Gentle fingers slip into the collar of my T-shirt and start to tickle the back of my neck. I lay my head on Friday’s knee and close my eyes. It feels good having her touch me. It hits so much more than my dick, which is where girls usually strike me. This time, it reaches deep inside and wraps around my heart so tightly it steals my breath away. I hope she never stops.
But then the door opens again and Pete’s girlfriend Reagan walks in, with my ex right behind her. Kelly freezes in the doorway when she sees Friday touching me, and I get up and go to her, although all I want to do is have my daughter launch herself into my arms while Friday stands beside me. I don’t want the feeling of being near Friday to ever go away. But now Kelly’s here, and it’s over.
Kelly lays her hand on my arm and says, “Can we go somewhere and talk privately?” She looks at the full room, which has all my brothers and Friday’s friends in it, and turns up her nose.
“About what?” I ask.
She purses her lips and nods toward my bedroom, so I heave a sigh, take her by the elbow, and lead her in that direction.
She closes the door behind us, and I flinch. I have an immediate need to open it back up, but I’m hoping she just wants to say something she doesn’t want Hayley to hear.
But then she opens her mouth.
“I don’t want my daughter to walk in and find you in bed with Friday,” she says, blowing a lock of hair from her forehead with an upturned breath.
“What?” I ask. How dare she?
She crosses her arms in front of her chest. Once, that would have immediately drawn my gaze to her boobs but not anymore.
“I mean it, Paul. You can f**k her all you want, but don’t involve my daughter in it because we both know she won’t be around tomorrow. They never are.”
I hitch my hip against the dresser and lean back, trying to look relaxed, but I’m anything but calm. My heart is beating as fast as my tattoo gun does, and I don’t know where I might find my next breath. “You’re getting married,” I remind her. “Why do you care what I do?”
“I don’t care who you do. I only care if you involve my daughter in it.” She tosses her hair over her shoulder.
“What’s this really about?” There’s more to this than she’s telling me.
She bites her lower lip, and for once, I don’t want to pull it free and kiss her teeth marks away. She shakes her head. “It’s nothing.”
“Tell me, Kells,” I say. “We’ve never had secrets from one another before.” I motion from her to me and back. “That’s why this thing between us works so well.”
Suddenly, she buries her face in her hands and waits. When she lifts her head, her eyes are shiny. “I’ve never seen you with that look on your face, not when it’s not for me.”
“Oh,” I say. I scratch my head. “What look?”
She jerks her thumb toward the living room. “When I walked in, you had your head on Friday’s knee and you looked so peaceful.”
Friday makes me feel anything but peaceful. “So you were jealous?”
She nods, nibbling on that lower lip again.
“You’re getting married, Kells,” I remind her again. I push off my dresser and walk toward her, then take her in my arms. I pull her gently against me and hold her. But this time, holding her isn’t about heat or passion. It’s about friendship. It has been weeks since we’ve slept together, and holding her this close to me doesn’t even make my dick get hard.
Kelly wraps her arms around my waist and holds on tight for a minute. I stroke her back until she steps away from me.
“You okay?” I ask.
“I’m jealous,” she says, and then she sniffles. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. We’re still us. We’re still Hayley’s parents. We always will be.” I look her in the eye. “Don’t mess up a good thing, okay?”
“You have a house full of people tonight,” she says. She rocks back and forth on her heels like she’s uncomfortable.
“I know.” I smile. “Isn’t it great?”
She shivers. “It’s torture,” she says. “Too noisy, too smelly, and too many Reeds all in one place.”
That was the problem with me and Kelly. All the things I loved…she didn’t love them back. She didn’t like having my family around, and she didn’t want to have much to do with them. “I love every minute of it.”
“How does Friday feel about it?” she asks.
I shrug. “She seems like she’s at home. She just got here today. She’s renting a room.”
Kelly nods. “I get it.”
“What do you want from me, Kelly?” I ask on a heavy sigh.
“I guess I wanted everything to stay the same,” she says. But then she grins. “I know it can’t, though. I’m getting married.”
“You want me to walk you down the aisle?” I ask. I’m only half joking.
“Maybe,” she says. “That would be pretty fitting.”
“I’m open to it.”
She smiles at me. Finally. “We’ll always be friends, right?” she asks.
“The best kind.”
Suddenly, my door opens, and Hayley runs into the room. I reach down and scoop her up. She has icing all over her fingers and smears it across my shirt. I grab her hands and hold them out. “Has Sam been feeding you cupcakes?” I ask.