Page 57 of Faking With You

I smile and shake my head, finishing with the gift and moving it to beside the front door. Mac must have hung up with his father, because the next thing I know is his arms are wrapping around me as he kisses the top of my head and whispers, “Hello, love. How was your day?”

I melt into him. “It was good. I grabbed the last of the gifts for this weekend.”

He takes in the small pile of boxes and bags at the door. “You spoil those kids.”

I shrug. “I don’t have any biological nieces or nephews to spoil, so I’ve got to take my duties as a chosen auntie very seriously.”

He kisses my temple. “Your heart is bigger than you let people see.”

I let you see it. I let you see all of me,I think as he steps away and back into the kitchen.

“I grabbed Chinese on my way home. I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s perfect.”

We make our plates and sit at the table. “Your dad worried about our visit?” I ask.

“He’s trying to control everything. I’m not sure what he’s going to do when he’s no longer running this company. I’m sure he’ll be calling me several times a day to ensure I’m not fucking up his precious baby.”

“Well, you’re just going to prove to him that he was wrong not to believe in you from the start and screw that cousin he was considering giving the position.”

He laughs. “Not so subtle there, love.”

I shrug and stab a piece of broccoli.

“So what exactly did we get Jayden?” he asks, pointing his fork over at the gifts. He told me to grab some things for him, things I thought Jayden would like, and he’d give me the money for them. He hasn’t spent a lot of time around the kids and hadzero clue what to get them. I list off the toys, books, and clothes I grabbed, and he stares at me.

“You really went above and beyond.”

I duck my head, hiding my smile and blush.

“Do you want kids?” His question catches me off guard, and my head shoots up. There’s a guarded look to his expression that I can’t quiet read.

“With the right person I think I might. I don’t know really. It’s not one of those things I’ve spent years dreaming about, but I’m not opposed to having kids either. I know that if I were to have kids one day, I’d want to raise them in a warm household. I love my parents, but I still feel the impact of the colder, practical way they raised me. I don’t have this nagging desire to go home or spend days with my parents. Liv has a great relationship with her parents and siblings, and I see the way that warmth and pure love shaped the way she grew up. I think it’s something I’d want to talk about with my partner and come to a mutual decision about. Do you want kids?”

“Maybe. With the right person.” He holds eye contact with me, and my heart immediately starts yelling,Am I the right person? Can I be the right person?My imagination starts to think about what kids who share Mac's and my genes would look like. They’d likely all be taller than me and probably before they’re even in high school. The thought makes me smile, and Mac brushes his fingers down my cheeks.

“I like when you smile. Your entire face lights up.”

I can’t help it, I lean forward and press my lips to his. He cups my jaw and kisses me back, and when I pull back, he asks, “What was that for?” a grin spread across his face.

“Because I wanted to.”

His grin widens, and he leans forward and kisses me again.

CHAPTER 43

Mac

If you had asked me a year ago if I’d be spending a Saturday in June at my teammate's son’s birthday party, I would have said no. But then I managed to bring Eliza Pierce into my life in a more permanent way, and I’ve found myself doing things I couldn’t have predicted. I’ve given her a key to my apartment because I hate the thought of not spending every night with her. I’ve been leaving the office at a more reasonable time and doing actual activities.

One weekend we spent an entire Saturday at the aquarium. We slowly made our way through, reading about all the fish and visiting the other animals. We watched all the shows they put on that day, and when we walked through the gift shop on our way out, I couldn’t resist buying her a stuffed otter. She hugged it to her chest as she smiled at me, and if I didn’t know before I knew then that I was absolutely gone for her.

I’ve encouraged her to slowly bring more and more stuff to my flat, hoping that the more she has there the more time she’ll spend there. It’s been working, too. She spends almost every night at my place, in my arms where she belongs. And right nowwe’re standing in a friend's backyard, and I know that I get to take her home tonight.

She’s talking with her friends as they watch the kids playing on blankets in the grass.

“You’re staring,” Josh says, and I take a sip of my beer before turning to face him.