Chapter 16 #2
I hop off the bed and grab a pair of sweats, pulling them over my hips and tossing her a T-shirt.
When I turn around, I see her put the shirt to her nose and inhale before sliding it over her head through the mirror above my dresser.
I don’t say anything, but my smile widens, and I vow to make sure she always has a shirt of mine to wear.
After a lunch of pancakes and bacon, Camryn and I are standing at the sink doing dishes.
There’s an ease between us today. I feel more connected to her than I ever have to any other woman.
I think about what my brothers have said a million times about finding a woman who makes your life better just by being in their world.
I always thought they were pussy drunk or some shit, but now I’m starting to understand them a little better.
Just standing next to her doing something as mundane as washing dishes feels so right.
I kind of want to kick my own ass for being such a sap, but it is what it is, I guess. No use fighting it.
When Camryn dries the last pan, I back her up against the counter and lean down to take her mouth in a kiss. I fucking love the way Cam kisses me back. She surrenders herself to me instantly every time my lips press against hers. My hands grab her hips, and I lift her onto the counter.
“What are you doing?” she asks as my lips trail down her neck. I pull the collar of her shirt to the side to give my mouth better access to the soft skin of her shoulder.
“Having dessert.”
“On the counter?”
“I seem to remember you having a great time on that counter right over there.” I nod toward the island she was sitting on the first time I made her come last night. “Thought we could test this one out.”
Camryn giggles, but it quickly turns into a moan when my hand reaches under my shirt and I tweak her hard nipple.
“I fucking love playing with your tits. It makes me so fucking har—”
We hear the front door slam and Syd call, “Aunt Cam, Barrett, I’m home.”
My hand immediately jerks out from the T-shirt, but before Camryn has a chance to hop off the counter, Syd comes walking into the kitchen from the front hall.
“Whoa,” Syd says, her eyes wide as saucers and her mouth hanging open. “This is not what I expected to walk in on.”
“Sydney, oh my God.” Camryn pushes me away and jumps down. “What are you doing home?”
“I had a half day. Remember, I told you Ellie’s mom was going to give me a ride home.”
Camryn squeezes her eyes shut. “Shit, I forgot.”
“Figured,” she says, looking pointedly between me, her aunt, and the counter she was just sitting on.
“So…I’m going to go to my room and set my stuff down, then I’ll meet you in the living room since I’m guessing you’re going to want to talk about this.
” Syd turns around. “Oh, and it’ll give you a chance to put pants on,” she says before she walks to her room.
There’s no way for me to hold in my laugh—which earns me a glare from Camryn.
“This isn’t funny, Barrett. We haven’t talked about telling her anything. Shit, until last night there wasn’t anything to tell her,” she whisper-shouts at me.
“I’m sorry, but that kid is killer with her comedic timing.” I shrug and Camryn pushes past me and heads to her room. I follow and watch as she jerks a drawer open and pulls out some yoga pants. Camryn struggles to pull them up her legs, which only stands to cause her more irritation.
“Relax, pup. We’ll tell her the truth. Syd isn’t the kind of kid you can bullshit, and I’m not the kind of dad who would try.”
Camryn huffs out a breath and finishes pulling up those tight pants. Damn, she looks good in those.
“Stop staring at me like you want to take these off,” she says. “And what exactly are we going to tell her?”
I walk up to Camryn and put my arms around her waist, pulling her into an embrace. She’s stiff as a board, but that doesn’t surprise me. Cam doesn’t do well with the unexpected, like being caught out by my daughter. “We’re going to tell her that we’re together. You’re mine and I’m yours.”
“It’s that simple?”
My brow arches in question. “What did you think I meant last night when I told you I was claiming you?”
“I don’t know. I’m just really frazzled right now.”
“She was going to find out eventually. Hell, I would have been more than happy to tell her today, and now we are.” I kiss the top of Cam’s head, and she relaxes the tiniest bit in my hold.
“I don’t want to sleep without you next to me, Camryn.
And I’m not going to wait some imaginary proper amount of time.
I want you. In my bed, on my arm, on my bike. Everywhere.”
“When you say it like that, it does sound simple,” she says and finally wraps her arms around me, melding our bodies together.
“Let’s go talk to our girl,” I say.
Camryn smiles up at me and nods. “Okay.”
Syd’s door opens and she calls out, “Is it safe?”
