Page 68 of The One I Want
“Two! One! Happy New Year!”
The kids start jumping up and down as the adults turn to their loved ones for the traditional kiss. I turn to Betsy, wanting nothing more than to kiss her until neither of us can breathe.
“Happy New Year.” she says.
“Happy New Year, beautiful.”
We lean down and give each other a quick kiss. What it lacks in longevity it more than makes up for in sensation. It’s not nearly as deep or as intense as the others we’ve shared. But somehow this means more. Maybe it’s the night. Maybe it’s doing it in front of people. I don’t know. But I do know this: Betsy Sullivan is a part of my future. That is a damn fact.
“Happy New Year, Dad! Happy New Year, Betsy!”
We both reach down and hug each of the kids and give them kisses on the cheek. The girls even attack Oliver, who is here by himself. If anyone shouldn’t be alone tonight, it’s him. When he finds a woman who loves him the way he can love, it’s gonna be game over.
“Hey,” Betsy whispers. “Follow me.”
She tilts her head toward the hallway and leads me into one of the spare bedrooms.
“What are you doing?”
She gently shuts the door, but as soon as it's closed, she takes a handful of my shirt and pulls me in, crashing our lips together.
My body immediately responds. I don’t know if it’s because of the sly glances, or the soft touches all night, or the tease of the kiss just minutes ago, but I want her. All of her.
I pick her up under her ass and she immediately wraps her legs round me. I take a few steps over and sit her on the dresser.
The kiss deepens, our tongues finding each other’s in a perfect frantic harmony. Her hands are in my hair, which is driving me crazy. It’s taking every ounce of control to not rip her clothes off. But I know I can’t. Hell, we shouldn’t even be doing this. I know I need to stop. But I can’t seem to do it.
“Betsy,” I moan. Just as the word is out of my mouth, I hear the door open. The sound is an immediate ice bath to us as I jump back from the dresser and Betsy does her best to smooth out her hair, and close her legs.
“Oh, my! I didn’t know people were in here,” Mom says.
I know guilt is written all over my face. I’m not quite sure what to say. I never got caught making out with a girl in high school. This is foreign territory.
“We were…”
I trail off, but judging by the look on my mom’s face, she wasn’t going to buy whatever excuse I came up with.
“You were what? I didn’t see anything.”
She gives us a knowing smile as Betsy pushes herself down from the dresser. “Peggy, I’m so…”
“Don’t you say another word my dear. Like I said. I didn’t see anything.”
I look back and hold out my hand for Betsy’s. She smiles as she walks up to me, joining hers with mine, while also wrapping her free hand around my arm.
“Thanks, Mom.”
“What are you thanking me for? Again, I didn’t see anything. Or know anything. I’m sure you have your reasons why you are or are not saying certain things, or telling me certain life events, and I’m just going to go along with that.”
We laugh. “We’re telling the kids tomorrow. It will be all in the open after that.”
She nods. “Good. And speaking of the kids, it’s late. Way past their normal bedtimes. I actually think as soon as the ball dropped, Magnolia crashed on the couch. Why don’t they stay here for the night? No sense in dragging them home. We’ll make pancakes in the morning. And you two…well, you can have the rest of the night to yourselves.”
We look at each other, our eyes both wide, before we look back to my mother. I knew for years she was the best woman on the planet, but this solidifies her status.
“Thank you, Mom,” I say, dropping Betsy’s hand to wrap my mom in a hug. “For everything.”
“Oh, I’ve done nothing,” she says. “Now, you two go off and enjoy the night. And sleep in. I’m guessing you’ll need it.”
