Page 46 of Anteros' Return

I intended on being her last kiss just as I was her very first.

When I finally pulled away, we barely said a word. We didn’t need to. All we shared was a quiet smile, knowing that what we shared between us was special. I looked back up towards the house and realised that maybe it did actually havecharacter to it, especially as I was now seeing it through Em’s eyes.

Present day…

The second I came back to the present, I realised we had already arrived at the mini golf course. Liam could barely contain his excitement, and I loved seeing his face light up.

“Do you need your crutches?” he asked as he practically jumped out of the car.

“Just in case, yeah.” I took my crutches from Emily who already had them out of the boot of the car. “Thanks.”

“Right, shall we get going then?” Emily matched our son’s excitement as he gripped her hand in hers and swung them. Seeing how they were together was a beautiful experience, and I hoped I’d get to see a lot more of it.

“Beckett, are you any good at mini golf or do you just stick to football?” Liam asked, glancing up from beside me.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret, if you want?”

“I love secrets!” He beamed, his whole face lighting up like someone had flipped a switch. His grin stretched wide, and his hazel eyes sparkled with pure mischief.

“I actually used to beat your mum at mini golf all the time,” I whispered loud enough for Emily to hear.

“Hey! I won sometimes!” She protested as Liam giggled in between us.

“Only because I let you.” I winked at her, teasing her a little.

Liam seemed to love our bantering almost as much as I did, and when we were distracted by life, it seemed as though she forgot a little about the past and didn’t push me away.

“You’ll have to take it easy on me, mate. You know, since I just had my cast off.” I begged with fake puppy dog eyes that amused him no end.

“You know, I could,” he paused, “but I won’t, so you better bring your A game.”

“Oh, trash talking, eh?” I took the blue golf ball from Em as Liam grabbed the green. “Ready?”

“I was born ready.” He smirked, the exact one I used to give when I was his age to the other kids on the pitch when I knew they didn’t stand a chance.

“This almost makes me wish I just sat out and watched now,” Emily quipped, whilst smiling at Liam more so than me.

I would win Emily Ryton back. No matter what, she belonged with me just as I did her.

“No way are you sitting out of this one. We need someone to lose,” I teased, shooting her a wink.

For a split second, she froze, caught off guard. Then she let out a soft laugh and rolled her eyes, but not before I caught it. The faintest flush bloomed across her cheeks, she ducked her head slightly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, trying to hide the soft shade of pink that had crept across her skin, but the smile tugging at her lips gave her away.

It was subtle, but real—and unless I was imagining things, that blush said more than she meant to let on.

“Who says that’ll be me? How do you know I haven’t been practising?”

“Have you?” I asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“Well, no, but—” She paused, knowing just as well as Liam and I did that she’d come in third.

Hole after hole, Liam managed to score a hole in one. He loved every bloody second of beating me. I wasn’t really bothered about winning. What I was bothered about was havinga family day with them. Seeing them smile and laugh together made my heart swell with something that felt a lot like love.

“Last one… Are you ready to admit defeat yet?” Liam teased.

“As you said, we still have one more to go.”

We approached the hardest one yet, and even I had to admit it looked impossible to conquer. It was a sharp, tricky par three nestled in a corner of the course that was surrounded by jagged rocks and an unforgiving patch of fake grass that seemed to twist and roll like an uneven carpet. The hole itself was guarded by a narrow, winding stream that snaked its way across the green.

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