39 #2
Because the screen was directly in front of me and because I possess the self-control of a raccoon near an unlocked trash can where Lila is concerned, I saw the preview.
Hey, just want to check in with you. That guy that was at the construction site today was pretty intense. The possessive way he stood over you was a bit worrisome. Are you okay?
I stepped behind her, wrapped my arms around her waist, and read it over her shoulder.
She glanced back. “What?”
I scoffed against her ear. “See?” My mouth brushed close enough to her skin to feel her react. “You are his prey, and he thinks he’s a predator.”
Then I licked the side of her neck.
Lila jerked and twisted halfway around in my arms, laughing in disbelief. “Did you just... lick me?”
I grinned against her skin. “Yep. I licked it. So it’s mine. Playground rules.”
She stared at me like she was reconsidering every life choice that had led here. “You’re insane.”
I tightened my arms around her. “Insane for you. What’re you gonna say back?”
She looked at the phone, then at me, and that little smirk appeared. Dangerous woman. Her fingers started moving.
Lila: He is that past I was talking about. I’m perfectly safe with him, better than safe. He would burn the world down for me. No need to worry.
A low sound slipped out of me before I could stop it. Mason replied almost immediately.
Mason: Oh. I didn’t realize the past was back in the present.
Lila typed again without looking at me. Her shoulder pressed a little more firmly into my chest.
Lila: As I said, he never really left my mind. But yes, now he’s physically back. I’ve got to go. He is currently nibbling on my neck and getting impatient.
I barked out a laugh, loud enough that Jade yelled from the living room, “What are you two doing in there?”
“Bein’ wholesome!” I called back.
“Liar!” came back immediately.
Lila shook with quiet laughter against me as Mason’s next message arrived. I could feel every bit of it where I held her.
Mason: Wait. Is he reading our texts as you type?
She glanced over her shoulder, amusement bright in her eyes, then answered. Apparently neither of us had any interest in rescuing his dignity.
Lila: There are no secrets between us.
Something about those words landed deeper than the joke had. The next message appeared before I could sit with it.
Mason: Huh, okay…Hey, did you know that by the time I got to Tide Lofts there actually wasn’t any availability even though their website clearly said they had units available just this morning?
Lila’s mouth twitched before she answered. She was enjoying this almost as much as I was.
Lila: Um, well I don’t know anything about leasing, maybe they don’t keep their website updated well. Not really my wheelhouse.
I buried my face against her neck before she could see me grin. She knew anyway.
Mason: Uh... well. Goodnight I guess.
Lila: Bye.
She set the phone down, and I turned her in my arms and kissed her. She laughed against my mouth before melting into it, but I kept this one short enough that dinner remained a possibility.
When I pulled back, I kept her inside my arms. “That,” I said, still enjoying the hell out of myself, “was hot.”
She blinked up at me. “What was?”
“Telling him there’s nothin’ you keep from me. Telling him I’m back and that I’m yours.” I kissed her again, slower. “And the part where you told him I was nibblin’ on you and gettin’ impatient. That part was damn near pornographic.”
She laughed. “Well, you were. And it was making it hard to type.”
My hands settled on her hips. “You are a menace.”
“Says the man who licked me and called it law.”
“That is law.” I didn’t even try to sound reasonable.
She rolled her eyes. “It was a conversation that was going nowhere, Jackson.”
“I know.” I kissed the corner of her mouth. “Still liked the way you ended it.”
A voice came from the doorway. “I would actually like to eat dinner before you make me lose my appetite with your totally inappropriate kitchen behavior.”
We turned.
Jade leaned against the frame wearing the expression of a teenager who had been forced to witness grave parental crimes. Lila flushed pink. I grinned wider.
Jade looked at me and winked. I held out my fist, and she bumped it without hesitation.
Lila turned in time to catch us. “Did you two just pound fists like you’re conspiring together?”
Jade and I faced her at the same time. “Who, me?”
Lila stared.
The humor caught in my chest when I saw her expression change. Jade and I had matched without planning it, same timing, same answer, and for a heartbeat Lila looked at us like she could see all seventeen missing years standing between what should have been and what we had now.
I glanced at Jade before the moment could get too heavy. “I think we just broke your mom.”
Jade nodded solemnly. “Nah. She just needs to reboot.”
“Go in the other room,” I told her. “I’ll reboot her.”
Jade smacked my arm. “Ew, Dad. No.”
That snapped Lila out of whatever had caught her. She pointed the wooden spoon at both of us. “To the table,” she said, then sharpened the order when neither of us moved fast enough. “Both of you. God, I have my hands full with both of you.”
I followed her toward the table, catching her around the waist long enough to smack her ass. “And you love it.”
She threw me a look over her shoulder while Jade groaned dramatically behind us.
The apartment felt loud in a way I’d never known I could miss. Lila fussing at both of us. Jade already picking my side whenever it amused her. Dinner on the stove. Too much teasing packed into too small a kitchen.
I had spent years believing leaving had protected the people I loved. Standing there with my daughter laughing and Lila trying not to smile at me, I could finally see what staying might have looked like.
Maybe that was why the childish shit felt so damn good. We had lost enough time being serious.