Drew
“WHAT ARE WE doing today?” I set my plate of pancakes and bacon on the table and took a seat next to Victoria. Since she arrived a couple of days ago, the three of us had been nonstop. Sara was shocked there was so much for a kid to do this far upstate, and when I’d first researched places to take a nine-year-old, so was I.
Her nose crinkled as she leaned back and crossed her arms. “Can we just hang out here? Get a movie. I’m tired, Drew.” Her lips pursed as she speared the last piece of pancake.
“Tired?” I laughed and nudged her sock-covered foot under the table. “You’re the kid, pretty girl. You’re supposed to have a ton of energy.”
“I ran out of it.” Victoria scrunched her nose at me. “Can’t we stay here?”
“Did I ever tell you,” Sara whispered as she draped her arm around me from behind and kissed my cheek, “when you’re not here, he makes me run on the track at six o’clock in the morning.”
Victoria gulped her glass of milk and set it down, gaping at the both of us. “Six o’clock? That’s too early!”
I craned my head to plant a quick kiss to Sara’s lips. “I’m guessing you want to be lazy, too?”
“Lunch and home for a movie isn’t lazy.” Sara tilted her head with her sexy lips twisted in a smirk. If we were alone, being home all day would have been fine with me.
“Yes, it is! It’s a beautiful, sunny day. I’m dragging you ladies out.”
“It’s supposed to be freezing today anyway.” Sara’s hair was piled on the top of her head and she wore my T-shirt over her leggings as pajamas. So beautiful and so mine—in my clothes and in my apartment. I wasn’t looking forward to letting either of them leave on Wednesday. “It’s not who you are, but let’s be lazy.”
“Yay!” Victoria lifted her arms in victory. “Netflix and chill.”
I sputtered on my coffee before I lifted my gaze to Sara’s. She bit her lip, holding in the same laugh as I was.
“You know what that means?” She giggled at the crinkle in my brow.
“It means watching movies and vegging on the couch. Why? Does it mean something else?”
“Not to you.” I snickered at the gruff tone in Sara’s voice.
“All right, lunch and movies for your next to last day with us.” I couldn’t peer into those innocent green eyes and say, “Netflix and chill,” although it meant something totally different to her. “Sound good?”
“Sounds great!” Victoria popped out of her seat and scurried back into the living room. I loved how easy she made herself at home here. She didn’t complain about sleeping in a strange room, not even searching for her mother after the lights went out. Sara and I made quick and quiet love behind a locked door while her daughter was in the next room in case she wandered out. I guessed if we shared an apartment, this was how it would be.
Maybe most guys my age would see it as an inconvenience—a chance wasted to have your girl all to yourself, having your way with her anytime you wanted versus inviting her young daughter to stay with you. But I loved every moment I spent with them. I loved the private jokes Victoria and I shared from texting back and forth since Christmas, and I loved how purely happy Sara was when she had both of us in the room. With her daughter so far away, Sara always had a glint of sadness in her eyes because of how much she missed her. This week, she had both Victoria and me, the two people in this world who saw her for the amazing person that she was and loved the hell out of her for it.
The more time the three of us were together, the more I wished it was always like this. If my post-graduation plans came to fruition, it very well could be.
Sara leaned over to pick up Victoria’s plate, and I took that opportunity to pull her onto my lap.
“You’ll still be here Wednesday afternoon, right? I wouldn’t mind a little Netflix and chill then—naked,” I whispered in her ear before biting the lobe.
“How are you not sick of me yet?” She giggled as she turned and flung her arm around my neck.
“Sick of you?” I huffed. “I may hide your clothes, so you can’t leave, and change the locks so those tools can’t get back in.” I cupped her neck and pulled her in for kiss.
“Mommy.” I held in a groan and dropped my head to Sara’s shoulder when Victoria burst in from the living room. My frustration was my own fault, but it was hard to be around Sara without my hands all over her. Victoria’s visit was an exercise in restraint.
