“Door partially open,” Slade adds, speaking over her.
“Door partially open,” Tasha groans. “But he says he thought he saw a prowler too, so he jumped the gate to see but they must’ve already taken off.”
I put on my wow face, and Slade seems satisfied I play along.
“Well, I guess you should get home,” Slade says to Tasha. Not mentioning himself in that equation as she makes a face.
“Really dad? I’m so tired. I’ll just stay here the night? Can’t I Abs?” Tasha says. Doing that whole telling me not asking me thing she’s so good at.
I feel myself squirming, but what choice do I have?
A living room full of kids, my best friend’s love life in tatters, and now a six-foot-eight biker in my laundry with my mom due back early in the morning or anytime soon.
“Maybe you’re right,” Slade says, sounding deflated.
“When’s your mom due back, Abby?” he asks, sounding like the responsible adult.
I shrug. “Could be five minutes. Could be morning. She picked up an extra shift at the cannery. That’s all I know,” I admit.
Slade frowns, his brow knitted as he weighs his options.
“Did someone say ice cream?” Tasha sniffs, slotting back into her broken heart monologue now that the drama’s over.
She slips past me and ignores her dad, making her way down to the kitchen.
Biscuits and ice cream… She really can eat whatever she wants and never gain a single pound.
But it does leave me alone with Slade, and he wastes no time in doing what I know he’s come for.
In a single moment, we launch at one another.
His powerful body grips mine tightly as he nudges the door closed with one foot, holding it that way while his mouth finds mine.
It’s a little clumsy, awkward on my part because I’m straining to reach him as much as he has to lean down.
But once his mouth is on mine, I know where my future lies.
I know that I love him and even though he hasn’t said as much, he obviously has some pretty strong feelings for me too.
“You guys want some?” Tasha calls out from the kitchen, making her dad growl impatiently, but I laugh and moan at the same time.
Letting myself free from his lips long enough to smile, I look up at him.
“You came back for me?” I ask quietly, and he gives a single curt nod of his head.
“I need you, Abby. I need to be here,” he growls, sliding his huge hand straight between my legs.
I gasp and then moan loudly. The charge from his touch is unbelievable.
But as it stands, we have no chance of taking things further tonight, and we both know it.
“I’ll watch from the street. Until your mom gets back, then I’ll see you tomorrow,” is all he says.
I have a million things to ask him. But he pulls away like he can’t stay another moment unless he can have everything he wants, and I understand that.
Just as quickly as his mouth was on mine, he’s gone again.
Tasha appears with ice cream, eating it straight from the carton.
“Where’d dad go?” she asks, puzzled.
“He said he’d see you in the morning.”
I wonder how I’ll last the night without him.
Wonder if I’ll ever sleep in his arms.
Uninterrupted.
Alone with him.
Like I know we should be.
Together. Forever.
CHAPTER TEN
Slade
It cuts me up, but I know I can’t stay with Abby tonight.
It cuts me when she leaves the room not long after I come inside.
Being caught like that wasn’t exactly part of my plan.
I am here to see Abby after all, and I get it that Tasha has problems of her own, but will she ever tell me about it?
Tasha tells me she’s okay after I ask her the most important question.
“Did that Brad boy do anything he shouldn’t have to you?”
No, he didn’t thankfully. Just him being a little asshole with words. Toying with my daughter's feelings.
Messing with her head.
That’s bad enough, but as long as he’s not messing with her body… I’ll deal with him if and when the time comes, but hopefully, my daughter will see him for what he is now.
She’ll be hurt and mope for a while, but she’s a strong kid. She’ll pick herself back up again.
And what about telling Tasha how you feel about her best friend? About what you have planned for Abby’s sweet little body?
That’s different.
They’re so close in age, but when I look at Abby I don’t see her as a young adult.
Tasha? I still see her as a child, even though she’s older than Abby she sure can behave like a toddler most of the time. But I love her like only a father can.
Abby?
Abby is my equal when I see her. The piece of me that’s been missing my whole life. She completes me by just being in the room.
And once she returns and it's Tasha’s turn to disappear for a moment, I can’t hold back.