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The tension eases out of my shoulders as I hold back a triumphant laugh.
There’s not a man on this planet that wants to be seen as “Nice.”
But it's not the time to react. Not now, when Beth's clearly uncomfortable, her embarrassment tangible. I school my features into an impassive mask, the sudden possessiveness in me struggling to maintain control.
Knowing I can sort a certain brother of Molly’s tomorrow, I offer her a smile and watch as she releases a breath.
I cross my arms over my chest as she looks up from massaging her feet. Her curtain of dark blonde curls covers her face, but I can still see that perfect bright smile when she flashes it my way.
“Were the girls okay?”
“Not a peep.”
That makes her smile.
“Loggie.” She stands straight, pressing her back against the wall. “Everything is spinning, Loggie.”
“God, woman, stop calling me that.”
When she laughs, I feel like I’ve gone back in time to a random night ten years ago. She wasn’t drunk then, but her laugh was the same. There’s always caution when she smiles or laughs now. Like she’s afraid to offer too much or have hope at being happy—even if it’s only for a minute. But this laugh, the one that makes me want to touch her, comes from deep in her belly. Eyes closed; her shoulders vibrate.
It’s carefree.
Beautiful.
She stops abruptly, her hand covering her mouth.
“Did you just vomit in your mouth?”
She gags. “No, but almost. I can’t drink like I used to when I was twenty.”
Taking her into the kitchen, I grab a bottle of water from the fridge and hand it to her. She glares at me, but she will thank me for it in the morning.
“Sip it,” I warn.
She doesn’t.
Through her gulps, she looks up at me. “I want to ask you something.”
The flush in her cheeks makes me curious.
“Go for it.”
Taking a deep breath, which I’m not sure is for courage or to stop herself from vomiting, she casts her eyes to the floor before saying, “I want to stay. We want to stay. Me and the girls, we want to stay here. Make Pine Falls our home. Hannah wants to go to school. They’ve made friends. So have I. It feels like home. This house feels like home.” She looks up at me with her mouth open, but she closes it before she says what she really wants to say. “I totally understand if you had other plans with the house. We can find somewhere else… Forget it. This was stupid.” She puts the cap back on the bottle before removing it again and taking another drink of water.
Something twists in my chest. She considers this home and that does weird fucking things to my insides.
I didn’t have other plans for the house because I never thought of them leaving. I knew she wanted this to be a trial run, but I obviously put that to the back of my mind. Now just thinking of losing her, losing those girls, it makes my heart sink into my stomach.
Going to her, I spin her around in the stool so she’s facing me and tilt her head back with my hand under her chin. She hiccups but smiles. “You don’t want to leave?”
She shakes her head.
“Then you’re not leaving.”
“Really?”
“If you move out, I risk the chance of having quiet neighbors with just normal kids.”
