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Taking the hair tie from around the handle of the brush, she hands it to me. After I tie her braid off, she turns, wrapping her arms around my waist.
“I want you to know, I never meant to hurt you by leaving. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”
I drop a kiss to her lips. “I know.”
She stares up at me, regret and sadness in her beautiful eyes.
“I’m sorry I’m putting you through this. I know it was hard the last time, and we were only kids. I knew this time would be worse for you. I thought I could do it on my own and avoid you getting hurt.”
“I love you, Ally, but what you just said pisses me off.” The muscles in my jaw tense, and I take a moment to calm the torrent of emotions filling my head. “I’ve loved you for years, even when we weren’t in a romantic relationship. You were my best friend and seeing what you were going through was the worst thing I had to witness up until that point. The only thing that helped was knowing I would be there for you; to help in any way I could.” I stop and look over her head for a moment before dropping my eyes back down. “For you to think I would be even remotely okay with you going through it alone this time hurt more than realizing your leukemia was back. This isn’t something you have any control over. You aren’t willingly putting me through this. You can’t keep me from being hurt any more than you could keep the leukemia from coming back.” I drop my head closer to her, needing her to hear my clearly. “Stop worrying about what this will do to others and focus on beating it.”
Her eyes glisten, and her smile is small, but she nods. “I will.”
“Good.” I press another kiss against her lips. “Now, let’s go get some breakfast.”
Her eyes dart behind her to the door, and she’s biting her bottom lip when she turns back.
“Can we wait until they leave?”
I barely keep the smile from my face. “Why?”
She blushes and mutters something too low for me to hear.
Turning my ear toward her, I lean closer. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t hear you.”
There’s a sharp pain in my side where she pinches the fuck out of my ribs. “You heard me.”
My smile forms before I can stop it. “Honestly, I didn’t hear you.” I really didn’t, but I didn’t need to. I know what her problem is.
“I don’t want to face them yet.” She glowers at my chuckle. “If we heard them, I know they must have heard us.”
“So?” I arch a brow. “We’re all adults.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s okay to hear them having sex or for them to hear us doing the same.”
I palm her ass and lift her up enough so she’s level with my mouth. The kiss I give her has both of us panting when we pull apart. I playfully pat her bottom.
“Pull up your big girl panties, woman. We aren’t waiting for them to leave. I’m starving.”
With a glare, she pushes me back. “Fine,” she huffs, spinning on her heel. “Jerk.”
With a chuckle, I follow behind her as she throws open the door and stalks out of the room. Her attitude shifts and she comes to a sudden stop, almost causing me to bump into her when we enter the kitchen. Dillon is at the table with Destiny eating breakfast. Ashlyn’s at the counter, the coffee pot poised to pour the hot liquid in a cup. As soon as Ashlyn sees us, she spins back around to the counter with a squeaked “Good morning.”
I bump Ally with my hip to get her moving. She tosses another glare over her shoulder as she goes to a cabinet to pull down two coffee cups. I take a seat across from Dillon and meet his eyes over the table. He’s finding it just as hard to keep from smiling.
“Have a good night?” I ask, noticing both women stiffening at the counter.
“It was splendid,” he answers, his eyes dancing with mirth. “You?”
“Best night I’ve had in a while.”
