Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jessie
The man is so infuriating. He looked miserable when he came home from work last weekend. I’ve kept my mouth shut this entire week because I know he’s stressed out, trying to manage everything.
I know he wants to spend time with Eli. But I know he is still committed to his work. It’s impossible for me to watch him, knowing this isn’t what he wanted. Maybe I’m wrong though. People change. They evolve.
Could I be wrong for holding it against him that he wants something different from what he said he did when he was twenty?
One thing I know for certain: my heart already belongs to him and Eli. When I’m with them, it feels like I finally fit, like everything inside of me is whole. And that terrifies me. Because if I open my mouth and tell him, if I let him see just how much I’ve fallen, I risk shattering all of it.
What if loving them out loud is the very thing that makes me lose them?
So, instead of doing the thing I know I should—sit Walker down and demand clarity, force him to talk about what we’re doing and this secret he guards so tightly—I do the opposite.
Honestly, how bad could it be? It’s not like he murdered someone or has some dark criminal past. More likely, it’s something stupid, like he slept with someone I couldn’t stand. Annoying, sure, but not life-ruining.
I push the conversation off again, pretending it can wait.
I head over to his place after work. A Friday night, where I plan to slip into the comfort of his arms and lose myself in a quiet night with him and Eli. For now, it feels easier than facing the truth.
The moment I open the door, Mrs. M is holding Eli in the air, naked, as Walker stands there, covered in what definitely looks like Eli’s poop. It’s all over his once-crisp white work shirt. He looks stunned while Mrs. M appears to be holding in a laugh.
I curl my lips in so he doesn’t see me holding back a smile. “What happened here?”
His eyes soften when they meet mine. “I got home at the end of her bath. On the way to the changing table, she decided to let one loose on me.”
Mrs. M looks at him with adoration. I can tell she has a soft spot for Walker. “Back in the day, if this happened to my husband, he’d be whining like a baby. You’re a good man.”
“Here.” I run over to the changing table and grab some wipes to help clean Eli up just enough for another bath. “Walker, go throw your clothes in the washer and take a shower. We’ll take care of Eli.”
“You sure?” he asks.
“You smell,” I tell him. “Get out of here.”
He chuckles to himself and walks off. I grab another fresh wipe and drag it along Eli, then toss it in the garbage.
“Okay, I think that’s about as good as we can do,” I tell Mrs. M. “I can give her a bath. You go home.”
“Oh, I can’t leave you two in the middle of this chaos. Let me help you at least get set up for another bath. Then I’ll get going.”
I take Eli from her as we both go to the guest bathroom, where the baby tub is sitting inside the bathtub. She pulls out the baby wash while I hold Eli, who is babbling to us, in my arms.
“You’re good for him, you know,” she says as she turns on the water.
“I’m sorry?” I ask, not sure what she’s referring to.
She smiles mischievously. “Walker. You are just what he needs. I can tell. He’s lucky to have you.”
“Oh, um, we’re not really …” I stumble over my words. “It’s just … that …” I sigh in defeat. “It’s complicated.”
Mrs. M tilts her head with a knowing smile. “Sometimes, complicated things just need a little time to work themselves out. The right things usually do.”
Her words linger long after she turns back to the bath, settling over me, leaving me with a sense of hope.
After the water temperature is set and she’s laid out fresh towels, she dusts herself off. “Well, I better be getting home to my husband. There are chicken cutlets in the oven.”
“You’re the best.” I smile back at her as I place Eli down in the baby tub.
I squirt some baby wash on the hand towel and start with her hair, then make my way down her body, all the way down to her little toes.
This girl just melts my heart. I can’t believe how much I love her.
Mrs. M’s words still ring in my head. I just hope she’s right. This is a complicated situation. I’m just not sure it’ll work itself out.
Later in the evening, Walker and I are snuggling on the couch, watching a show. I’m curled up in this arms, our legs tangled together. His hands mindlessly rub my body while his eyes focus on the show. I press myself further into his body as my eagerness to feel closer to him takes hold of me.
“Thanks for helping with Eli tonight,” his groggy voice says.
I smile into his shirt. “How could I not? You looked so helpless, standing there, covered in baby poop.”
He squeezes me tight as his chest rumbles with a laugh. “Helpless? I think it was more like shock.”
I laugh with him. “Either way, it was cute.”
“Cute? I don’t think I agree with what qualifies as cute to you.”
I look up at him as my lips spread wide. “You looked cute. The poop? Not so much.”
Something shifts in the room, in the way he looks at me.
His smile fades, and he swallows. “You’re so beautiful that, sometimes, it hurts me right here when I look at you.” His hand rubs over his heart.
The confession makes my heart race, like a wild animal trying to escape. Words fail me as we look into each other’s eyes, the world falling away until it feels like nothing exists but him and me.
His thumb brushes over my cheek. He places his fingers behind my neck, then pulls me in for a kiss. His mouth covers mine hungrily, the kiss sending the pit of my stomach into a wild swirl.
He pulls his mouth from mine and gazes at me. “Follow me,” he says with quiet emphasis.
I follow him into the guest bedroom, where he leads me to the center of the bed. Before I lie down, he strips me down slowly, then pushes me back onto the pillows. He’s not in a hurry, like any of the times before. Instead, he takes his time ridding himself of his own clothes.
I can’t help but take in the eyeful of Walker, standing on the side of the bed, completely naked—his dick hard, the tip dripping with a bead of his cum.
He crawls onto the bed, taking a long swipe at my pussy on his way up before claiming my mouth. I shiver at the sweet tenderness of his kiss. I bury my hands in the thick of his hair.
He breaks the kiss, then positions his dick between my lips and pushes himself inside of me inch by devastatingly slow inch. His eyes meet mine as he continues until he bottoms out, filling me with all of him.
For a moment, he just stares into my eyes as his chest rises and falls rapidly. Then he starts to move unhurriedly in and out, like he wants to draw out every bit of this and savor it. Each time he pushes inside, he hits the spot that brings me closer and closer to the edge.
Our lips barely brush over one another. His thick cock stretches me beyond what I’m used to, but the sting is filled with a pleasure so perfect that my eyes begin to water.
I try to blink the tears away, embarrassed by the emotion. But Walker kisses the corners of my eyes while he moves inside of me like he knows what this is doing to me. It’s a small act, but it feels profound in its meaning.
Together, our breathing quickens until I can’t hold back any longer. My orgasm crashes through me, every nerve sparking, every thought consumed by him. It’s not just pleasure; it’s everything we’ve survived, everything he makes me feel, breaking me open and stitching me back together, all at once.