I marveled at his perfect body, which was even more carved than before. I still couldn’t believe he was mine. When I’d first met Caleb, he’d seemed so out of my league, the idea of being with him like a dream.
He flipped me around and rested his weight over me. We’d had sex several different ways in the past, but Caleb seemed to like being dominant, which made that my favorite position, too.
He spread my legs and pushed inside of me slowly until he was balls deep.
The sound I made must have been a little too loud, because he placed his mouth over mine. “Shh, baby. Shhh.”
“Sorry,” I whispered.
Caleb began to move slowly. It was intense, and I could tell he wanted to move faster and harder, but the bed would most definitely have made too much noise. Having to hold back was excruciating. With every thrust into me, I wanted him more and more, harder and harder. After I started to grind my hips a certain way, Caleb lost control.
“Shit,” he groaned, and I felt his warm cum spill inside of me. “Christ. I love you, Teagan. I love you so much.”
“I love you, too,” I said as an orgasm ripped through me.
It was the first time he’d told me he loved me in person, and with that, I knew I was exactly where I needed to be.CHAPTER THIRTY* * *CALEBWaking up to the sight of Teagan in my bed was definitely weird—but in a good way. She’d been absolutely knackered last night, so I quietly got up without waking her to let her sleep in.
My mother was in the kitchen, sipping tea as I entered.
“Morning, Mum.” I scratched the scruff on my chin.
She set her cup down. “How are things?” Her expression held a bit of a smirk.
It was definitely awkward as fuck that she knew Teagan and I had been shagging in there last night. But I suppose the sooner we got used to this arrangement, the better.
Still, I couldn’t quite make eye contact. “Things are good.”
“She’s very sweet. I look forward to getting to know her better—without smothering her. Don’t worry. I remember what you said about her needing her space. Lord knows we don’t have a lot of it. I’ll let her come to me.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I appreciate that.”
Sitting down, I grabbed one of the breakfast biscuits my mother had baked and poured some tea from the pot on the table.
As happy as I was that Teagan was here, we had a lot to work out. I was set to re-enroll in classes this autumn, and she needed to find work, or at least something to keep her busy while she was here.
One of my uncles owned a flower shop and had promised a job for her. That was far from exciting, but at least it would be something. I prayed she didn’t resent the fact that I was returning to school while she couldn’t right now. She’d essentially hung her life up for a while to be with me, and I hoped she didn’t regret that.
There was also something else bothering me, something I’d been keeping from her. I didn’t know when the right time to divulge it would be. Now was too soon. She hadn’t even acclimated to being here yet. At the same time, it couldn’t wait too long.
“Are you stressed?” my mother asked. “Just take it one day at a time. She came for you, not for any other reason.”
“I still struggle sometimes, Mum—feeling like I don’t deserve to be happy.”
She nodded. “It’s hard to break out of the habit of destructive thinking. Maybe you need to stop worrying about whether you deserve something and just accept it as a gift.”
“What if I slip up again?”
“You mean start drinking?”
“Anything—push her away, start drinking again, just mess up somehow. She came all this way. I don’t want to fuck it all up.”
“You realize that questions starting with what if are futile, don’t you?”
I blew out a breath. “Yeah.”
My mother had been so supportive. I knew it wasn’t easy for her to be living away from my father after all these years, and wondered if it was only a matter of time before he ended up back home again. That was definitely not something I wanted while Teagan was living with us.
“Do you think you and dad will work things out?”
My mother looked away. “Over the past few months, I’ve learned it’s possible to love someone and not be able to have them in your lives. Things were toxic for so long, and I’d just accepted it. Deep down, your father has a good heart, but he doesn’t know how to deal with his own child. And to be frank, you’re more important to me than he is.” She sighed. “There are lots of other things that made it impossible to live with him, too—like the way he treated me. So right now, I think it’s best if things stay the way they are.”