Page 83 of Falling Together
Erin smiled even wider now. “You don’t fight fair. To answer your question, though, you never told me you liked carnivals. I just made an educated guess and really hoped I was right.”
“Well, you must be very smart, because you’re exactly right. I fu-” When Blair remembered that Nolan was in her arms, she stopped herself. “Freaking love carnivals. They’re literally one of my favorite things.”
“And there’s rides,” Nolan said excitedly.
“Somerides,” Erin said, giving Blair the impression they had this conversation before. “The little ones that you can do by yourself. Mommy doesn’t do rides that aren’t permanently attached to the ground.”
Blair laughed and tickled Nolan’s side once again. “Lucky for you, little dude, Blair does.”
“Yay, Bear! Rides! Rides! Rides!”
Blair joined in with Nolan’s chanting, which continued until they were all safely in their seats and on the way to the carnival. Blair watched Erin as she drove, taking in every little thing she did, from the way she bit her lip when she made a turn to the small smile she got every time Nolan said something ridiculous. She had one hand on the steering wheel and the other was resting on the middle console, and all Blair could think about was reaching out and taking it in hers.
When she tentatively rested her hand beside Erin’s, Erin quickly looked over at it, before putting all of her focus back on the road. A few seconds passed, and Blair was about to pull her hand away when Erin intertwined their fingers. Blair could barely focus on the conversation for the rest of the car ride, because all she could think about was that hand in hers.
After parking at the carnival, it was a different hand that found hers this time. As soon as they were out of the car and Erin told Nolan that he needed to hold someone’s hand, he took Blair’s. As they walked around the front of the car to where Erin was standing, she looked at their hands and smiled, but there was also something else in her gaze. A little bit of jealousy?
Blair held out the hand that wasn’t holding Nolan’s and wiggled her fingers. “I have another one, you know.”
Erin gave her the sweetest smile before grabbing onto her hand and squeezing it tightly like she was worried Blair might actually let go.As if.
“No.” Nolan pointed right at their interlocked fingers. “I want to hold both hands.”
Even though she could see it in Erin’s face that she wanted to let go of Blair’s hand just as little as Blair wanted to let go of hers, they both did since they understood that Nolan was the priority.
They walked like this throughout the carnival, Nolan only dropping their hands to play games or go on rides. After hours of games and rides, they had all worked up an appetite, so they shared a big bucket of chicken fingers and fries, then got ice cream at Nolan’s request. As they walked toward the Ferris Wheel, which Erin miraculously agreed to ride on with them, Nolan pointed to a little girl sitting on her dad’s shoulders, then looked up at Blair. “I ride on you!”
Blair shrugged. “Sounds good to me!”
As she was picking him up, Erin started to laugh. “I hope you realize what a terrible idea this is. You’re definitely going to end up with ice cream in your hair.”
Blair shrugged again. “It is what it is.” Nothing could ruin this day. She was sure of that.
She became even more positive when Nolan was safely up on her shoulders and Erin reached out a hand toward her. Blair held on to Nolan with one hand and held Erin’s hand with the other. It wasn’t the easiest thing, but it was the best.
After a few minutes, she felt a cold liquid dripping onto her head and down her neck. Before she could tell Nolan to be more careful, the whole ice cream cone slid down the front of her shirt. “What the hell?”
Erin looked over at Blair, then quickly up at her shoulders, before bringing a hand to her mouth and starting to laugh. “I’m sorry to laugh, but I did warn you.” She laughed even harder. “He is passed out right now.”
As if he subconsciously needed to prove Erin was telling the truth, Nolan laid his head on top of Blair’s, and she could tell by the little snores coming from that direction that he was definitely asleep. Erin helped get her as clean as they could using wipes and napkins, then they headed toward their car instead of the Ferris Wheel.
Walking to the car with Erin, hand in hand, a shirt stained with ice cream, and a little boy asleep on her shoulders, Blair was pretty sure this had been the best day of her life.
Chapter 27
Erin
Erin woke up the day after the carnival feeling happier than she could ever remember. After getting home and putting Nolan to bed, Blair got into the shower to get the ice cream off of herself, and Erin decided to join her. They didn’t have sex this time, but Erin did help her clean herself, and somehow massaging shampoo in Blair’s hair was more sensual than watching her come. After making out under the water for a few minutes, they got out and dried each other off.
Erin was pretty sure they both assumed this would lead to sex, but instead, they snuggled in bed naked and talked for hours. Blair told stories of when she was younger, and they both talked about their college years. Erin shared the highlights of Nolan’s life so far and Blair seemed to hang on every single word. When they could barely keep their eyes open anymore, Blair suggested they put on pajamas so Nolan didn’t break into the room in the morning and find them naked. It was such a simple gesture, but it made Erin’s heart skip a beat.
As Erin stared at Blair, she slowly opened her eyes. When she caught Erin looking at her, her whole face lit up. She reached out and grabbed Erin’s hand and kissed her knuckles, a move she had been doing more and more, that Erin found she really liked. “Good morning.”
“Morning,” Erin said as all of the words she wanted to say threatened to spill out.
Blair pushed a piece of hair behind Erin’s ear and stared even deeper into her eyes. “I want to tell you something.”
Erin swallowed hard as her heart began to beat erratically in her chest. She hated that this was how her body reacted, but she didn’t know how to stop it. “What is it?” she asked quietly, barely recognizing her own voice, as the walls seemed to close in around her.
