m really sorry about this,” Erin whispered into the quiet room. “I would offer to go back to my own bed now, but if he wakes up and I’m not right here, it’ll only make the night that much longer.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Blair whispered back. “This isn’t exactly what I normally mean when I say I want to get a girl in my bed, but I can’t say I hate it.”

That was the understatement of the century. Blair secretly wished Nolan would ask them to share a bed every night so she could lie this close to Erin. Even with Nolan in between them, she could still feel Erin’s presence, and it made her feel safe. In the darkness of this hotel room, with these two by her side, it felt like nothing and no one could ever hurt her. Blair always loved her life, but nothing had ever felt as perfect as this moment.

At least, she thought it couldn’t get any more perfect until she woke up in the middle of the night and felt a hand on top of hers. At first, in her half-asleep state, she assumed it was Nolan’s hand, but she quickly realized it was way too big for a child’s hand. When she cracked her eyes open, she found Erin lying close to Nolan with one hand on his back and the other on top of Blair’s. Blair closed her eyes and wished this moment could last forever. She might not know what job she would get once the summer ended or where she saw herself over the next year, but if she was being completely honest with herself, she was pretty sure this right here was all she wanted for the rest of her life. Even the next morning, when she woke up to a tiny finger shoved up her nose, she still felt the exact same way.

Chapter 16

Erin

“Ouch. Stop picking my nose, dude.”

Erin opened her eyes to find Nolan rolling around on the bed while Blair tickled him.

“Be quiet, or we’re going to wake your mommy,” Blair told him as she continued her attack.

“Too late,” Erin said with a yawn. “I’m awake.”

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