Chapter 34
Liam
"Tess?"
I call her a second time because I know she's there.
I heard her step off the landing, but I think somehow I'd have known anyway.
The door finally creaks open as Tessa pushes her way inside. Her eyes trail up from the floor, taking in my sweatpants. She inhales quickly when she sees I'm wearing my clubhouse sweatshirt—the sweatshirt. And her breath hitches altogether when she stops at my face.
"Hey," she says sweetly. Relief I didn't know I needed washes over me as I exhale, my eyes on the way her hair is tossed to one side, her long blonde locks falling over her shoulder.
I didn't think I was nervous that what I said at the theater would scare her away, but I'm now realizing that might have been because my anticipation over finishing it smothered everything else.
"You okay?" I ask as I tap the cushion beside me.
Tessa strides over slowly, plopping down next to me. "Yeah, I almost lost a virtual fight with a sheet, but…"
I cock a brow as I replay her sentence.
"I was FaceTiming my youngest sister," she explains. "She had a whole linen situation going on. We figured it out."
"Do I even want to know?"
She shakes her head playfully. "Not unless you have a death wish—folding a fitted sheet is no joke."
"Wait… " I pull one knee up, turning to face her completely. "You're supposed to fold those?"
Tessa giggles.
"No, I'm serious." I reach out and drop my hand on her leg. Her eyes dip to it before returning to mine. "I just taught Ruthie how to ball them up last month. I have a closet upstairs full of tightly wadded Egyptian cotton."
She looks at me skeptically. "Now I'm wondering why you have so many sheets."
I tilt my head, one brow arched. "Better than not enough."
Tessa smiles, and once again, this… whatever between us… feels as natural as swinging a bat or loving my kid.
I huff out a laugh as silence threatens to fall between us. "You're always doing that, aren't you?"
She looks at me, the cutest crease in her forehead, and I resist the urge to smooth it over. "Doing what?"
Sitting forward, I take her hand from her lap and intertwine it with mine. "Helping people—solving their problems, checking in, taking care of them."
She shrugs, her eyes on the way our fingers thread together. "I guess so."
I give her space to think about it—to be honest with herself—brushing the pad of my thumb over her knuckle. Eventually, she lifts her head slowly, her eyes flickering as realization hits her. "Yeah." She shrugs, chuckling softly. "I think maybe I am."
I smile—until I feel my eyes narrowing, my jaw tightening without me doing it intentionally. "And who takes care of you, Tessa?"
Her expression switches, the playfulness in her eyes shifting to something more honest. Her pupils darken. "I do," she murmurs.
I purse my lips, the answer I expected landing harder than it should. "See…" I ease my hand from hers, leaning in until I'm braced beside her hip. My voice drops. "That's a problem for me."
With one arm on either side of her, I cage her in without touching her. Tessa sinks back into the couch as she tries to make space where it doesn't exist.
"Really?" she whispers, her chest rising and falling faster now.
"Mhmm." I let my weight shift, slowly and deliberately lowering myself down until I'm on my knees for this girl—for the second time today.
She holds my gaze. "Why?"
I tilt my head. "Because you deserve that—to be heard and seen and taken care of."
"My family appreciates me," she says as if the words that escaped were meant for herself as much as me.
I nod and kiss the inside of her knee. "I'm not talking about them."
Her lips part, but she doesn't speak. I kiss the other side, higher than before.
"You deserve more than appreciation, Tess.
You deserve to be cherished. Worshipped.
And anyone who had the chance before and didn't…
" I shake my head, both at the idea and to erase the image it creates. "Well, thank God."
Her brow furrows slightly.
"Because now I get the privilege." I lift my eyes to meet hers—strong, steady. "And I promise you, I won't take it for granted."
With that, she springs toward me, grabbing a hold of my hoodie and dragging me toward her. I stand, my chest still in her hands, my shadow swallowing her as I pin her between me and the back of the couch.
I kiss her… hard. With all the promise and hope I can muster. And Tessa melts into me, parting her lips before I can even ask for permission.
Her acceptance—or concession—lights a fire in my soul.
I fall back beside her, gripping her leg and hiking it up so it's curled around my hip. Tess whimpers the sweetest sound when the move brings her close enough to feel how much I need her.
She moves her hands to my shoulders, and when I drag her bottom lip between my teeth, she tightens her hold on the tender muscle. I growl into her as I slide my hand between her and the couch and pull her onto my lap in one swift motion.
She rocks into me, rolling her hips as I drag my fingertips down the length of her back, and I separate our kiss only enough to fill my lungs.
"Ruthie," Tess breathes when we part briefly.
I shake my head. "That girl sleeps like a rock." I dip back in, but she doesn't meet me. Instead, her gaze drifts somewhere just past my face.
"But you're sure she'd be okay with this—us?"
My eyes dance between hers, my whole body crawling for her—my palms that run up her thighs, that sensitive skin behind my ear where her fingertips are pressed, that ache between my legs begging for more.
But it's deeper than that.
The way Tess is with Ruthie has always ignited me—how she cares for her so genuinely and how comfortable they are together.
But in this moment, when she's desperate and needy, her legs squeezing tightly around mine, her nipples peaked beneath her shirt, her mind reeling over us and what this means and how it plays out…
she still manages to put my daughter first.
And that causes everything inside of me to glow for her too.
"Positive."
She nods quickly as if that one word is enough to free her from the worry, then finally, she puts her lips back on mine.
