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I lift the covers over my bare breasts and try to get out of the bed, but he holds me to him, refusing to let me go. Tommy’s face lights up the screen and the speakers crackle with his squeal. “My Becca! Nanni, look! My Becca’s with Daddy!”
Josh chuckles while I hide my smile against his chest.
Tommy waves, his smile from ear to ear. “Hi, Becca!”
Josh runs his hand slowly up and down my arm while his mother comes into view on the phone. “Morning, Becca.” She waves.
I smile and wave back.
Ella says, “Sorry for calling so early. I forgot the three-hour time difference. Tommy wants to tell you his new joke.”
“Let’s hear it, bud,” Josh says.
“Ready?” Tommy asks, his blue eyes bright.
“Go for it.”
“Why did the roll of toilet paper roll down the hill?”
“Why?” Josh asks.
“To get to the bottom.” Tommy’s cackle warms my heart. He adds, “What was it saying as it rolled down the hill?”
“What?” Josh replies.
Tommy throws his hands up. “Weeeeeeeeee!”
Josh shakes his head. “That’s really funny,” he tells his son, looking at him with love and adoration I no longer envied. “Hey, it’s really early here, buddy. Becs and I need to get back to sleep but I’ll call you as soon as I finish breakfast, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy!”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too, and I love Nanni and Ma’am and Mommy and Justin and Aunt Kimmy and Uncle Robby and Aunt Chloe and Uncle Hunt, and most of all, I love My Becca.”
Josh smiles at him. “Bye bud,” he says, before hanging up and throwing the phone across the room. He flips to his side and wraps his arms and legs around me. A moment later, his eyes are closed and his breathing’s even, and I try so hard to settle my mind so I can join him, but I can’t. All I can think about is Tommy. I treasure his voice, his laughter, his excitement in seeing me.
“Becs,” Josh murmurs. “Go back to sleep.”
I press closer to him, letting him know I’ve heard him. But I can’t go back to sleep. Not anymore.
He sighs when he flips onto his back, his forearm shielding his eyes. For a moment, I forget I’m naked and so is he, so I don’t think twice about straddling his lap and pushing down on his shoulders. He links his fingers behind his head, the muscles in his arms and chest flexing with the movement, while I run my hands through his hair, knowing I’d give just about anything to be able to speak. To be able to tell him how happy he makes me. Even if it’s just for the next two days… before I go back to a reality without him in it.
He sits up to switch on the lamp on the nightstand. Then he resumes his position, only now he has one hand behind his head, the other flattening against my stomach. “I like this view.”
“I like it, too,” I mouth.
His eyes narrow, his mind searching. “You lick the poo?”
“What?!” I mouth.
He laughs and sits all the way up, his hands on my waist and his gaze on my lips. “No. We should totally do this. I need to learn how to lip read. Say something else.”
I mouth, “Something else.”
Pressing his lips together, his eyes shift from my mouth to my eyes and back again. “Dumplings sell?”
I stifle my laugh. “You’re the worst,” I mouth.
He stares at me a long time. “Whores and squirt?”
* * *
Josh and I eat breakfast with his team, Chris, and Daniel, Josh’s manager. I wait until we’re back in his hotel room, skateboard parts and stickers strewn all over the floor, to ask him about his mother.
He takes a moment to answer, distracted by searching for a certain sticker to place on his board. “It was mutual. She thought that being my manager was ruining our relationship, and I agreed. Besides, the novelty of traveling wore off real quick for Tommy and he said he’d rather stay home. Plus, she wants to be there so she can be around your grams. And, Tommy has to start kindergarten this year so Mom offered to home-school him for a while until things settled down for me. It kind of worked out well for everyone. Where the fuck are my Globe stickers?”
I get down on my knees and help him search for the right stickers, while typing on my phone at the same time. “You have to do this before every event?”
“I normally do it the night before so I’m not rushing, but you know, I was a little distracted last night.” He looks over at me, his bottom lip between his teeth and his gaze skimming my body.
