Page 106 of Wild Thing

The house is quiet. I’m guessing my sisters didn’t come back here last night. Knowing them, they probably wanted to give Karli and me our privacy so they must have crashed at our parents’ or at Grammy’s. I fucking love those girls. They may be certifiably unstable sometimes but they’re good at heart and they have pure intentions.

I’m toeing on some old sneakers in the mud room when I hear light footsteps at the top of the stairs.

“Mason?”

Just the sound of Karli’s voice makes a smile break out across my face. “Hey.” I step closer to the bannister to get a better look at her. She’s standing barefoot at the top of the stairs, beads around one ankle, rose tattoo on the other. She’s wrapped up in one of my button down shirts. So pretty.

“Where are you going?” she asks me.

“My parents’ house,” I tell her. “I promised I’d help out with some stuff they need done around the house. I’ve got to get it all out of the way early since we only have a few hours to spare before family dinner.”

“Oh, okay…” She wraps her arms around her middle.

My body is aching from last night as I climb the stairs to meet her. But I can’t leave without giving her a kiss. “You can go back to bed. Everything you need is in the kitchen. I’ll be back in a few hours.” I hold her against me, loving the way her curves feel. I brush our lips together before dragging the tip of my tongue along the seam of her mouth. Her lips part on a happy little moan. “Eww. Morning breath,” I tease.

She slaps at my chest. “Stop it.” She dips her head self-consciously, hiding her lips from me.

I laugh and kiss her again. Deeper this time. Because I don’t really give a fuck about some morning breath. Everything about this girl is sweet to me.

Reluctantly, I release her. “Let me get out of here. The quicker I leave, the quicker I’ll get back.”

“Okay.” Karli takes a hesitant step backward. But just as I’m about to turn down the stairs, that little space between her brows crinkles. She speaks again. “Can I come with you?” she rushes out timidly.

I eyeball her. “You want to?” We had a long day yesterday, and then we were up all night.

She smiles. “Yes. I know I’ll meet your parents at family dinner later but…”

She’s eager. She wants to be here.

I like this feeling.

I remember having to drag Zara to every one of my family gatherings, and without fail, my ex made the experience miserable every time. At the first opportunity, she’d start nagging me to leave. Meanwhile, Karli spent all of yesterday with my family and she still wants more. I love this.

“Yeah, you can come,” I tell her.

She smiles. “Give me five minutes.” She scampers back to my bedroom.

Five minutes? Yeah right. It takes an hour before she’s showered, put on a bunch of makeup and cycled through every possible outfit combination in her overnight bag. In the end, she settles on a flowery dress-thing that shows off her amazing legs with flat sandals, and she looks gorgeous as fuck.

To say that my mother is elated when we walk through the front door is an understatement. Mom all but ignores me, quickly whisking Karli into the kitchen where my sisters are busy making breakfast.

While I help Dad move an old dresser set from one of the upstairs bedrooms down to the basement, my heart beats to the soundtrack of the laughter floating out of the kitchen.

This feels right. This feels right. This feels right.

And I refuse to entertain the idea that it could possibly be wrong.

I’m sweaty and out of breath when Dad and I are finally done knocking around in the basement. In the kitchen, Karli greets me with adoring eyes and a quick kiss to the cheek.

“Aww. So sweet.” Mom clasps her hands over her chest. She snuggles closer to Dad and he instinctively puts an arm around her.

Mom is a hopeless romantic and she’s shameless about it. My father indulges every one of her idyllic whims.

“Yeah, yeah. Sweet,” I mutter, fighting a smile as Karli blushes, taking a seat at the kitchen table next to me.

As always, I want more of the woman but I decide not to traumatize my family by showing them what Ireallywant to do to her in that little dress she’s wearing.

We say grace and them Mom starts dishing out her famous bacon-cheddar omelets. Karli praises my mother’s cooking, and Dad questions her about working at her family clinic this summer, and my sisters launch into a discussion about Karli’s pretty dress.

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