Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
RYAN
Over the next week, Karla and Imani had playdates almost every day. Karla and I had been over to their house a few times, and Karla really seemed to have opened up to Imani and her family.
She was even speaking a bit more. Some days, she refused to say a word, while on other days, she had entire conversations with her nana and gigi.
I didn’t care how much or little she spoke.
I wasn’t going to push her. But that didn’t mean it didn’t make me fucking tear up every time my baby girl started a conversation with me.
And through it all, Jones was there to share my excitement and comfort me when I was getting emotional about her. We didn’t spend the night at his place every night, not because we didn’t want to, but he’d had to stay at work late this week.
As co-owner of the construction company, he had to cover for his brother when he and Wren went out of town.
Jordan and Wren’s trip out of town this time was partly due to Wren’s vlog, but also to meet with a potential business client who was looking to build a block of mixed-use properties in the nearby city.
Jones was stoked about the project and had called me the night they finalized the deal. I’d never heard him sound more excited, since this contract would open a lot more doors for their company.
Jones, the business owner, was hot as fuck. But it also meant he was busy. I figured it was better to let the man have some space of his own.
We’d basically barged into his life one day and became permanent fixtures in it by invading his house and taking all his free time. I was far from complaining, but I could see how it might overwhelm someone.
So a little time apart would probably do us some good.
It didn’t stop me from missing him, though. Which made me realize just how seriously fucked I was for feeling so much for the man when there was still so much uncertainty in the air.
Saturday was another emotional day, with Karla willing to speak to her therapist. They mostly talked about Lily, Imani, and her family, but it was progress that I was celebrating.
She made plans to play with Imani’s new dolls afterward but insisted on seeing Lily first. Jones was once again waiting for us on the rocking chair, Lily by his feet. An intense feeling of coming home welled through me, but I firmly pushed it down.
It was stupid of me to miss the place—and of course Jones and Lily—so much after not seeing them for a few days. But, fuck, if the way Jones lit up and ran to pull us into hugs didn’t have my stomach fluttering with happiness.
“How did it go?” Jones asked discreetly when Karla ran off with Lily.
“Really well, I think. She spoke most of the session,” I told him.
Jones beamed, laughing as he hugged me in celebration. I stayed in his arms for a minute, soaking in that sunshiny scent of his. I wished I could bottle up his scent and carry it around with me.
“Are you going to come back later? After you drop Karla off at Jada’s?” Jones’ question tickled my ear.
This was the first time I’d be away from Karla for an extended period, but Karla insisted she would play with Imani by herself. Besides, I trusted Jada. She was Jones’ cousin, and I knew she was a good person from seeing her over my summers here.
Even knowing all that didn’t turn off my dad-brain, and terrifying thoughts that something would happen without me around still popped up in my brain. Oh god, was I a helicopter parent? I wasn’t trying to be overprotective, but how the hell could parents not be overprotective of their babies?
“Ryan?” Jones asked. He must have felt me stiffen in arms. “Are you worried about Karla staying there alone?”
I nodded into his chest, and he gave my back a comforting pat.
“We can wait for her here and can pick her up right away if she calls. Their house isn’t far from mine,” he reassured me.
I looked up at him. “I’m sure you have better things to do today than sit around with me. I’m probably gonna be all mopey.”
I was now apparently a helicopter parent.
Jones flashed his pearly whites. “Trust me. There’s nothing I want more than to mope around with my boyfriend. Maybe our double moping can cancel each other’s out.”
I froze and processed his words. When I didn’t reply after a couple of minutes, Jones waved a hand over my face and called my name.
“Boyfriend?” I finally managed to choke out.
“Yeah, isn’t that what we are?” He laughed, but I noticed how his smile was a little too tight, like he was nervous. “Or I could just call you my man. Actually, I think I might like the sound of that better. You are mine…right?”
The hint of vulnerability that shone in his eyes honestly relieved me. It was horrible of me to say when he was feeling uncertain like this, but it also meant I wasn’t the only one who was worried about our relationship .
I kissed him, nice and slow. “Yes, I’m yours,” I replied against his lips.
“You’re not going anywhere, right? Both you and Karla,” he whispered back, and I wasn’t feeling so happy about his uncertainty anymore.
