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"How do you know?" I ask Chase.
"Because he told me," Chase answers offhandedly and then runs for the stairs before I can say anything else. "I'll get washed up first."
Mikey continues on his puzzle, avoiding my confused gaze, then heads upstairs too.
The burgers are quick to arrive, and after indulging, the kids are quick to pass out. I wake them up and guide them up to their rooms, before returning to switch off the TV.
That's when the door handle turns and Mia finally lets herself in.
"Finally," I murmur, feeling the anxiety, that’s been with me the entire night, ease just a little. Then I catch sight of her expression. She looks drained.
“What happened?" I ask. "Are your folks ok?”
"Yeah they’re fine,” she sighs. “We just had a very long talk."
"About what?"
She shakes her head. “It’s not important. Are the kids asleep?”
I nod.
She sighs again. “Then I guess it’s time for us to have our talk, isn't it?”
"We don’t have to do it today,” I tell her, grabbing her hand and pulling her into me. As curious as I am about her reasoning and as much as the answer torments me, I don’t want to push her when she’s already feeling this tired.
I feel her head shake against my chest. "I need to tell you," she says, and leans back to stare at me. Her eyes are misty and her pulse is thundering. “I need to say it before I lose my nerve entirely."
I shake my head. "Later. We can do it later."
"But-"
"Shh."
But the woman is more stubborn than I expected.
“You know I don’t love Billy, right?” she starts. “I haven’t for a long time. Not since you and I…” Her face heats and her eyes darken with the memory. I know she’s remembering the night we first hooked up. It was at a house party in college and I was trying to get her to leave, sick of keeping the animals away from her all night. I told myself that I was doing it for Liam because I didn’t want to see his sister get taken advantage of. But in hindsight, I know how sick with jealousy I was. It wasn’t about Liam. It was about her and how much I wanted her.
I don't think it hit me as hard as that night. I wanted my best friend's sister, the one woman I couldn't have.
And she called me out on it. I don't know how she knew, or maybe she was only trying to provoke me. She was nineteen, young but so beautiful, and before I knew it we were making out in the bathroom. Making out led to more things and messy sex.
We never even locked the door.
It was a miracle we weren't caught.
I saw her home and made sure she got to bed safely. We never spoke about it again. Sometimes, I wondered if she even remembered it.
Sometimes, I wondered if someone did see us, and if they told Liam. He would hunt me down.
But now here I am, Liam be damned.
"I think I’m falling in love with you.” The words whisper out of me, rioting in the silence. They’re foreign in that it’s the first time I’ve ever said anything like that. I’ve never told any other woman that I love them, before.
In my thirty-eight years of life, this is the first time I'm falling in love. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so sad.
Her eyes are wide and I lean down and kiss her. Her taste explodes in my senses, lips so sweet and soft. More passionate words are thumping in my chest, but I can't think straight.
My hand wraps around the back of her neck, pulling her closer, trying to inhale her. I want everything from her. Her body, her heart, her energy…I want it all so bad.