I palm her ass, my cock twitching between us, and in response, Tess swirls her hips slowly, rhythmically, over my length.
I match her motion, the leggings she's wearing and the thin joggers I have on, not enough to stop me from feeling the way I slide perfectly up her center.
Our bodies meet, brush after brush, with her flawless form—and the weight of wanting her—pressing hard against me.
The hem of her shirt falls away from her skin, the loose fabric opening enough to make room for my hands.
I glide my palms up both sides of her ribs, hooking my thumbs under her bare breasts.
"Fuck, Tess." My voice comes out faint as I hold her full, heavy chest in my hands.
"Liam…" she whispers desperately when I roll her two sensitive peaks between my fingers. She settles more of her weight on her knees as she grinds over me.
We're both eager as she rocks relentlessly, my cock harder than it's ever been as if it remembers exactly what it feels like to find its release with her. She kisses me—messy in the best way—and I react by applying more pressure on her nipples.
She pulls back, gasping, a moan seeping through her lips that shoots straight to the point of friction between us. I get lost for a second in the way her eyes flutter closed, in how much I want to see her fall apart—only to be yanked back to the present by a tightening knot in my stomach.
"Tess," I grind out, hating myself instantly for interrupting the moment.
She slows her pace, searching my face until she stops completely. "What's wrong?" she pants.
I move my hands, gripping her legs as my hips press up into her, still looking for that pressure. "Nothing's wrong," I breathe. "If anything, it's too fucking right."
She runs her hand through my hair, and I suck in a breath. "Not slow enough?" she asks.
I shake my head, running my palms up toward her hips. "No… too slow." I dip one thumb between her thighs. "Jesus," I groan. Her leggings are soaked, and my mouth waters at the memory of what she tastes like this wet for me.
Tessa hums and drops her forearms on the cushion behind me.
"I want more than this," I admit, our foreheads touching. "But when I finally get to have you—really have you… I don't want my kid upstairs sleeping."
She exhales a laugh, nodding her head against mine. "I know," she says, her eyes squeezing shut as if the confession is painful on its way out. "I know, me too."
I kiss her softly, and she melts into me, but when she sucks my bottom lip between her teeth—the tenderness snaps.
My hands dive back under her shirt as I slam my lips to hers. I roll my tongue over hers, squeezing her gently as I deepen the kiss. When we separate, she yanks my sweatshirt over my head.
I instantly reach for my undershirt next. For a brief second, all I see is white, but once it's off and tossed beside me, I watch Tess's eyes trail down my chest. They make their way to the bulge in my joggers, and she licks her lips.
"Well," she starts, shifting to drop one foot on the floor. "At least I can…"
"No." I grip her thighs, pinning her to me. She looks at me, unsure. "I want you here—close."
Her tongue finds her cheek as she holds back her smile, setting her weight back onto my lap. "Okay," she says shyly, but the look in her eyes is anything but timid.
She begins moving again, her hips rolling in waves. "This feels good?" she asks, though we both know she doesn't need to.
"So good," I mutter, bucking my hips up to meet hers.
"Mmm," she whimpers, her pussy sliding against me.
"For you too, baby?"
As I say the last word, she whimpers, dropping her weight forward and picking up speed. "So good," she echoes.
I groan, sliding my hands past her cheeks and pulling her close.
Tess kisses me, distracting me from the fact that she also drops her hand between us. Before I know it, she's dipping her fingers past the waistband of my sweatpants and into the elastic of my briefs.
"What are you—holy shit." My head and my eyes roll back as she holds my cock in her hands, pinning it between her palm and her body.
"Oh my God," she gasps, the increased pressure perfectly placed on the neediest part of her.
We continue like that, her warm hand around me, my fingers holding onto the flesh of her hips. I guide her back and forth as she rides my cock, only the damp lycra separating us, our eyes pinned to each other.
And we stay like that—locked in, our bodies moving as one.
Back and forth…
Back and forth…
Back and forth.
"Liam, I'm…" Tessa's legs quiver, clenching around me, her eyes hooded, her cheeks flushed.
At this point, I'm already hanging on by a thread, and watching her sprint toward the edge—free fall over it—unravels whatever was left of me.
"Fuck," I grunt, grabbing the t-shirt beside me and using it to catch my release.
Tess rides out her high as I empty beneath her until she slides her hand away and drops to my shoulder, her body limp—satisfied.
I wrap my arms around her, catching my breath, and savoring the chance to hold her like this. We stay like that, lost in this moment, until her one deep breath resets us both.
"Damn," she finally whispers, slowly coming back to life.
She sits up, and I simultaneously right myself, tossing the tee to the floor. "Couldn't have said it better myself."
"It really is like we're fifteen again," she laughs.
I kiss her cheek. "I don't hate going slow nearly as much as I thought I would."
Tessa rolls her eyes playfully, then scoots closer still, nuzzling into me. "I had fun today," she says.
I cradle her head in my hand, realizing that for the first time in a long time, I did too—with someone who isn't my kid or my brother or on my team.
I'll always put Ruthie first, and this last season still means everything. But somewhere along the way, I forgot that beneath fatherhood and baseball, I still exist. That there's still room in my life for things that are just… fun. Just mine.
And I don't know much about what that looks like yet, but I do know this: making space for those things doesn't scare me anymore.
"Good." Memories of the day flood my mind—our breakfast, my breakfast… the banana bread, the movie, this moment right now—and I smile. "So did I, Hastings. So did I."