Page 44 of When We Breathe
“How was work?” Alex tries to get out of my lap, but I hold her firm, and she scowls at me. “I need to go hug him hello.”
“He’ll come hug us both hello.”
Gabe chuckles, and the next thing I know, he dive bombs on top of both of us, hugging and kissing us, making us laugh.
“Mercy!” Alex yells. “I can’t breathe! You two are too heavy.”
Once we’re disentangled from each other, Gabe lifts Alex into his arms, she wraps her legs around his waist, and he kisses the fuck out of her.
“We missed you today,” she says to him, brushing his hair off his forehead.
“I missed you both,” he replies. “Especially because I knew exactly what you were doing, and I was jealous as fuck. I love cooking shows.”
We sent him texts throughout the day, keeping him posted on what we were doing. It was Alex’s idea.
“I didn’t want you to feel left out,” she says, kissing his nose before wiggling out of his arms. I move in, kissing the fuck out of my man.
“I like coming home to this,” he mutters against my lips.
“Doesn’t suck, does it?”
“Let’s tell her.”
“Tell me what?” Alex asks, her hands on her hips, watching both of us. Her gorgeous blue eyes go round, and her face falls as I see panic start to set in. “Oh God, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, Princess.” I tug her between us, and we sandwich her. It always seems to calm her down. Gabe’s lips immediately fall to her crown, and I kiss his cheek. Today was a lot of fun, and there’s something to be said for one-on-one time, but when the three of us are like this, it’s home. It’s perfect. And the way Gabe sighs, leaning his cheek into me, I know he feels the same way. “We just want to discuss the construction that’s about to be going on around here.”
Her head snaps up, and she frowns. “What construction?”
“That’s what we’re going to tell you, Shorty.” Gabe brushes his fingers through her hair. “We’re going to build you your own room. Or rooms. You need space to work and read, and anything else you might want to do in there.”
“Oh.” She blinks again and steps out of both of our reach entirely, wrapping her arms around her stomach. I feel the walls she just erected in my fucking soul. “You don’t have to do that.”
“We want to,” I assure her. “But we want to discuss options with you. We’re happy to add on to the footprint of the house, but if you prefer, we could build a little building out back that stands by itself. I’m fine with either, but personally, I’d rather have you in the house.”
“It might be better in the winter,” Gabe agrees,nodding. “No one will have to trudge through the snow to get there.”
“You don’t have to build me anything. If I’m in the way, I’m happy to go back to my apartment?—”
“Did anyone say anything about you being in the way?” I tilt my head to the side, staring at her. “Princess, we love having you with us, every fucking minute of the day. We went and got you last night because the thought of you sleeping anywhere else isnotan option for us.”
“But you want to build me my own bedroom.”
Gabe and I look at each other in surprise, and then back at her.
“No,” Gabe says as I tug her back into my arms.
Christ.My poor girl.
“No, baby. We want to build you an office that doubles as a library since you love to read so much.”
“You sleep withus, Shorty. Nowhere else. If we need to buy a bigger bed, that’s fine, but we all sleep together. I’m a possessive fucker. I want you both next to me at night.”
“Same goes,” I say and tilt her head up so I can see her face. My gut clenches when I see tears in her eyes. “Hey, no crying. This is a good thing. We didn’t mean to scare you.”
She swallows hard and blinks the wetness away. “I just … that’s a big step. Adding on to the house. It feels like a big decision.”
She still has those walls up, and I don’t like it. Have I misread her? Are Gabe and I more invested in this relationship with her than she is with us?
