Page 51 of Mine To Honor (Southern Wedding)

“She’s still sleeping.” I point at the monitor.

“Shocking,” she mumbles, “I wonder what that feels like.”

“Did she sleep all night?” I ask, wondering if I was just so exhausted, I didn’t hear her. It’s at that moment when her eyes go big.

“No.” She gets up to a sitting position and snatches the monitor from my hand. “Oh my God.” She looks down at it. “Did you get up with her?” Only when I pinch my eyebrows together does Eva smile. “I think she slept all night.” She lifts her hand up to the side and I high-five her.

Grabbing my phone, I pull up the sleep app and gasp, “I slept over ten hours.” I hold up my hand, waiting for her to give me a high-five this time.

“So this is what it feels like to be refreshed,” Eva declares, throwing the covers off her and getting up. My eyes move from her eyes down to her lips, and it’s no time at all before they roam down to her tits. Her nipples tease me as they tent her tank top, my tongue comes out to lick my lips at the same time we hear the first signs of movements from Cici. “I’ll get her.” Eva almost jumps up, making her tits bounce, and I internally groan or moan. Either way, I wish her tits were bouncing in my face so I could take her nipple into my mouth. Or better yet, I wish my dick was sliding between them while her mouth takes my dick.

“I’ll get her bottle!” I shout to her retreating back. Getting out of bed, I look down at my cock who might be blue with all this non-sex that I’m having. I hear Eva from the monitor ask Cici if she slept all right before going downstairs.

I press two buttons, one for the bottle and the other for the coffee cup, both finishing almost simultaneously. I screw the top on the bottle while I start another cup of coffee, waiting for them to come down for breakfast. Last night as soon as I got into bed, I wanted to take that barrier pillow and toss it toward the bedroom door, but I also knew she was secretly freaking out about what happened between us during the night. Truth be told, she wasn’t the only one. I spent the better part of the day sitting at my desk, tapping the pen on the notepad, trying my hardest not to call her. Because it was so natural to call her when these things happened. Who else could tell me what was going on, what I should do next? If I should call her or not. If I should play it cool or just ignore it and pretend it didn’t happen. I depended on myself, and I decided to play it cool. But the minute I walked into the house, all I wanted to do was go over and kiss her lips. Even if it was just a small kiss on the lips, it was the only thing I wanted. However, I also know her better than she knows herself, and I knew that if I did that, she would shut me out.

“What are you looking for?” I hear Eva’s voice coming from the stairs. Looking over, I see her walking down the last step, Cici in her arms, with her cheek still red from lying on it. Her eyes look all over the place until I finally talk.

“Well, look who it is.” I walk toward them, Cici’s head snaps, and her face fills with a big smile as she waits for me to be close enough before leaning to me. “Good morning, my girl.” I kiss her cheek, feeling the warmth from her bed. “Did you sleep almost twelve hours?” I ask and she just hits my chest with her hand. “I made you a bottle,” I tell her, walking over to the counter, “and I made your aunt some coffee.”

Eva looks over and smiles at me. “Thank you.” She grabs the cup and puts some milk in her coffee. “What are we having for breakfast?” She leans back against the counter. “How about some oatmeal with some fruit?” she asks as Cici spots her bottle and reaches for it with a whine.

“I’m going to come with you today when you drop her off at daycare,” I tell her as I turn Cici on her side so she can drink her milk.

“You don’t have to come with me,” Eva counters, going to the fridge.

“I won’t see her tonight,” I remind her as I sit on the couch with Cici on one arm, holding my coffee with the other hand.

“Where are you going?” Eva pulls out the oatmeal, looking over at me.

“I’m having dinner with the guys,” I remind her. “It’s Daniel’s bachelor party, remember?”

“Oh, that’s right,” she replies, not looking at me. “I forgot about that.”

“I can try to cancel,” I tell her, not really wanting to go out.

“No.” She shakes her head. “You have to go, you’re his groomsman.”

“He does have three more,” I tell her, getting up when Cici finishes her bottle. Walking back into the kitchen, I put her in her high chair and then buckle her in. I grab the baby snacks, handing her a rice cracker.

“Looks like it’s just the two of us,” Eva says, pouring hot water in the oatmeal before adding some blueberries. “Girls’ night.” She smiles down at her.

The two of us don’t really say anything to each other. There is a whole list of things I want to say, but I don’t think we have the time to go over them. Especially the part where I want to kiss the fuck out of her.

We rush out the door with me holding Cici and Eva following me. I follow the two of them to the daycare, parking beside her. I get out of my car before Eva even puts the car in park. Opening the back door, I smile at Cici. “Who’s the prettiest girl in all of the land?” I ask and she smiles as she kicks her legs.

I take her in my arms while grabbing the diaper bag, shutting the door right before Eva joins us. We start to walk in when we come face-to-face with a man who is walking out. He looks down, but when he looks up at Eva, his whole face lights up. “Hey, Eva,” he greets when we are in front of him.

I look over at Eva who smiles back at him. “Hi, Caine.”

“Hi, Cici.” He turns to Cici, totally ignoring me. “Is she feeling better?” He looks back at Eva while at the same time I seriously want to throat punch this guy. His eyes never leave Eva’s. “She looks much better,” he notes and I want to laugh because he hasn’t even really looked at her. His eyes have been trained on Eva since he saw her.

“Um, hi,” I finally interject, looking at Eva with a smile on my face, but it’s a fake smile. It’s as fake as can be because all I want to do is glare at him.

“Oh, sorry.” Eva laughs nervously from beside me. Shit, is she flirting with him? Do they talk? Did they meet here? Do they see each other every morning? The number of questions I have just keeps adding up. “This is Levi.”

“Her husband.” I extend my hand to her. He looks at me almost with a shocked expression before turning back to look at Eva, then quickly back at me. “I’ll take Cici inside, you two can catch up.” I look at Eva, who avoids looking at me. My stomach gets tight with knots as I walk around Caine and away from her. I’m so fucking pissed yet I have no reason to be, really. Or do I? I walk into the daycare and drop her off with Sylvia. I’m handing her over and I’m shocked to see Eva standing beside me.

“Are you okay?” she asks, her voice quiet.

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