“You got panties with flowers on them,” Hayleys says, as she eyes the hip of my undies. She looks up at her dad. “Can I have some panties with flowers on them?” She pulls her pajama pants down at the waist and shows me hers. “Mine just have stripes.” I pull my shirt down over my hips.
“What did I tell you about showing your panties to people?” Paul asks.
She rolls her eyes at him. “Friday’s a girl,” she says.
I bite back my snort because Paul isn’t laughing. I look at him over my shoulder, his eyes meet mine, and they go hot. And so do I. “I know she’s a girl.” His eyes roam up and down my back. “Most definitely a girl.”
“We need to get you some waffles,” Hayley says to Paul. “Because you look hungry.” She says it very matter-of-factly, and I can’t keep from laughing this time.
Paul shoots me a look of warning, and I throw my hands up. “What?” I cry. “I can’t help it.”
But now that I’m sitting up, nausea hits me. I flop back onto the bed.
“Go get Friday a can of ginger ale,” Paul says to Hayley. “Her tummy hurts.”
Hayley runs out of the room and comes back with a cold can as Paul said. She opens it up, takes a sip, and hands it to me. She grins and wipes her hand across the back of her mouth.
“What did I tell you about drinking out of people’s drinks?”
“It’s just Friday,” she says. She blinks those blue eyes at me. I’m just Friday. I’m just Paul’s girlfriend, which makes me something serious in her life. It’s kind of scary, knowing I’m something to her. But in a good way, for the first time ever.
“Is your tummy feeling better?” she asks.
“Not yet.”
She sits cross-legged in front of me. “Maybe you just need to go poop,” she says, looking at me very seriously.
Paul falls back on the bed, clutching his gut as he laughs. He laughs until he has tears rolling out of his eyes. He wipes them and goes to get me some crackers, laughing all the way down the hall.
Sam stops and pops his head into the room. I’m glad I’m wearing one of Paul’s really long T-shirts. Sam grins at me. “Maybe you should just give it a try,” he says, “just in case you need to poop.” I throw a pillow at his head. He ducks, and it flies over him. He mocks an affronted look. “You didn’t throw a pillow at Hayley.”
I grab her toe and tug it. “Because I like her.” She grins at me and looks smugly at Sam. He scrunches up his face like he’s upset.
“I like you, too,” Hayley says quietly when Sam steps out of the doorway.I could get used to this family thing.
Paul comes back with a pack of crackers, opens them, and hands me one. I nibble the edge of it.
He leans down and kisses my cheek. “Just so you know,” he says softly, “I’ve never had a woman sleep in my bed when Hayley’s here before.”
My heart squeezes in my chest, and my belly flutters. I know this much about him.
“So no matter what, don’t break her heart, okay?” he asks softly. His blue eyes stare into mine. “You cuddled with her daddy and with her, so that makes you special. Keep that in mind, no matter what.”
There’s something almost ominous about his tone, but I have no idea what his reticence is about. I wish I did.
###
I sit down on a park bench so full of waffles that I will probably never move again. I might have to get Paul to carry me back to the apartment.
Hayley runs off to play, and Paul calls out to her, “Stay where I can see you!” She rolls her eyes at him, and he grunts. “I have a feeling I’m going to have to break her from that habit before she becomes a teenager.”
I laugh. “Good luck.”
He takes my hand and grips it tightly. He holds it so long that our palms get sweaty and stick together. I extricate mine and pull back. “Sometimes I feel like I can’t get close enough to you,” he says. He’s not looking at me. He’s looking toward where Hayley is climbing on the monkey bars.
I scratch my head. “I don’t think we can get much closer than we were last night.”
He shakes his head. “Sex is easy. It’s the rest of it that’s difficult.”
I look at his profile because he’s still not looking at me. I pretend to make light of his comment and scoff. “I wouldn’t say that I made sex easy.”
His gaze suddenly jerks to mine. “We didn’t have sex.”
I hold up one finger and grin. “I distinctly remember—”
But he cuts me off. “I remember it, too. I remember telling you that I loved you and you telling me you felt the same way. And we made mad, passionate love. Crazy good love like I have never had before. And then we did it again. And then we pulled my daughter into bed with us and that was the best f**king part about the whole thing.” He turns to face me. “I want a family, Friday. Not just a f**k. Tail is easy to come by. You, on the other hand…” He lets his voice trail off. “You’re one of a f**king kind, and I want you to be mine so badly I can taste it. And I’ll still be tasting it next week, next year, and every day following that.”
“I’m with you,” I say hesitantly. I don’t know how much more of a commitment I can offer him. I’ve already offered more than I ever thought I would be able to offer anyone.
He leans over and hovers over my lips. “I love you so f**king much,” he says. “Just remember that.” He stares into my eyes for a minute, and then he goes to Hayley and races her to the sliding board.