19. Felix

CHAPTER NINETEEN

felix

“Man, she did not want to sleep tonight,” I whisper as I watch Henry walk a now-sleeping Hazel around the room, her little head resting on his shoulder.

“Yeah, I hate nights like this. When I know she’s really tired, but she fights it.”

“Nothing wrong with being a fighter,” I say, smiling as I watch them. My eyes never leave Henry’s back as he lowers her into her crib.

He comes over and sits down on the couch, where our dinner has been waiting while he got her to sleep. I tried, and she wasn’t having it. Then he tried, and she wasn’t having it. We went back and forth for a while until the little princess finally gave in.

I heat up our food and then bring it back, but I’m surprised when Henry grasps the back of my neck and pulls me in for a deep kiss. I’m ready to say fuck the food when he releases me and then grabs his plate.

I sit there for a bit, a little stunned. “What was that about?”

He gives me a shy smile. “Just wanted to do it all day, but it was hectic.”

“Yeah, it was,” I say dumbly, lifting my finger to my lips and ghosting it over where he just kissed me. They’re still tingling. “I wanted to do it too.”

He brushes his hand over my cheek and then presses a quick kiss to my lips. “Eat.”

I obey without any argument because I’m starving. We sit on the couch, watching some show I’m not even sure I watch and eating from our plates. I keep waiting for Hazel to wake up, but she hasn’t yet.

After dinner, we do the dishes together at the kitchen sink, and I can’t help but think about how damn domestic this is. It feels right. I wonder if it does for him too.

I’m afraid to ask.

“I think Brooks may have baby fever too,” he says, and that doesn’t surprise me at all. I saw him talking to Brooks today at the gym as Brooks held Hazel. It’s honestly impossible not to love that baby girl though.

She’s so sweet and innocent. And her laugh . . . that damn giggle, I swear. I’m pretty sure I’d sign my car over to her if I thought it could make her laugh. Luckily, she seems totally satisfied with the baby treats I bring her and the occasional toy.

“He’ll have a baby in no time,” I joke.

“He said he doesn’t mind being Uncle Brooks though.” He dries his hands with the dishtowel, and then I realize that he looks pretty damn tense and completely in his head. I take the towel from him and dry my hands before tossing it to the counter. Then I grasp his face in my hands, with his ass against the counter behind us.

“And that bothered you?”

“No.” His voice is a quiet, almost nervous rasp. “I mean he was probably just talking about when Ben and Colby get their kid.” He looks uncertain, and I press a soft kiss to his beautiful lips.

“But . . .” I prod, laying another kiss against his jaw and then moving to his neck.

“But I think it would be cool if he was talking about Hazel too.” And there it is. That little bit of hope. I can feel how much he wants that, and I have no doubt Brooks meant it about Hazel as much as he did Ben and Colby’s kid.

“You can let them in, Henry,” I breathe, sliding my tongue along the tightly pulled vein in his neck and then making my way to his lips, where I drag it over the seam of his mouth. His head lolls back, and I follow, kissing him softly.

“I want to,” he admits, which shocks the hell out of me.

I start to pull back a little, and he follows this time, his lips sealing mine as his tongue teasingly dips inside. His fingers move to my hair, and when I lift him to sit on the counter, he wraps his legs around my waist and keeps me in place.

I can’t stop touching him. No part of me wants to. I rip his shirt off over his head and explore his sexy chest, swirling my tongue around each of his nipples and loving the way his hips thrust into me, begging me for more. His cock rubs against mine, and I rest my hands on his shoulders, moving back to his mouth, kissing him hard.

“You can let us all in,” I breathe softly against his lips.

“I want to. God, I want to, but I’m scared.” I doubt he realizes how brave he is admitting that out loud, and I don’t push it. Instead deciding to show him.

He lets me lift him enough to pull his sweats down, revealing that he went without underwear after his shower. His cock stands proudly between us. “Jesus, you’re beautiful.”

I kiss him again, and his hands move to the waist of my sweats as he pushes them and my underwear down and over my ass. My cock springs free, and then, it’s a tangle of our lips and our hands. Exploring and kissing as we rut against each other. When I reach between us and wrap my hand around both our shafts, stroking firmly, he cries out in pleasure, and I swallow it down.

I nip and bite, kissing him and exploring his mouth with my tongue as we thrust our dicks together, using our precum to make them glide effortlessly in the tunnel my hand has created.

He comes first with a harsh shout, his fingers digging into my ass cheeks and forcing me to follow after him. Our cum coats my hand as I drag it over us until we both become too sensitive.

I’m trying to catch my breath as I lean forward, our foreheads touching as I rest my other hand over his beating heart, feeling how affected he is by our time together. “Your heart is racing.”

One of his hands moves up from my ass and covers my own heart as he pants, trying to regain control. “Yours is too.”

I smile and kiss his lips softly. “I won’t leave.”

He pulls back so he can look into my eyes. I see his glisten as he nibbles on his bottom lip. “I want to believe that so badly.”

I know that’s as good as it can get right now, and I’ll absolutely take it. “We’ll get there,” I say with another press of my lips to his before I help him down and we both clean up.

Thankfully, Hazel is still fast asleep in her crib, and Henry doesn’t hesitate to pull me to his bed, both of us climbing under the covers and lying on our sides. We don’t talk about how routine this has become.

I don’t need to talk about it because I feel it, and when he brushes his hand over my cheek, I can feel he does too.

“Come with me tomorrow.”

We both have the day off, and the request just fell from my mouth, but I know I want it. “To where?”

“I’m volunteering at one of the shelters. I need to go check in on Evan.”

“The kid you were worried about?” I smile because he listens when I talk. It really doesn’t matter what I’m talking about either. Whether it’s about my favorite flavor of shake or volunteering, Henry listens.

“Yeah. I just need to make sure he’s doing okay. To try to get him to talk to Andrew again.”

I don’t think Evan will talk to us, but I need to at least see him with my own eyes, having become pretty fond of the kid over the past few months. I have to remind myself I can’t save everyone, but damn it, I can try.

“Yeah. I’d like to meet him too.” He pulls me closer, and I snuggle into his chest. I can’t imagine going to the shelter will be that easy for him, but I’m glad he agreed to go.

I want to share every part of my life I can with Henry.