“Your phone is ringing.” She handed the phone to her mother before turning back into the living room. Sara stayed on my lap as she grabbed it and accepted the call.
“Hello? Oh . . . hi, Aaron.” She glanced at me with a wince. Tension seized my body at the mention of that fucker’s name. I didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him, but I was certain he had no good reason to call her at ten o’clock in the morning on her day off.
“My daughter is here, I can’t work the whole day.” Her eyes clenched shut before she lifted them to the ceiling. “If you’re in a jam, fine. Only four hours though. I’ll come in at twelve and leave at four. I’m sorry, but she’s only here for a couple days. I cleared this with your father.”
I leaned in but couldn’t hear anything cohesive from the babbling on his side. He knew she was off and was with me. This was graduating from an annoying crush to a growing obsession. I’d waited for her after work plenty of nights that he kept her late for some bullshit reason.
“Hold on,” she blurted into the phone before turning to me. “Can you stay with her for a few hours? I’m not staying a minute past four. I promise.”
“Sure, baby. We’ll come pick you up at four,” I answered much louder than I had to and kissed her lips with a loud smack. Sara’s mouth flattened at my attempt to piss around her over the phone.
“All right. See you at noon.” She ended the call and threw the phone onto the table.
“If I didn’t love this internship so much, and need it, I’d tell that big baby to screw himself,” Sara scoffed before standing. “Are you sure you don’t mind taking her for the afternoon?”
“Not at all. Hey, Victoria!” I called into the living room. “Want to visit my comic book store?”
She came barreling back toward me. “You have a comic book store?”
“Well, it’s not mine. But it’s where we go to pick up stuff. We’ll stop by while your mom has to work. Deal?”
“Deal!” She launched herself at me and tackled my neck with a choking hug. I hugged her back just as tight.
“And I could show you the rest of that story!”
“What story?” Sara asked as she studied us with a perplexed gaze.
“I wrote a superhero story for the writer’s program at school. I let Drew see the first part. I would show you, but you wouldn’t get it.”
Sara’s eyebrows shot up as she glared at the both of us. I offered a shrug, holding back the twitch of my lips.
“So, you guys have what, your own comic club?”
“Well, not exactly our own,” I tapped my chin. “If you learn, we could let you in. Right, Victoria?”
“Yeah . . . we could.” I burst out laughing at Victoria’s reluctance.
Sara shook her head before backing away. “I better get ready for work, wouldn’t want to get in your way or anything.”
“Thanks, we appreciate it.” I winked, loving the glower on Sara’s face before she made her way down the hallway.
“Okay, pretty girl. You got your wish. You can watch a movie for a little bit before we go out.”
“We can show Mommy the story. I wouldn’t want her to feel bad. You can read first and tell me if it’s good.” She leaned against the table, fidgeting with the drawstring on her pajama pants.
“If you wrote it, it’s always good.” I kissed her forehead. “Go.”
She rewarded me with an ear-splitting grin and settled herself back in the living room on the couch.
The strangest thing about Victoria’s visit, or about how well we all fit together, was that . . . it wasn’t strange at all.
I spent double what I would normally spend on comics for an afternoon, but I couldn’t help myself. Victoria was so excited it was infectious, and the bewilderment on her face made me buy anything she looked at for more than two minutes. She was easy to spoil, never asking for a single thing but so thankful for everything. That along with her beauty was a trait passed down directly from her mother.
“Hi, there!” One of the McQuaid’s waitresses greeted us at the door. I vaguely remembered her from Valentine’s Day. She was nice, if over-attentive. “You must be Victoria. I’m so honored to meet you. My name is Corinne.” She held out her hand to Victoria.
“Hi.” Victoria took her hand with a sheepish smile. “How do you know my name?”
“Your mom talks about you all the time. And what a pretty girl you are! How about two loaded brownies for both of you? The kitchen is quiet, so it’ll only take me a few minutes!”
