I followed her out of the room before she could open the door.
After I had tipped the delivery guy, Gina took the pizza into the kitchen.
“Bye, Jess!” she said, scurrying away.
“See you tomorrow,” Jess said. “At least now I know that I come second to pizza.” She shook her head and laughed softly.
And then we were alone again. Over the past few days, our alone time had improved. The awkwardness left that first day, though I sensed Jess was still a little off about everything.
“Let me walk you to your car,” I said.
“That’s okay,” Jess said.
I leaned in. “I insist.”
She licked her lips and nodded, turning away from me.
She had no idea what that little gesture did to me. How I wanted to draw her mouth into mine and taste her again. I brought myself back to reality as Jess opened the front door.
Dark clouds gathered in the short time I was inside. And a cool breeze whooshed passed me. I closed the front door, wanting to keep that chill out of my house.
I caught up with Jess and walked side-by-side with her. “That was nice of Gina to invite me to the amusement park.”
“She’s really getting close to you.”
“I know,” Jess said. “I’m lucky to spend time with her every day. She keeps me on my toes. And she’s quite the little spitfire. You’re going to have a lot on your plate when she’s older.”
I laughed. “I know. I’m not looking forward to it.”
“I suppose I have you to thank for bringing us together.”
“It wasn’t a hard choice for me. And it’s turned out well. I’m happy she has someone like you to spend time with.”
She smoothed an invisible wrinkle from her shirt. As much as I wanted her to stay with me forever, I had to let her go home.
“Well,” I said at the same time she said, “Congrats—”
I put my hand out for her to continue.
“On the deal…” she finished. She opened her car door. “See you tomorrow.”
“I’ll text you the details,” I said.
She smiled and got into the car.
I took a few steps away to allow her enough space to back out of the driveway. And without another glance, she drove away.
I couldn’t help but think that less than a week ago, we’d had sex. The visceral images flashed in my mind as if they just happened. I could still feel her under me, surrendering to me.
“Daddy!” Gina called from the front door.
“Yeah, honey. I’m coming,” I said, turning away from Jess and headed inside to spend some quality time with Gina.
Later that night, after putting Gina to bed, I went straight into my bedroom to change. This week kicked my butt, and I wanted to get to bed early, knowing tomorrow would be another long one.
After getting into bed, I flipped on the television to the news. Within minutes, it was hard to keep my eyes open.
Movement from the other side of the room caught my attention. I sat up and squinted through the darkness