“Remember at Colt’s wedding, you asked me what flustered me, and I said typos?”
Her brows pulled together, confused. “Yeah?”
I took a deep, steadying breath. It didn’t work, but this ball was rolling now, so I had to keep going. “Well, that was a lie. It’s you. You fluster me, Tess.”
Her eyes widened, her whole body freezing. I wasn’t even sure she was breathing. “W-What?” she rasped, blinking quickly.
My head tilted while I took in the sheer confusion on her face. Had she really never noticed? I thought I’d been so obvious…but maybe not if she really had no clue.
“You’re all I think about, Tess,” I admitted. My throat felt tight. “I wonder what you’re doing, if you’re happy. If you ever…think of me, too.”
I forced myself to keep going. “I find myself randomly smiling throughout the day because I’m thinking of you. Your laugh, your smile, how amazing you are with Luke…” Mygaze slid up to meet hers. “How gorgeous I think you are,” I continued, my voice deeper, softer. Her breath caught. It was the smallest sound, but loud enough to wreck me.
“I want to be your safe place, the person you run to during hard times; I want to be that for both of you.”
She shifted closer, her knee brushing my thigh. The tiny movement made my heart stutter. “You are,” she said softly, her voice thick with emotion. Her hand wrapped around mine. It was shaking. “You know you are, Levi.”
My eyes darted all over her face, taking in every detail. My pulse was hammering. My mouth was dry. “That kiss at the courthouse… It wasn’t fake. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Not for a single second.”
A shaky breath left me when she bit her bottom lip, and my body leaned in towards hers as if she were my center of gravity. “Levi…” she said softly, like a plea.
My eyes searched hers, lost in that sky blue filled with desire. She tilted her head back as I leaned in, sliding my hand into her messy hair. “This marriage might be fake, babygirl, but nothing about my feelings for you are,” I murmured, my voice rough like gravel.
A shudder rolled through me when her hand met my hip. Her quick breaths fanned across my lips. “Neither are mine,” she whispered, breathless.
My chest was heaving, my heart pounding. She smelled like me, like this house, like herself, all mixed together into one, like it was meant to be. Like we were meant to be this whole time, and we were just too clueless to do anything about it until now.
“I want you,” I breathed, dragging my thumb across her bottom lip. She whimpered, her grip on me tightening. “So much.”
Her teeth scraped against the pad of my thumb. “Then take me. I’m yours. I have been this entire time.” I didn’t think I could get any harder, and then she went and said that.
My eyes fell shut, my forehead dropped to hers, and for one perfect moment, it was just us, our breaths tangled, our lips a whisper apart. Then Luke’s voice cut through, shattering it. “Mommy!”
Tess’s hands slipped from me, leaving my skin cold. I forced myself to back away quickly when Luke’s feet started padding down the hall in a little run. I dared a glance at her as I rounded the kitchen island, and I nearly tripped over my own feet. She was already looking at me wide-eyed, her chest rising and falling as fast as mine. I knew she felt it too. The tension that had always been there, crackling like static.
“Good morning!” Luke cheered, his wild curls bouncing as he skipped into the kitchen, oblivious that he just ruined probably what would’ve been the most earth-shattering, life-changing kiss of my life.
“Good morning,” Tess cooed, scooping him up in her arms. They sat together on a stool in front of me. “You hungry?” He nodded. “Maybe if you ask nicely, Levi will make you pancakes,” she whispered to him. She looked up at me through her lashes with a playful smile, and I knew then I’d do anything she asked, looking at me like that.
Luke threw his top half over the counter dramatically, clasping his hands together. “Can you make me pancakes, Wevi? Pweaseeee?”
Tess and I laughed at his theatrics, and I started gathering the ingredients from the cabinet. I was just as whipped for him as I was for his mom. “What kind do you want, buddy?”
“Sprinks!” he said, grinning like a little devil.
“I like the way you think,” I said, smiling. I grabbed the rainbow sprinkles and got to work with a lightness in my chest that hadn’t been there a month ago.
My chest was tight, like the love I felt for them was overflowing and was too big to fit inside me anymore. It was almost painful to hold this much feeling for them. And to know that Tess had feelings for me, too? I felt like I was walking on air, like the luckiest man in the world.
15
Tess
Willow’s ears flicked back and forth, her tail swishing harder than usual. She sidestepped, and I tightened my grip on her lead. “Come back here,” I murmured. “I gotta brush your mane.”
The old horse huffed, turning her head away. I let out an annoyed sound, looking over at Delilah. “She won’t let me do it,” I said.
Delilah came over to us, and Willow backed away. “Remember what I said last week about horses being sensitive? She’s picking up on our energy, and we’re both grenades about to detonate. Tell me what’s going on with you.”
