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“I’m not.” Hs face drops. “I miss you.”
Getting up, I pull him to his feet and wrap my arms around him. “I’m always here for you. Just say the word, I will come running.”
I tell Toby to get the boys out of the water and dressed before the pizza comes.
We end up eating out back at the deck table.
As we laugh and joke around, I feel happy, at home. Like for even just this moment everything is right in the world. I can’t remember the last time just us kids spent time together.
“We need to do this more often,” Toby comments as we head out to the grassy part of the backyard to play a game of tag. It’s mainly to get the twins to run off their energy because we may have made ice cream sundaes after pizza and are now regretting it as the sugar rush hits them.
I look up at him to find him smiling. And shit, it’s a nice sight. It’s something I haven’t seen much of before this week. “I agree.” I smile back, my emotions at war.
A part of me wishes we could go back before that movie night and be oblivious to our feelings for one another, but the other part that always played the what-if game is happy to know the outcome, even if it’s not what I’ve hoped for.
“Lilly’s ‘it’ first!” Isaiah shouts.
“Hey.” A laugh bubbles out of me. “Why me?”
“Because... girls first,” he sing songs.
“Fine, then.” I start racing after him. He screams and turns to run away from me.
We take turns tagging one another. Toby is never it for long because the man is a beast with his long legs and speed.
“God, I need to work out more,” I tell Bennett as I struggle to breathe, putting my hands on my knees and sucking in deep lungfuls of air.
“You do.” He laughs. “You're like an old lady.”
“I feel like one too,” I groan, standing up to find Toby running towards me. “Shit, he’s ‘it’. Run!”
Bennett and I break apart as I head for the playset, hiding behind it.
“Come out, Little Flower. There’s no point in trying to run. I’m going to get you.” He chuckles.
My heart pounds painfully in my chest. Mostly due to the running, but partly because of the man doing the chasing.
“T, I call a timeout,” I say as I feel like I’m going to pass out.
“Well, that's not fair.” Toby laughs again. “But fine. I grant you your timeout.”
When I step out from behind the playset, I frown when I don’t see Toby.
“Gotcha,” a low, husky voice comes from behind me. I freeze, a full body shiver washes over me as my breathing labors. “Even if you need a timeout and a moment for yourself, I’ll always find you, Lilly. I’ll always get you.”
What the hell does that mean?
I stand there frozen as Toby brushes past me and bends down to pick up one of the twins who’s passed out on the grass. “Bedtime,” he tells Isaiah and Bennett as he carries Raiden into the house. He pauses at the doorway and looks over at me.
I stare at him, more confused than ever. This man seems to have that power over me.
Is he going to give in to his feelings for me, or is he not and try to salvage some sort of a relationship with me?
That's the thing I hate the most, never knowing where I stand with this man. It’s an emotional roller coaster.
One that, even if it is thrilling at times, I’d very much like to get off.
Chapter 29
