“Okay, give me a few minutes, and I’ll scrounge up something for us to eat.” With my breathing starting to regulate, I worked up the courage to ask her something else I’d been contemplating.
“I was thinkin’ about moving out of my parents’ house and into my own place. What do you think?”
She rested her hands on my chest, propping up her chin as she looked at me. “I think if you want to move out, you should. It’d be nice to have your own space, right?”
“Our own space,” I corrected, waiting for my response to hit its mark. I didn’t have to wait long, her beautiful eyes widening.
“You want me to move in with you?”
“Yes. I can’t very well leave you here.”
Her mouth turned down. “So, it’s only because I can’t stay here that I’d be living with you?”
“Well… yeah. It wouldn’t make any sense for me to have a place and for you to still be holed up in this room.” Maddie moved back until she was sitting beside me. I reached for her hand, but she pulled back. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want you to feel obligated. I can find a place of my own.”
“Absolutely not. You’re not living by yourself. I need to know where you are at all times.”
“You do?” Her brows pinched together, and I thought she’d never looked more beautiful, her confusion amusing me a little.
“Until we can make sure no one is comin’ after you, you’ll be with me.”
“And then what?”
“Then you’ll still be with me, only I won’t have to worry as much.” Her slight resistance urged me to keep going. “I could stay at home and you here, but I don’t want that. I want us to have our own space. Privacy to do what we want, when we want.” I leaned up and pressed my lips to hers. “I want you to move in with me, babe.”
“I like when you call me that.”
“Good. So do I.”
“But what about the times you’re gone, and I’m alone. Won’t you be worried about me?”
“Of course, but wherever we go, we’ll have a state-of-the-art security system, and I’ll check in with you often. That or I’ll post Brick outside the place. No one is gonna mess with him.”
“He’s better than a guard dog.” She laughed. “Let’s go with that option.”
“You better not be gettin’ any ideas about him,” I teased, but a twinge of jealousy fired off inside me.
“I only have eyes for you.” She fell onto her back, tugging me to come with her. With our chests flush together, she cradled my face in her hands. “I love you.”
“I think I’ve heard something about that.” I pecked her lips, then moved to suck her neck, making her squirm because I’d hit another one of her ticklish spots. After several seconds of her trying to get away from me, she pushed at my shoulder.
“Say it again.” Her voice was timid at first, but when I frowned, acting like I had no idea what she was talking about, she smacked me on the arm. “Please. Say it.”
“Say what?”
“You know.” Maddie dipped her head, stealing her eyes from me for a second too long.
“That I love your pussy?” A beautiful pink flushed over her cheeks.
“No.”
“No? Hmm… let me think.” I made a clicking noise with my tongue before saying, “That I want you to move in with me?”
“That’s not it either, although that one makes me happy, too.”
“That I love your tits?”
That one earned me another gentle slap. “No. Besides, you’ve never told me that.”
“I didn’t? Because I do.” I kissed the tip of her nose. “Is it… I love you?”
She nodded, biting her bottom lip. “Do you mean it?”
“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.” I wasn’t sure if it was the conviction of my answer or that she didn’t want to push, but she didn’t argue. “Wanna go again?” My hand disappeared between her legs, and she hissed as soon as I made contact.
“After we eat?”
“Oh, sorry,” I laughed, hopping off the bed and throwing my jeans on. “I think we might have some eggs. Want an omelet?”
“Please.” Maddie lounged on the bed, naked and satiated, a slow smile lifting the corners of her mouth while she watched me dress. I was gonna saunter out there with only my jeans on but then thought better of it. No one needed to know what was goin’ on between us anymore than they already did.
I pulled my shirt over my head. “Be back soon.”
Several minutes later and I was cracking eggs and whipping them in a bowl. The only other ingredients we had in the fridge were cheese and milk, which would do the trick for a nice thick omelet.
“Hey, that smells good.” My ol’ man walked in, scratching the top of his head before stretching his arms in the air. “Got enough to make me one?”
He leaned against the counter, wearing nothing but his jeans. The man kept himself in top shape, and covered in ink, he drew the attention of plenty of females. I noticed the way women looked at my ol’ man, appreciative glances thrown his way whenever we were out together, and while he pretended not to notice, there was no way he was that blind. Right then, I was thankful Maddie had stayed in the room and hadn’t come in the kitchen with me. Not that she would hit on my dad, but I didn’t want her lookin’ at anyone’s body other than mine. Oh no! If this was me bein’ crazy over my ol’ man, how was I gonna feel when she was around other guys our age? She drank with Ace and Brick, but they were clothed at the time.
Shaking my head, realizing I might be goin’ crazy, I flipped the omelet and moved it toward the back of the pan to make room for my dad’s breakfast.
“Sure.” I wanted to hurry up and get back to Maddie, but he was goin’ through something with my mom, so the least I could do was help him out by making him somethin’ to eat. “You ever gonna go home?” I asked, cracking more eggs. “Where did you even sleep?”
“In the back bedroom.”
My hand froze mid whisk. “Where?”
“You can’t hear so well in the morning? The back bedroom?”
“O… oh.” I fumbled over my next question. “Are these walls thin?”
“I dunno.” He peered over my shoulder. “You makin’ something for Maddie?”
“Yeah.” I really didn’t know what to do or say. If he’d just come out of his room, which was right next to the one Maddie and I were in, there was no way he didn’t hear everything. My ol’ man was a light sleeper. It was how I’d always gotten caught breaking curfew in high school.
“Why you so tense?” he asked, slapping me on the back.
“No reason.”
“Are you wonderin’ if I heard you two havin’ sex?”
My lungs deflated, and I hung my head. “You heard that?”
“Hey, at least one of us is gettin’ it.” He chuckled.
“Ew. Don’t make me think about you and Mom.”
“How do you think you, Riley, and Zander got here?”