Page 63 of Despite It All
The dog hops over Stevie’s legs onto the bed and lays down. “There we go. Compromise.”
Wyla gives me her perfect smile and shakes her head again. “I used to be that dog’s favorite. Now I’ve been pushed to the side.”
“Yeah, my side,” I say, and Wyla’s cheeks turn rosy.
She almost seems flustered but also happy about it as she gives me a small smirk then looks down at Stevie. “I’ll read one book.”
One book is all it takes for Stevie to drift off. Granted, I think she picked the longest book on her shelf, but by the end of it she’s out cold. I guess those powers of hers aren’t fully restored after all.
Wyla drapes another one of the blanket’s over Stevie then turns to me. “Think you can get out of this pile without waking our daughter, old man.”
“Old man?” I keep my voice low. “Listen, I said I wouldn’t kiss you until you asked, but I’m not against spanking your bratty ass.”
Wyla bites her lip to contain her laugh. “Is this where I’m supposed to make a daddy joke?” she whispers.
Oh, that’s it. I stand up on the pile then reach down to pick her up and toss her over my shoulder. She squeaks out a laugh then smacks her hand to her mouth. Stevie stirsfor a second but then settles. “You better keep that pretty mouth shut, baby girl.”
“Caveman,” Wyla whispers.
I carry her into the kitchen since it’s the closest room that does not have our sleeping daughter in it. As I set her down, I let her body slide against mine. She feels so fucking good.
Her feet hit the floor and I expect her to step back but she doesn’t. Her body stays flush to mine and her hands rest on my chest. I want to kiss her. I want to kiss her so damn bad.
My hand cups her cheek and my thumb glides over her lip, pulling the bottom one down. “Don’t ask me tonight, Wy.”
“Why not?”
“Because I want to savor it when you do.”
Chapter 19
I wake up to my phone vibrating under my pillow. I barely need an alarm anymore with years of getting up at this same time, my internal alarm clock is pretty set. However, I didn’t anticipate the muscular arm holding me down… and I don’t hate it.
After he told me not to ask him to kiss him last night, I decided to cool myself down with some ice cream. It didn’t help as much as I wanted it to, but it was nice.
We took a tub of strawberry ice cream out on the back patio with two spoons and just talked. You can call playing twenty questions a cliché but it was nice learning more about Jett.
Seems kind of silly that the man is my baby’s father, and yet I didn’t even know his favorite color is red. We went through movies, shows, music, animals—you name it, we tried to cover it.
Birthdays and family dynamics came next. I had to make another old joke when Jett said he would be thirty-five in November. Not that he is old but he looks like he wants to prove me wrong when I say it, and it sends thrills down my spine.
We talked embarrassing stories and the hell we put our siblings through. I also learned about how his baseball career got started all the way from little leagues through school, then the minors, and now the Mavericks.
After eating half of the tub of ice cream and getting all of the basic questions out of the way we decided it was best to call it a night and join Stevie in the pile. She wiggled and kicked constantly which led me to scoot closer to Jett. Not that I minded. His eucalyptus and amber scent feels so comforting. Mix that with the warmth from his furnace of a body, I was out. It was honestly the best I’ve slept in years
I glance at my phone, it’s just after seven. I have extra time this morning since I don’t have to get Stevie ready. I’m so very tempted to stay here for a few more minutes but I think if I stay any longer I’ll end up calling out of work again.
The stealth it took to not only get out from under Jett’s arm and to not wake Stevie up would make any spy proud.I sneak off to my bathroom to take a quick shower and get ready for work.
After throwing on my favorite orange scrubs and sliding on my shoes, I head back out to find Stevie still fast asleep with Poppy at her side, but no Jett. I tiptoe into the kitchen where he stands over the stove scrambling some eggs.
“Good morning,” I say softly. “Is this for me?” I walk up to him with a smirk.
“Of course.” He plants a small kiss to my forehead then turns to get in the fridge. He reaches in and takes a container of strawberries. “Considering you’ve eaten them numerous times this past week and a half, I think it’s safe to assume strawberries are still one of your vices.”
He hands me the Tupperware then goes back to the eggs. “I brought you these and some scrambled eggs yesterday morning, but ya know… with you guys being sick, I didn’t figure you would want them.”
I bite back a smile. “Thank you.” I pop off the lid and pop one of the slices in my mouth. “Hey, if you brought eggs yesterday why are you making new ones?”
