Page 80 of Unravel Me

She clutches to her heart. “You know what I think, Adam? I think you’re the one who found it because you’re my family now too. You feel like it, anyway. You didn’t just find my family; I found my family in you.”

I’m glad I can give her something she’s been missing, something she so desperately craves and so wildly deserves.

Because I know, in her, I’ve found something I’d given up on.

I’ve found love.

* * *

“I think she’s ready to have sex.”

The chatter around me dies, and four sets of eyes rise to mine. Carter twists his twenty-fifth Oreo apart, slowly licking at the icing, and Garrett rips open a bag of Flamin’ Hot Funyuns before sticking his hand inside, pulling a handful out at the literal pace of a turtle. Jaxon pops the cap off a bottle of beer even though he already has one, excitement gleaming in his eyes as he tips both back to his mouth at the same time, and Emmett pulls out his phone, the sound of his fingers clacking at the screen filling this awful silence.

A horrible, high-pitched, dying bird type of screech filters into the backyard from Carter’s kitchen, and sweet Christ, what I wouldn’t give to get that awkward silence back.

“Rosie’s ready to have sex!” Cara shrieks from inside. “Our sweet angel baby’s getting his dick wet!”

“Jesus fuck—” I scrub my hands over my face and look to Emmett. “Does she ever, you know…not?”

He shakes his head wistfully. “Never. Never does she not. She always does.”

“When do you see her next?” Jaxon asks, reaching for Garrett’s Funyuns. Garrett glares, tearing the bag out of reach.

“Tomorrow.”

“And what makes you think she’s ready for sex?”

“Well, she…we’ve been…I mean, things have progressed, naturally.”

Garrett shoves a handful of his snack into his mouth. “Naturally.”

Carter tosses his cookie into his mouth. “So you w-icked ’er cookie.”

“I refuse to acknowledge you when you talk with cookies in your mouth and call body parts after them.”

“Meh meh meh meh meh,” he mimics, then tries to rip the Oreo pack out of my hand when I grab it. “No! You don’t get my cookies if you’re gonna make fun of me.”

“Carter,” Olivia warns from inside. “Share your cookies.”

His brows tug so tightly together with his frown as he relinquishes the cookies. It’s incredibly hard to take him seriously when he’s wearing that T-shirt,Support Your Local Girl Dadsstamped on it. He makes grabby hands at Emmett, who’s holding Ireland. “Gimme my baby.”

“No.”

“If I can’t have my Oreos, I need my princess.”

Emmett tickles Ireland’s belly, and she giggles around the silicone hockey skate she’s gnawing on. “She’s happy right here. Aren’t you, angel?”

The patio door slides open, Olivia stepping outside. Her gaze sweeps the patio before landing on Emmett and Ireland. “There’s my girl. I need to feed you, sweetheart, but I promise I’ll bring you right back to Uncle Emmett, okay?”

“I’ll be waiting.” He blows Ireland a kiss and leans back in his chair, crossing one ankle over the other, looking me over. “Back to you having sex.”

“You know she slept over for the first time last week. And she’s been saying…she’s been saying she wants this next time to be baby free. So I think…do you think…” I brace my elbows on my bouncing knees. “Does that mean…?”

The four of them leap from their chairs, high-fiving each other.

“Ay-yo!”

“There it is!”

---