“Then don’t.”
She said it without hesitation. It took a moment for her words to register. When they did, I leaned in to kiss her neck, just as Lil’ Peach called out from her cot. I’m still not sure if it was divine intervention or shitty fucking timing.
Watching Emily now, so natural, so present, I can’t help but wonder what will happen the next time we find ourselves alone, with no small voice calling us back to reality. My cock aches at the thought; it’s been way too long.
The wildlife park smells like sun-warmed grass and dust, the kind that clings to your shoes and follows youhome. The trailer rattles softly as the tractor pulls us along, and Lil’ Peach is perched on Emily’s lap, wide-eyed and utterly captivated by everything moving outside the railings.
“Look at the kangaroo,” Emily announces as she points. “She has a baby joey in her pouch.”
Peach smiles and claps her hands, but this is nothing new to her, we see them a lot when we’re driving on the outskirts of town.
I find myself watching them more than the animals. Peach leans into her like it’s instinct, as if Emily has always been her safe place. Emily doesn’t even seem to notice; she adjusts her grip, brushes Peach’s hair out of her eyes, and keeps talking softly as if this is the most natural thing in the world.
An emu struts up alongside the trailer, all attitude and feathers, and Peach squeals. Emily startles, then laughs at herself. A pink hue rises on her cheeks as she glances over at me. “That giant bird is a tad terrifying,” she admits.
I grin but don’t respond. What’s scary is the way I feel for this woman. The attraction and pull have been there from the very beginning, but it’s morphed into something else now, something heavier, something that settles in my chest and refuses to be ignored.
This feels dangerous in a way that the lust never did. Watching her soothe Peach, laugh with her, exist so effortlessly in this space beside us, I catch myself imagining moments that stretch far beyond today. Beyond this trailer ride. Beyond a simple day out.
I want to own this woman, possess her, and keep her with us forever. But does she want that? Is she even looking for another long-term relationship?
At the moment, I’m her safe place, but what happens when she decides she wants more out of life? Or decides she doesn’t want a ready-made family … or me?
I’m used to being pushed aside, but I have a feeling if Emily leaves too, it’s going to wreck me. I try to push the thought away, but it sticks, clinging to the edges of my mind and taunting me. It brings back all the insecurities I carried growing up.
Emily meets my gaze again, and her smile instantly softens, as if she senses the shift. For a second, the noise fades—the animals, the tractor, and the world around us—and it’s just the two of us, suspended in something that feels too real to name. Something that feels like more than an obsession and suspiciously like love. At least on my part.
I look away first because I’m suddenly feeling overwhelmed by it all. Am I in love with her?
Fuck, I think I am.
We’re back on foot now, wandering the winding paths. Lil’ Peach skips just ahead of us, a tiny tornado of pure, uncontainable energy.
Emily and I aren’t really talking because I’ve reverted to my usual moody cunt mode, thanks to the clusterfuck currently running rampant in my head. Still, we manage to keep our eyes on Peach as she darts from display to display, blissfully oblivious to the chaos swirling between the adults walking behind her.
When we round the next corner, we both freeze. A pair of wombats are in the middle of their enclosure, demonstrating the mating process in all its awkward glory.
“Peach!” Emily yelps, lunging forward and covering my niece’s eyes. “Sweet baby Jesus in a wicker basket floating down the river,” she adds in a low voice.
What the fuck did she just say?
Her words and actions do the trick, breaking the tension I’ve created, as I throw my head back and bark out a laugh.
Peach giggles as she tries to wiggle out of Emily’s grasp, but she doesn’t let go; instead, she pulls Lil’ Peach’s body back against her legs, leaving one hand covering her eyes and the other securing her by the waist.
“Emmy,” she whines, thrashing her little body from side to side.
“The wombats are being silly,” Emily says.
I arch an accusing brow. Those furry, round fucks, with stubby little legs, are doing exactly what I want to do to her. I scrub my hands down my face. This woman has me all kinds of messed up.
Emily shoots me a glare that’s half-horrified, half-amused.
“Funny wombats!” Peach declares as Emily finally releases her hold on my niece and buries her own face in her hands. I cross my arms over my chest and shake my head, still laughing.
I push off the fence, bend and scoop Peach into my arms. “How about we grab some lunch?”
“Lunch!” Peach squeals, her little legs kicking with excitement.