“Quiet,” I snickered to myself. That’s why Sara had to come in on her day off. I exhaled the rage building in my system for Victoria’s sake.
“What’s a loaded brownie?”
“A brownie covered in ice cream and fudge.” I raised an eyebrow and laughed at the slow smile stretching her lips. “How about one brownie and we’ll split it? It’s big and we still have dinner later.” I squeezed her shoulder and she nodded without turning around. Wow, when did Phil get here? I was taken aback by the stepfather-like words falling from my lips. I felt . . . responsible for Victoria. I didn’t mind it; it was a tad unnerving how natural it was.
“So, did you have fun? Cool place, right?”
“Yeah. I think my dad has to build an extra shelf in my room. I should tell him and Bri later.”
The happy kid from a few minutes ago seemed to slip away under my radar.
“I’m sure he won’t mind. Something wrong? I thought you had fun.”
“I did.” She whispered a thank you when Corinne set a glass of water in front of her. “Mommy talks about me a lot?”
“She sure does.” I nodded back. “All the time.”
“She looks happy. Happier than she used to be in our old apartment. She used to be sad a lot.”
My heart sank at the crestfallen expression on her face.
“Well, that’s because she was working extra hard, and I bet she was really tired. All she ever talks about is what a great kid you are and how she can’t wait to graduate and find a good job, so you can have an even better apartment. She’s happy because after she leaves school, you guys are going to have an awesome life. She loves you more than anything in the world, so don’t ever think you were the reason she was sad.”
“She loves you too, I think. She always smiles when you’re around.”
“That’s because I act like a clown and make her laugh.”
I managed to get a giggle from Victoria.
“Do you love her?”
“Yes,” I replied without hesitation. “Your mom is . . . beautiful. On the inside and out.”
“Do you want to marry her?”
My jaw clammed up as my mouth went dry. I’d been trying to figure out a way to stay together, but I never thought about marrying her—at least not in the official sense. Sure, in the future, some day. Marriage was in the same slot I’d put children, an “of course I want it, but not right now.” If I wanted Sara, kids were part of the picture, but it never had the chance to fully sink in until that moment. Did I want a whole gaggle before I turned thirty? Maybe not. But I found myself wanting this one. This shy-at-first little girl who had enough energy to light the sun when you got to know her captivated me as much as her mother did. Did I want to share a bed with Sara every night? God, yes. When I fell in love with Sara, no other woman in the world existed. She was all I needed. The thought of leaving her in May twisted me up so much, if I let myself ponder life without her for too long, a blinding panic laced through my system.
“Yes,” I whispered with the same certainty as before. “Yes, I do.”
“Oh, sorry, Sara. I didn’t know you were standing there.” My head jerked to Corinne’s voice and a shell-shocked Sara gawking at me. Shit. How much did she hear?
“Hey, Corinne, would you mind sitting with Victoria for a minute?” I popped off my seat and grabbed Sara’s hand, pulling her to the entrance of the empty restaurant.
“Drew,” my name fell from her lips as a gravelly whisper as she brought her hand to her chest. “I don’t know what to sa—”
I put my finger on her lips. “You don’t have to say anything. Look,” I cradled her face in my hands. “You have to know how I feel about you by now. I love you. I want it all with you. Just you, and I can’t see that changing.”
“You’re twenty-five. Do you really want all this now? Wife, kid, obligations?”
“You’re the love of my life, not an obligation. And maybe not today or tomorrow or next year, but I meant what I said to Victoria. How I feel about you isn’t going to fade. It’s permanent, no matter what my age is or will be. And I know that’s why you’re getting upset lately—graduation and figuring shit out—but I’m begging you this time, just trust me, okay?”
She latched onto my wrists, my hands still framing her face. “I love you, too. So much. But I don’t want you to get stuck—”
“I’m not stuck, Caldwell. I’m in love.” I kissed her lips, lingering for a long minute before I pulled back. “Even at twenty-five, I know the difference.”