“Yeah.”
I grip her hips, my fingers digging into her soft flesh as I find the rhythm again. Her hips move, and I match her pace, working her back up.
It doesn't take long. She was already teetering on the edge before the interruption. Now, she’s racing toward it.
“Come for me, Tiff,” I growl low against her throat. “Let me feel it.”
Her mouth falls open on a silent cry, her back arches, and her nails rake down my chest as she breaks apart in front of me.
The sight is too much for me, and I follow right behind her.
Stars explode behind my eyelids as I bury myself to the hilt and come in deep, pulsing waves that make my whole body lock up. I groan her name into her neck, hips jerking once, twice, filling the condom with every shuddering spurt while her walls keep clenching around me, drawing out every last drop.
We’re both panting, wrecked, when the aftershocks finally ease. She collapses forward, forehead resting on my shoulder, chest heaving against mine. I cradle the back of her head with one hand, my fingers threading through damp hair, holding her close while my other arm wraps around her waist.
“I think we might need to consider living arrangements soon,” she says quietly.
I huff out a breathless laugh, and brush my lips across her temple. “I'm working on it.”
And shit, I'll work ten times faster if this is the incentive.
“I love you,” I murmur, pressing a slow kiss to her forehead, then her cheek, then the corner of her mouth.
“I love you too,” she whispers back, nuzzling my neck.
I close my eyes and hold her, so fucking thankful I snooped around my father's study at 16 and found out I was adopted. If Ihadn’t, I might’ve stayed trapped in that cold, empty life forever. I might never have met Tiff. I definitely would’ve never known what it feels like to be this completely, and stupidly happy.
I've barely got anything right now, but with Tiff curled against me, still trembling from the orgasm I gave her, and Ella sleeping down the hall… I’ve got everything that actually matters.
Chapter 31
I sit back into the red leather seat as I take a sip of my coffee. It’s probably the wrong move having so much caffeine when I’m already a nervous wreck, but I wanted to be alert for this conversation. Plus, I needed to order something on the menu so they wouldn’t kick me out. I know for certain my father won’t be ordering a damn thing, and I need this conversation to be in a public place.
I’ve got the perfect view of the door from here, which means I can gauge his sobriety before he sees me, and decide whether this conversation is even worth it.
Jamie sends me a picture of him and Ella smiling at their peewee football session, the one he now coaches, and it helps ease my nerves a little.
Things are coming together. This is the last loose end.
Jamie:Good luck with your dad. We both love you to the moon and back.
I quickly type back a response.
Tiff:Thanks. Good luck, Coach. Love you both.
I set my phone back on the table and exhale slowly. Across the diner, there’s a little girl who can’t be older than seven sitting with her family. She’s talking a mile a minute, her hands flying as she tells some dramatic story, and her parents are leaning in, listening to her every word.
I don’t know why it hurts to see the adoration in her parents’ eyes, but I guess it’s because it’s a reminder of what I didn’t have.
Support. Love. Care.
Even when I needed it most, my parents weren’t there. Not because they couldn’t be, but because they didn’t want to be.
I will never let Ella feel like she’s unworthy.
I make that promise to myself, knowing I’ll keep it. Iwillbe a better parent than mine ever were.
When the bell above the door chimes, my heart does a little skip before my stomach drops.