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I glanced to the side to see Keith standing there, waiting patiently. “Right. Time to put distance between us then.” I cleared my throat, then glanced back at Charlie. “Uh, well this whole thing was supposed to be for you today. But I walked in just in time to see you hit your brother. So tell me what you want to do.”
Her face pinched in pain and her eyes fell to her lap. “I want to go home.”
“You want to walk instead of talk it out with him?”
“He said that if the judge would have known about you, he might not have given me custody. He said I was making our mom’s mistakes.”
Her biggest fucking fear, and he threw it in her face on a day that was supposed to be one of the happiest for her.
“I’m one of those mistakes,” I assumed.
Those blue eyes flickered up to me before falling away again.
I nodded once and gritted my teeth. “Considering I told him I wouldn’t hit him, I’m ready to leave whenever you are.”
“Now.”
I stood and pulled her up with me, and pressed my mouth firmly to hers. “Congratulations, Charlie Girl.”
Chapter Sixteen
Charlie
June 26, 2016
MY EYES SLOWLY blinked open, and for a moment I stilled as I tried to remember where I was before I relaxed deeper against the body holding mine. Deacon’s deep, rhythmic breathing made my eyelids feel heavy, and I wanted nothing more than to close them again. But I also didn’t want to miss this.
Because this? There were no words for it.
Deacon had come over after he’d finished working out, and we’d curled up on my couch. As the night had gotten later and later, he’d stretched out his large frame across the entire thing, and repositioned me so I was lying on top of him as if I weighed nothing.
After fighting the blush that had filled my cheeks, I’d grabbed my book off the table and tucked my head under his chin when he curled his large arms around me.
Just as I had then, I felt protected and cherished and like nothing could touch me. Like nothing could find me under the barrier of his arms. I wanted to hide in the safety of his arms forever.
My eyes zeroed in on the book still in my hand, facedown on Deacon’s chest, but I didn’t make an attempt to move it again.
This was more perfect than any love story I could read.
This meant more than any song I could write.
Deacon’s fingers twitched against the small of my back, then made slow, lazy circles against the little piece of skin showing there, from where my shirt had ridden up.
A shuddering breath slipped past my lips as they eased into a smile.
His chest rumbled beneath my ear when he murmured in a low tone, “Charlie Girl.”
I twisted my neck to look up at him, and planted my chin on his chest.
Those brown eyes were light and full of warmth, and looking at me as though he was trying to commit this moment to memory. I understood that look far too well.
The tips of his fingers moved up slightly higher and higher with each set of lazy circles, dragging my shirt with them, and I shivered against the onsla
ught of chills that raced across my body at the feel.
His hands paused, and those eyes darkened. “You’re gonna have to stop doing that when you’re lying on me.”
Heat filled my face, and I pulled my bottom lip into my mouth. Deacon’s fingers curled into my back possessively for the shortest second.