I knew I was to blame for his doubts. I’d gone and left him without saying a word once before, so he was probably worried I could do it again.
I wish there was a way to reassure him that leaving this place—leaving him—wasn’t possible. If I had it my way, he was it for me.
Maybe he’d have more faith in me if I actually had a permanent residence here? I hadn’t heard from my real estate agent about potential rentals since the last disastrous showing, but I’d call her Monday in case something had popped up.
I wanted to prove to him with something tangible that I wasn’t the flaky teenager I used to be. But for now, I tried to reassure him with words.
“We’re not going anywhere. Kither Springs is our home now.”
“Yeah,” Jones repeated and kissed me again. His lips were unyielding over mine. It was a claim and a display of how reluctant he was to let me go.
We pulled apart when Karla and Lily ran back to the front yard. She’d picked some flowers from nearby, claiming they were for Auntie Jada and Imani.
Jones picked her up, pretended to be hurt, and grumbled about not getting flowers of his own. Karla merely giggled and tucked a yellow flower behind his ear. She gestured for me to lean in and tucked one behind mine as well. Of course, she didn’t forget to adorn herself with one, too.
My little girl was really the best girl in the world, though I might be slightly biased.
Jones came with us to drop Karla off for her playdate. The flowers miraculously stayed in place the entire ride there.
“Looking good,” Jada said when she saw her cousin. There was a glint in her eye and a teasing smile on her lips.
Karla ran to hug Imani as soon as I got her out of her seat. While the kids were busy, I saw Jones discreetly giving his cousin the middle finger, which only made Jada laugh.
“Come here, you idiot,” Jada said, pulling Jones into a hug. The cousins laughed and teased each other again, while I turned my focus to my daughter.
“Karla, are you sure you don’t want Daddy to stay and watch you play?” I asked, just to be extra certain. She could be having second thoughts.
Instead, my brave girl ran to give me and Jones a hug. And with a “I’ll be fine, Daddy!”, she ran hand-in-hand with Imani into the house. Without even a single glance back.
Jada laughed and clapped my shoulder. “They sure leave the nest quickly, don’t they?”
I nodded, still shocked that she didn’t even spare me another look. I was happy for her independence, but I could also be heartbroken at the same time.
“I’ll take good care of her, and you’ll be the first one I call if anything happens,” Jada comforted.
“I know you will. Thank you for having Karla over, and feel free to call me if you need anything,” I replied.
Jada gave us both one more round of hugs before sending us off. Jones’ hand found its home on my thigh the entire drive back to his place. The heat from his hand sank through the thin layer of my pants and comforted me.
When I parked outside his cabin, I covered his hand with mine and said, “From now on, I insist you keep your hand here on all our drives.”
“Oh yeah? You like my hand there?”
I nodded, and Jones leaned in to whisper in my ear, “But there’s somewhere else I’d much rather have my hands.”
I shot him a raised eyebrow, and he took that as permission to make his move by sliding his hand up my thigh to fondle my crotch.
“Jones!” I gasped and glanced out the windows to make sure we were alone. “We’re outside!”
Jones merely laughed and snuck a kiss on my cheek before clambering out of my car. “C’mon, I thought of an activity that might take your mind off things,” he said before shutting the door behind him.
I followed him out of the car. “And what’s that? ”
“How do you feel about checking out our old stomping grounds?”
“You mean…” I nodded to the small mountain behind Jones’ cabin, and he nodded.
“We haven’t gone back since I bumped into you the day we reunited.”
“You mean the day you saved Karla?” I said, pressing our bodies close and settling my arms over his shoulders.
Jones smiled. “The day fate brought you back into my life and introduced me to that precious little girl.”
“Fine, you win. You’re obviously more romantic than I am,” I mumbled.
He laughed. “If that’s the case…”
Before I knew what was happening, he was bending me backward. I yelped at the sudden action and cried that I was going to fall, but his hand on my lower back steadied me.
“You really are a jerk, aren’t you?” I grumbled, still bent backwards and hanging onto him for dear life.
Jones hummed, obviously delighted. “ Your jerk, remember?” Then he leaned down and kissed me like we were in some princess movie. And like every prince meeting their one true love, I swooned.