Page 4 of Just Our Secret

“Might as well finish the job. I’m all about the follow-through.” Oh shit, I was tossing out trash like that now? I’d admittedly had little practice interacting with her by myself—we were usually always focused on Liam or had her parents or Connor with us, but really.Really, Wade? Can you not just talk to her like a normal human being?

“If you insist,” she said, sounding both cheery and exhausted in the same breath.

We slipped a mattress topper on, and then she shook out the folded, bright-white sheets. And for some unknown goddamn reason, her swooshing those sheets in my direction, then the feel of them in my hands as I tucked one corner under, made my heart sprint in my chest.

“These are nice. Soft,” I said, like a robot had inhabited my body. The plain white fit her so well—she was no-nonsense. She had a clarity about things I admired, too. She knew what she liked and what she wanted. Even in the midst of the insanity her junior year, she knew she wanted Liam. She knew she wanted to stay home, and that she’d go to college, and whatever else. She always knew and didn’t make apologies.

“They’re plain, but super soft. Plus, I love crawling into clean, white sheets. It’s so satisfying.” She offered a warm smile, completely unaware that her words had sent me on a dirty downward spiral imagining her crawling towardmeon these very sheets. Of her laid out on them, her tan skin contrasting with the white, her light-brown hair wild from lovemaking.Shit.I’d have to work pretty hard to banish that image from my mind.

“Makes sense,” was all I managed in response.

We finished the bed, working together seamlessly, as usual. I did not let myself look in her direction when she tucked the sheets, did not help myself to the visual feast of her. I’d been starving and here she was, but I knew damn well that was a slippery slope.

Because I’d beenthis closeto laying out my feelings for her years ago. The night she hooked up with Chad, to be exact. And if that brutal detail burned brighter and more painfully than the others, I used that. I begged it to remind me that nothing could happen here—that she clearly didn’t want anything to, and I couldn’t allow anything to.

“Well, I think we’ve finally done it,” she said, hands on the curve of her hips.

“You two done in here?” Connor asked. “I’ve got the living room wrapped up. Do you want us to help you get the kitchen unpacked?”

We followed her out of her room and into the living room. “Sorry, I didn’t want to keep chatting right down the hall from Liam. I’m amazed he went to bed so easily with you guys here, but I think you wore him out.”

I murmured an agreement and Connor said, “He did great.”

“You guys go home. I’ve got another couple days to get settled, and Liam starts pre-K before classes start, so I’ll even have some solo time.” She glanced around at the short stack of boxes on the floor in the kitchen and the general madness of the place. She didn’t have a ton of stuff, but there was still work to be done.

“We can totally stay. I bet we can wrap this up in an hour or two,” I offered, hating the thought of her slogging through this on her own. She’d had to do too much on her own, even with a supportive family.

And then she did it. She put a hand on my shoulder, and said, “Thank you, but really. You guys get home. I can’t thank you enough.”

That one point of contact sent little sizzling sparks shooting down my spine, up my neck, and over my shoulder. Hardly anything—her hand was already gone—and my body wanted to sing the hallelujah chorus in response.

I cleared my throat while Connor agreed he should get the moving truck taken back so it was there by the deadline tomorrow.

“Let us know if you need anything,” I said, making sure to useusinstead ofme. Never me, never just me, because we both knew I came in a package deal with Connor. Since that fateful summer where she’d simultaneously torn my heart out without knowing it and created the single most adorable human on earth, it’d never again be just me.

“Thanks. I will.” She hugged Connor, and he grabbed his keys and the truck key from the counter. I followed suit, but stopped when she reached for me. And if her hand on my shoulder sent me into overdrive, when she leaned in and wrapped her arms around me, my whole body became a live wire. She hugged me.

Just me.

I did not duck my head into the crook of her neck and inhale like I wanted. I did not close my eyes and memorize the feel of her, every part of her, that touched me. No. I patted her back twice, stepped back, and bid her good night.

I’d go home, get some rest, maybe even get called in to help with an emergency and really take my mind off all of this. I certainly couldn’t keep thinking about tonight—her with Liam. Building her bed. Her sheets. Her hug.

Shiiiit.

Because being that close to Andi Taylor? That right there would be the death of me.

THREE

ANDI

“Okay, big guy. Have a good day at school. I love you.”

Liam grinned at me. “Have a good day at school too, Mama.”

“Thank you,” I replied, wrinkling my nose at him and then waving at his back as he ran off to high-five the principal on his way into the building.

As soon as he was out of sight, I ran back to my car and got to Grand U’s campus as fast as I safely could. While it would not be ideal for me to crash on the way there, I also knew I screwed up picking a class that started so soon after Liam’s drop-off. It was totally my fault since I had no idea how long drop-off would actually take. I pictured a much smoother process when I made my schedule. And last week, I showed up on Liam’s first day and realized that between the car line and the zoo of a parking lot, I was going to need a miracle every Tuesday and Thursday to make it in time for this lecture.

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