This fucking kid.
“Yeah,” I answer and take Camryn’s hand to lead her to the living room.
Syd has a seat in one of the chairs, and Cam and I sit on the couch.
“First off, that’s not how I meant for you to find out about this,” Camryn says, opening the conversation.
“Trust me, I could have gone my entire life without seeing that, too,” Syd says. There’s no heat to her words, but there’s a shitload of sarcasm.
“Your aunt and I are—”
“Sleeping together?” Syd asks with a shrug.
“Syd!” Camryn exclaims, her face turning red as a tomato. “Not cool.”
“Sorry. I’m joking. I think we’re all a little shocked about what I walked in on, and I’m trying to lighten the mood.”
“We’re together, yes,” I tell my mouthy daughter. “And she’ll be moving into my room. Nothing else is going to change.”
“Are you sure?” Syd asks, spearing me with a pointed look.
“Look, I’m happy for you guys. But she’s the only person I’ve had in my life that ever really gave a damn about me—until you.
I need to know that you’re going to treat my aunt right, because she deserves it.
She put up with a lot from my mom, but she never gave up on me. ”
“Oh, honey. I love you. I would never give up on you. Even if something happened between Barrett and me—”
“Which it won’t,” I interject, giving Camryn a firm look.
She huffs out a breath. “I will always be in your corner, Syd. I love you so much, and you are never getting rid of me.”
“I know, Aunt Cam. I just want to make sure he knows it, too.”
That’s my daughter, loyal and fierce, just like the woman sitting next to me.
I look Syd square in the eye. “I will never do anything to hurt your aunt. Or you. You two are the most important women in my life. You’re my daughter, and she’s my woman. Nothing is changing either of those things.”
Syd stares right back at me for a few moments before she nods. “Alright, you have my blessing to date my aunt.” She huffs out a small chuckle. “That sounds really weird.”
Camryn and I both laugh and the mood is relaxed again. “We may be an unconventional one, like Tanya said, but we are a family,” I tell both my girls.
I lean over and kiss Camryn’s smile.
“Eww,” Syd says and pretends to gag. “Am I going to have to see you guys lip-locking all the time now?”
“Of course not,” Cam says.
“Every chance I get,” I say at the same time, and Syd rolls her eyes.
But she’s smiling, and I instantly know I have my daughter’s approval.
When we told Syd that Camryn and I were together, I told her that nothing would change, but I was wrong.
For the first time since all of us have been living together, I feel more like a family than I ever have before.
There was no way for me to realize how much better it could be or what I was missing.
For the last three nights, we’ve sat down for dinner together every night.
That was something I always made a point to do before, seeing as I never really did it with my own father growing up, but now it’s different.
There’s an ease to our conversations that wasn’t there before.
I can reach over and kiss Cam on the lips any time I want.
Or stare at her as we have mundane conversations and thank my lucky stars that she’s mine.
When she catches me doing that, Camryn will get a soft smile and squeeze my knee or hand—just a little reassurance that she feels this new thing the same way I do.
Even Syd has gotten more comfortable around me.
It’s like we can all finally breathe a sigh of relief.
We’ve found the family that none of us knew we wanted but all of us needed in our own ways.
I’m walking by Syd’s room and look in, seeing her on the bed looking through an old photo album with a smile on her face.
“What are you looking at?” I ask at the threshold of her room.
“Aunt Cam put this together before I started junior high.” She nods to her bed, signaling for me to come in and have a look.
I walk in and have a seat on her bed. Syd flips the book to the front, and I see a slobbering baby with green stuff all over her face.
“That’s me when my mom tried to get me to eat peas.”
I would recognize her eyes anywhere, even in her baby pictures.
“I wasn’t a fan,” she continues.
“You still aren’t,” I say as Syd laughs then flips the page.
Most of the pictures are of Syd in various stages, from being a baby to a toddler, to a little girl with long dark hair and pigtails.
A few are of her and her mom. Sami looks happy in the earlier pictures, but I can see a change as Syd grows.
It breaks my heart and pisses me off all at the same time.
“What are you guys looking at?” Cam says from Syd’s doorway.
“That old album you put together for me and my mom,” Syd answers.
“I’m so glad that it didn’t get destroyed,” Cam says as she walks into Syd’s room and sits on the other side of my daughter.