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“I’ll never doubt us,” he says fiercely. “No matter what happens. We’re always going to be together.”
“But how can you say that?” I place my hand on his chest.
“Because I can’t imagine life any other way.”
We kiss, even if it’s wrong, even if we should know better.
That night, I return to my room and he goes to his.
We know that Alexis might be listening so promise not to sneak into each other’s rooms.
Lying on my back, I stare up at the dark ceiling, waiting for sleep to come.
But I know it won’t.
Not tonight.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Triston
I stand at my bedroom window, looking down at the garden. At least the sun is shining. Maybe it can trick me into believing I feel awake.
Sleep was impossible last night. Everything happened in a rush. One minute everything was perfect and the next it all went to shit.
And despite knowing I shouldn’t, my mind kept returning to the women of my dream down the hall.
My body burned with the knowledge of what we did. How good we felt together. Her warm body wrapped in pleasure with mine.
But I resisted going to her. Somehow. I only could’ve done that for my daughter.
But what if she doesn’t give us her blessing?
After showering and changing into some fresh clothes, I walk down the stairs with a pit in my stomach. It threatens to swallow up everything good we built last night, the fate-fueled thing that happened between us.
I find Alexis already sitting at the kitchen table, a glass of orange juice in her hands. Tamia walks around the island with a tray, laden with coffee and more juice.
She’s wearing an outfit that covers most of her delectable skin, which is good right now.
I have to focus on my daughter, on the pain we’ve caused her. Even so, my gaze is drawn hungrily to the curviness of Tamia’s body. I swallow, sitting at the table, finding it difficult not to grip it by the edge and flip it.
The tension is so sharp, so thick.
Tamia sits opposite me. Alexis is in the middle, which seems like an unfortunate arrangement to me.
It’s like we’re surrounding her.
Alexis laughs. It’s mostly full of disbelief. But I think I hear something else nestled inside the sound.
Or maybe I’m hoping too fiercely.
“How did you sleep?” she asks.
“Terribly,” I say.
“Me too,” Tamia murmurs.
Alexis sighs. “Me three.”
We pause for a time. I’m not sure how many minutes pass. It’s probably only seconds. But it feels so much longer as we sit there with all the unsaid things lingering between us.
“I guess I need an explanation,” Alexis says. “I have to understand. I know I went crazy last night. It was all so sudden. But if you can explain what this is, what’s happening here, because… because…”
Tamia reaches over and touches Alexis’s shoulder. My heart gives a tug, despite the complications, seeing my woman comfort my daughter brings me joy.
But then my heart goes dark, as I realize something.
Not realize. I feel it, like a punch to the gut.
I could’ve ruined what just made my heart twitch.
There’s nothing I can do but wait as Tamia massages my daughter’s shoulder. Tamia looks at me – Alexis’s head is bowed, her tears consuming her – and tilts her head. I know what she’s asking.
What are we going to do?
No, maybe it’s, What the hell have we done?
“I don’t have a right to stop you,” Alexis says, once the tears have finally passed. “I understand that. You’re both grownups. You can do whatever you want. But I need to understand.”
I swallow when Alexis turns to me.
“I’m not sure I can explain.”
She huffs. “Can you try, at least?”
“You’ll think we’re insane.”
“It’s better than not knowing at all.”
She’s got that stubborn glint in her eye. People say she looks like me when she gets that determined expression, I know I’d get that same expression before I made a difficult climb, or when I refused to quit when my business didn’t succeed at first, whenever a task loomed too large, I never let anything stop me or get in my way.
“Fine.” I pick at the edge of the table, take notice, then stop. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
I explain it all as calmly as I can. It’s like I’m hearing my voice, rather than speaking the words, listening to myself as I talk about this impossible connection. Alexis watches me, trying to steady her face, trying to mask her emotions.
But I can see I was right. It’s in the way her eyes twitch, the way she sucks in a breath when I tell her when my need started.
“It was the moment I saw her,” I say. “I knew I had to be with her. I knew more, Alexis… I wanted a family with her. I wanted us to have a future together. I knew that the second I laid eyes on her.”
