“I love you,” I whispered.
His big body paused, and he stared down at me as if he wasn’t quite sure of the words I’d said. But then his lips crashed down on mine. Supported on his forearms, he gripped my head and kissed me until I was sure we were the sun, lighting up the sky. We exploded together, him deep within me, his tongue in my mouth and a full heart-and-soul connection that made this orgasm both the quietest but most earth-shattering of my life.
“I am so in love with you,” he whispered back.
Tears pricked at the backs of my eyes. His words got inside me and wrapped around my heart. I couldn’t stop them from spilling over. He kissed them away, his touch soft and gentle, his whispered words of love chasing them.
The front door swung open, cracking off the wall behind it. I squealed, and Heath pulled from my body, jumping to his feet, his dick still semi-hard and glistening with our lovemaking.
On instinct, I went to cover myself, but in the next instant, I registered Rowe’s expression.
“What the fuck, man?” Heath asked, no shame in his nudity.
I scrambled to my feet, completely forgetting my own nudity, too. Rowe had seen me naked a bunch of times now, that didn’t matter. Nor did the fact he’d just caught me and Heath in the middle of it.
All that mattered was the look on Rowe’s face and the realization that we had a very big problem.
15
Rowe
“You go and get him and bring him here.”
Mae paced the length of the small living room, her naked body wrapped only in a throw blanket I didn’t recognize. It barely covered her pussy. The scent of sex caught in my nostrils, a deep longing to get in on the action myself flaring, but that was outweighed by the panic that had gripped me ever since I knew Zye was leaving the prison.
Ripley wasn’t safe with him out of jail. Nobody I cared about was.
“I can’t just go to Norma and take him from her,” I protested.
Heath had pulled on a pair of shorts, but his torso was still bare. “Why not? He’s your kid in every way that counts, Rowe. You might have let Norma take him while you couldn’t, but she’s an old woman. What good is she going to be if Zye turns up there? She’ll have no chance. He needs to be here, where we can keep him safe.”
“What if Norma won’t give him to me? I’d be pulling him from the only home he knows.”
Heath got in my face, his eyes blazing with an anger I hadn’t anticipated. “You think Zye is gonna care about that? Go fucking get your son, Rowe!”
I blinked.
I was scared. Scared for Ripley. Scared for Mae. Scared for everyone I’d ever cared about. I didn’t know how to be Ripley’s father. All I knew was that I wanted to be. I always had. I’d just convinced myself I couldn’t.
Mae’s approach was gentler. She took my face between her hands and smiled softly at me, as if she could read my mind and knew every swirling, terrified thought running through it.
The truth of my worries came spilling out. “What if she does give him to me?” Because deep down, I knew she would. If I went there and told her Ripley’s life was in danger, she’d give him to me in a heartbeat. Just like me, she always put Ripley first. “What if I’m not enough? What if I can’t do it again?”
She brushed her sweet lips over mine. “Then we’ll be here until you can. You aren’t doing this alone anymore. You have me.”
“And me,” Heath huffed out.
Liam’s absence hung heavy in the air, and I scrubbed my hands over my face. “Shit. I couldn’t get back to Liam’s place this afternoon. I found out about Zye and I came straight here without thinking about anything else.”
Mae shook her head. “You don’t need to worry about him right now. Go get Ripley. That’s all you need to do.”
The erratic beat of my heart slowed to a more normal rate, and I was glad for it, because the adrenaline and terror wasn’t helping me think straight. I wrapped Mae in my arms, catching a glimpse of her naked body beneath the blanket when she put her arms around me. Later, when Ripley was safe, I was going to thank her, multiple times, for her belief in me.
Heath squeezed my shoulder as I walked past, and then I was back on the road, driving back to Saint View to pick up my boy.
I’d always thought of him like that. It had killed me to give him up to Norma, but it would have killed him not to. He deserved the best, and after his mother’s death, the best wasn’t me. I was too lost to grief.
But I’d never stopped loving him. I checked in on him all the time, unable to stay away. My wallet was full of photos of him, the first ones from when he was a baby, the more recent ones from his fourth birthday party. He’d been so happy that day when he’d opened the huge present I’d brought with me. A miniature, battery-powered four-wheel drive decked out in a Spider-Man theme—his current favorite. I’d stayed long after his daycare friends had left, running alongside him as he drove the little car up and down Norma’s street. His laughter had filled my head and my heart.
It was the best day I’d had in a very long time. Up there with the day that Mae had organized for me and him, when all we’d done was hang out at my cabin, but that had been enough, because we’d been together.
He may not have been my son by blood, but he was my son nonetheless.
And I wanted him back.
Norma’s house was quiet when I pulled up, the lights all off inside. Ripley’s swing set sat in one corner of the yard, a slight breeze blowing the seat gently. The grass was getting long. I’d need to come take care of that for her. That was always mine and Ripley’s job. He followed me around with his little push-along mower, cute as hell. The house next door, the one I still owned, sat empty, waiting for my return. It was filled with memories of Rory, but for the first time, that didn’t feel like an overwhelming burden. Maybe after Zye lost interest, we could come back here.