Page 34 of Family Like This

The smile I get from that takes my breath away. His green eyes turn so vibrant they shimmer like jewels. I’d do anything to see him smile like that every day.

What the hell am I doing?

I’ve been saying repeatedly that this isn’t official. That I need to take it slow, and I still do, but I’m kidding myself if I think this isn’t a real relationship. We have sex, we cuddle, we talk about everything, and we take care of each other. And I’m falling for him. Hard and fast. We’re doing everything people in a relationship do except call each other girlfriend and boyfriend. As that smile grows and he pulls me to his lips for a passionate kiss, I think it’s time to change the ridiculous rules I’ve implemented in this relationship.

Chapter five

One Last Base

Miles

“Fuck,Ineededthat.”I fall onto my back on my bed at the lake house, sweaty and panting. “I needed you.” I lean over and give Amelia a hard kiss, splaying my hand over her stomach as I do. She won’t admit it, but she has a tiny bump. I’m obsessed with it.

“I needed that, too,” she says, running her hand over my cheek as I pull away.

Sex. She needed sex,I remind myself. It takes a lot of reminding these days that we aren’t a couple. Partly because we act like a couple, but mostly because I want us to be one. I also do not want to push her, so here I am, acting like it’s normal that I just fucked the woman carrying my baby who I’m not actually with but am falling harder for every single day.

It’s fine.

Or something like that.

I pull her closer. Why not blur the lines a little more?

Fuck, that’s so Aaron and Rae.

Whatever.

I push the thoughts out of my mind and focus back on the gorgeous woman lying in bed with me. Pulling her closer, I run my fingers up her ribs, letting them dance across her chest, right where her tattoo is.

The uncertainty of life is magic.

“Is this a quote?”

She shifts slightly, turning to look at me. Then she nods. “Yeah. My dad used to say ‘the uncertainty of life is where magic is found.’ When I was little, I asked him what it meant. He told me that the most magical parts of life come from uncertainty or the unexpected because if we know exactly what’s going to happen and how to handle it, where’s the excitement? Where’s themagic?I grew to love that sentiment, so when he died, I got the tattoo. Now I have his words close to my heart.”

“That’s beautiful.” I lie flat on my back again and close my eyes. I wish I could make uncertainty feel like magic instead of terror.

She reaches down and twines her fingers with mine. “Maybe it can help you.”

I flash my eyes open and smile at her. “Can you read my mind?”

She laughs out loud. “Not quite. But I figured with anxiety… that probably isn’t so easy for you.”

“Not so much.”

“Well,” she says softly, grabbing my hand and putting it on her stomach again. “There’s a whole lot of uncertainty in here, but there’s magic, too.”

I roll onto my side, moving my hand from her stomach to her cheek as I stare into her intoxicating eyes.

The desire I feel for her is so intense it’s hard to breathe. It’s not sexual desire, though. I wanther.And as she stares back at me, it seems like she wants me, too.

“Miles,” she breathes, then I steal that breath, capturing her lips in a rough, passionate kiss.

I’m so unbelievably fucked. I think I might be falling in love with her. Actually, there’s no question about it. Especially when she pulls me closer, her swollen lips pushing harder against mine. She makes a noise that’s a cross between a whimper and a moan and shimmies her body even tighter to mine, like she can’t get enough of me—of this.

Her tongue dances with mine, swirling over it in long, hard strokes, asking for more with each movement. I want to give her more. I want to give her everything.

I tangle my hand in her hair as I deepen the kiss more, pouring my heart out to her without words. Letting her take what she wants and giving her everything she needs.

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