Chapter 34 #2
“Exactly. I’m trying not to traumatize you. Please leave.”
My attention moves to my favorite little guy as he makes his way toward me. “Sorry, Maxie.” I bend down on my haunches to give him a hug. “I wish you could stay but your aunt, uncle, and parents are being weirdos.”
He giggles, hugging me in return. “Weirdos.”
“Right? I know.”
Eventually, the five of them make their way out of my apartment, Kai bringing up the rear to usher the group ahead of him.
He halts in the doorway, turning back to Reese. “If it makes you feel any better, the entire team is absolutely stoked for you two. And so am I.”
I catch the small crack of a smile on Reese’s lips as Kai closes the door behind himself.
But that smile drops as soon as they’re gone, and the realization sinks in. “Emmett. The team knows?”
“Don’t freak out. They won’t say a word.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. You might not believe me, but they want to protect you as much as I do.”
I watch as that statement settles onto her shoulders. They’ve proven just how loyal they are to her in the media lately. They’ll continue to prove it by keeping this secret for us.
I don’t hesitate any longer, taking the coffees from her hand and placing them on my table so they’re out of my way. Both hands sliding into her hair, I bring my lips to hers in a desperate kiss.
She sighs into me. I sigh into her.
“Hi,” I whisper.
“I’m so sorry. I should’ve called first.”
“No. I’m glad you didn’t. This is the best surprise.”
She wraps her arms around my neck, leaning up to kiss me again. “I need to get to the field, but I wanted to see you.”
I check my watch. I need to get out of here too if I’m going to make it to work on time. But I also don’t want to miss out on time alone with her when we won’t get it again all night.
“Wait for me?” I ask. “I need five minutes to shave quickly then we can walk down together.” I drop a kiss on her mouth before grabbing my coffee from the table and taking a sip. “Thank you for this, by the way.”
“You’re welcome.”
Slipping into the bathroom, I project my voice so she can hear me still. “So how was your meeting?”
I pull my shirt off, toss it in the hamper, and turn on the faucet.
“It was good.” Instead of staying out in the main room, she follows me to the bathroom, leaning on the doorway with her coffee in hand. “I think some of the other team owners actually felt bad for me about the heat I took in the press.”
“So, they didn’t treat you like an outsider this time?”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.”
I lather up my shaving cream, spreading it under my jaw so I can clean up my beard. I feel Reese’s attention the entire time. In the mirror, I watch as she moves fully into the bathroom and sits on the counter at my side, facing me.
I love how comfortable she is here. How she moves around my apartment the same way I move around hers. Like she belongs wherever I am.
“Can I do it?” she asks, setting her coffee on the counter next to mine.
I hold up my razor in surprise. “You want to do this?”
She nods in confirmation.
It’s a shockingly intimate request that I give into immediately, handing the blade to her. “I just need the line cleaned up.”
I grab her hips, shifting her closer to me, then stand between her spread legs. I keep my palms on her thighs as I tilt my head back, giving her better access.
Her eyes are locked on my jaw in concentration, figuring out exactly what I need taken care of.
Running the razor under the faucet, Reese returns her focus to my neck.
She bites her lip as she runs it in a slow, cautious line up my throat to my beard. It’s gentle and methodical. Careful not to hurt me.
She smiles a bit, proud of herself when the first swipe comes up clean. “Easy.”
Reese runs the razor under the faucet again before going in for the next swipe.
“So,” I begin, speaking cautiously so as to not move my throat too much, “who all was at this meeting?”
Her blue eyes are lasered in on her task at hand, her other palm cradling the back of my neck to keep me steady.
“The commissioner. The owners.”
I knew that. I knew that’s why it was hosted in New York, where the commissioner’s main office is.
“Anyone else?”
She breaks her concentration for only a moment when a knowing smirk lifts on one side of her mouth. “Are you asking if my ex-husband was there?”
Yes. Yes, that’s exactly what I’m asking.
There’s no part of me that thinks Reese would ever go back to him. I just don’t like the guy and don’t want him around her. Sure, I don’t know him, but I do know what he tried to pull when he was married to her, and that’s enough information for me.
I don’t like that he’s in our line of work. I don’t like that he works for the commissioner’s office. And I don’t like that she will most likely have to see him multiple times a year.
Part of me hates that he got to know her before I did. But part of me is glad because it taught her what she deserves in a relationship.
And all of me is fucking thrilled that I’m the one she’s allowing to give that to her.
“He wasn’t there,” she answers her own question, resuming her careful strokes.
Over the bridge of my nose, I keep my eyes locked on her while all her focus is lasered in on her task. She takes her time. She’s gentle with me. Tender with me.
It seems so simple. But she’s attentive in the way she takes care of me.
It’s foreign. It’s unexpected. And it’s really nice.
I don’t know if I’ve ever been taken care of. Not like this. That’s usually my role.
“I missed you too, Reese,” I say into the quiet bathroom. “I didn’t get to say it earlier, but I missed you too.”
Smiling to herself, she takes her careful last swipe, running the razor under the water to clean it off. Then she looks over her handywork, checking the line of my beard.
I would check for myself in the mirror, but I already know it looks perfect. She gave way too much effort, cares about me too much, for it not to be.
I stroke my thumbs over her inner thighs, keeping my hold on her. “Thank you for taking care of me.”
“You’re welcome, Em.” She punctuates her statement with a soft kiss to my freshly shaven jawline. “So handsome.”
Slipping my hand into her hair, I hold her against me for a moment before we’ll have to break away for the rest of the day. She wraps her arms around my waist. I breathe her in. She does the same.
My person.
My daughter’s words play on a loop again, but this time there’s no asking myself if that’s the correct label or not.
Because there’s not a doubt in my mind that Reese is my person.