He snorted. “Multiple times. My mom brags about it, in fact.” He grinned at me. “Is that what attracted you to me?”
I flushed. “Actually, no.” I eyed his hands. “It was your hands.”
His eyes got a heated, molten look to them that made my entire body erupt in tingles. “My hands?”
Swallowing thickly, I nodded. I licked my lips, my breathing a bit heavier. He reached over and gripped my chin, rubbing his thumb over my bottom lip. It took everything in me not to part my lips and flick my tongue out over that thumb. “Maybe one day you’ll let me show you how good they feel on every part of your body.”
My ovaries fucking exploded.
4
Slater
Icouldn’t get Tawney out of my head. God, she was stunning—gorgeous. I’ll admit, she looked a bit lost, like she wasn’t entirely sure where her life was supposed to lead her. And I just wanted to show her everything the world had to offer—by my side.
The moment I laid my eyes on her in the bar, I knew I had to have her. It was an insane, pulsing need inside my body.
Running into her friend, Amber, at the gym had to have been fate stepping in to help me.
Our date had gone so smoothly after we hashed out the details of her having a seven-year-old son and being eight years older than me. None of that bothered me. Her son was a part of her, and I wanted her. That meant, even without meeting her son, I wanted him, too.
Insane? Probably, by most people’s standards. But my parents had always raised me to chase after what I wanted. So, I was.
I stretched my arms over my head and walked up to my fridge, opening it to see what I could cook myself for dinner. It was Monday night; normally I did my grocery shopping after my shift on Sundays, but last night, I’d spent time with Tawney instead, getting to know her better. And while I didn’t regret a single moment of that, I was sorely wishing I’d gone to the grocery store, too, because I didn’t have a damn thing to eat in here.
Grumbling under my breath, I snatched up my keys, wallet, and phone, and marched out to my Jeep so I could run to the grocery store.
Adultingsucked.
* * *
I pushedmy cart down the aisle, my eyes scanning the vegetables in front of me. I hated the cooler section. No matter what time of the year it was, it was always too freaking cold.
“Alex, no. We’re not buying every single kind of ice cream you want,” a familiar, sweet voice reprimanded.
I turned my eyes away from the veggies to the side of me, my eyes locking on Tawney. She was at the other end of the aisle where the ice cream was wearing a cream-colored sweater and black leggings. A black tank-top showed just enough cleavage to entice me but hid enough to remain respectable. She was such a damn tease, and she didn’t even know it.
“But Mom—” her little boy whined. He was a scrawny kid but judging by the food piled in her shopping cart, I knew it wasn’t because he didn’t eat. She had every food imaginable that a kid at his age wouldlove. God, I was a bit jealous. My mom never spoiled me like that.
“Don’tbut Momme,” she said, looking down at him. “I already bought you dinosaur nuggets, ice cream sandwiches, ravioli, beefaroni, mac and cheese—”
He sighed. “Okay,” he groaned.
She ruffled his hair and smiled down at him. I kept studying them like the creep I was. He didn’t look much like her; I presumed he looked more like his father. Dark hair hung over his forehead, almost into his eyes. His eyes were a startling shade of blue, and he was tall—freakishly tall for a kid his age.
Tawney looked up at that moment, and her eyes widened when they landed on me. I sheepishly smiled and waved at her, officially caught staring. Her cheeks warmed, and she pushed her cart toward me, Alex holding the side of it.
“Hi,” she breathed.
“Hey.” I looked down at Alex. “Are you Alex?”
He nodded, not the least bit shy. “Why were you staring at us?”
I laughed, my cheekbones heating the tiniest bit at his blunt question. “I think your mom is pretty,” I told him.
He scrunched his nose up. “That’s gross.”
I barked out a laugh and looked at Tawney. She looked absolutely mortified by his bluntness. I grinned back at Alex. “I like you, kid.”