I grin with pride. “It’s perfect, isn’t it?”
“What’s perfect is this bed,” Chance murmurs. “Way better than the bed in our dorm room.”
Presley hums as she rests her head back against Chances shoulder. “God, my body is so sore from the both of you. It’s been so long since I’ve been fucked like that.”
“Want me to fill up the bath for you?” Chance asks. “I’ll cook us breakfast while you’re soaking.”
I smirk. “And I’ll make you come while he’s cooking.”
She smiles. “A girl could get used to waking up like this.”
I steal a chaste kiss before she can shove me back. “You’re going to wake up like this every morning, pretty girl.”
She pouts. “I wish.”
My hands freeze along their exploration of her body. “You don’t have to wish.” I glance at Chance, who’s watching me with a steady gaze. “We’re here. We’re together.”
Presley leans up on her elbow, fully alert and awake now. “Well, not when the kids are here.”
My chin jerks back. “Why not?”
“Because they can’t know that we’re sleeping together.”
“Maybe not at first, but after some time, sure. That’s what couples do.”
“But we’re not a couple.” Presley scoots herself up and sits against the headboard. “We’re...I don’t know what we are. We got a little carried away last night.”
Carried away?
Unease seeps into my gut as I sit up to face her. “Last night wasn’t us getting carried away, or the result of too much alcohol. We’re not strangers who had a one-night-stand. We’re more than that.”
Presley reaches out and clasps my hand. “I know that. I didn’t mean to make it sound cheap. But we can’t just throw ourselves into a relationship as if we’re picking back up where we left off four years ago. Things are different now.”
“Avery and Alyssa already love us. I don’t see what the problem is here.”
She wrings her hands in her lap. “I know they do, but...it’s more than that. It’s?—”
“You’re worried about what people will think of you,” Chance finishes.
Presley’s chin drops as she stares at the comforter.
She doesn’t deny it.
What?
Presley was never one to shy away from her desires. She was outgoing and secure in who she was; it was one of the things that attracted me to her in the beginning. Chance was the one who had a tough time with societal views on our relationship, and that was understandable with the way he was raised.
But never Presley.
I tip her chin and bring her eyes back to mine. “You don’t want people to know that we’re together?”
“I work in an elementary school where parents make comments about my tattoos. Imagine what they’d say if theyfound out I was in a relationship with two men. And even if that wasn’t a problem, I don’t want Avery and Alyssa to be affected by my decisions. You’ve seen how cruel kids can be. I don’t want to make their lives any harder than it already has been.”
My heart sinks. “So, what then? We’re together in private, and pretend like we’re single to the rest of the world? Stay in hiding and let all the uptight, close-minded people win? Because that’s not what I’m about. That’s not what I stand for.”
“I have to put the kids first, Stephen.” Presley’s eyebrows pinch together. “And we’re not in college anymore. I’m a grown adult with adult responsibilities. I don’t have the kind of lifestyle you guys do. You travel, you’re in the spotlight, and you have more money than you know what to do with. You have people who handle your schedule, and drivers who take you wherever you need to go. I don’t have that kind of life.”
“But you can. You know we’d take care of youandthe kids. They’re important to you, so of course they’re important to us. I’m not trying to take you out of your life, or change it in any way. I just want to be with you, and help you with anything you need.” I swallow around the lump in my throat. “I just want to love you.”