Page 94 of For Your Consideration

My heart squeezed as I buried my face in his chest, pressing myself as close to him as I could. I wasn’t even sure what to say as he rested his chin on top of my head.

“Sophie likes her bunny.” I could feel him look over at her, one of his arms moving gently over my back. I nodded again, taking a deep breath. “Sweetheart, I need you to say something.”

I pulled back to look up at him. “You want us to stay?”

“Whenever you want, Sutton. You’re always welcome here.”

I pushed my lips together and nodded a few times, gathering my thoughts. “I just…” I shook my head. “Thank you.”

It’s not what I wanted to say. I wanted to say that asking him to be my friend had more to do with my fear of letting someone in and then getting hurt. That since I had Sophie I kept to myself to protect us both. That I felt like my life was a lot to ask someone to take on. That no one aside from Iris had cared about me like this. That every selfless thing he did for me cracked the armor I had around me.

The way he seemed to care for my daughter made me want to weep because she deserved to have that kind of person in her life looking out for her.

But I couldn’t say any of that.

He watched, clearly aware that I was editing myself, but instead of pushing me, a soft smile came to his face as he leaned down, pressed another kiss to my forehead, and then pulled away.

“Be right back,” he muttered as he started out the door, but then he stopped and turned to look at me. “You can kiss me to shut me up anytime.”

I let out a laugh that was a little rocky because I’d been crying and my brain was in turmoil but his comment distracted me. “Grizzly, you mostly grunt and stare at me. I never have to shut you up.”

“Hmm.” He seemed to give the comment some serious thought. “Good incentive to talk more.” With a small smirk, he left the room.

I turned around, letting out a big breath as I took in the space again. It was beautiful. And exactly what I had saved on my Pinterest board for when I could eventually get a place where Sophie had her own room.

Suspiciously similar, actually.

Sophie started clapping and looking over at me so I focused on her. She had the bunny grasped in both hands.

“What’s that, Soph?” She looked up at me with a toothless smile. “Do you like the bunny? Can you say bun-ny?” She just stared up at me, saying gibberish back. She was so adorable. I reached out, brushing her little hairs out of her face as she sat there, content.

“Here.”

I turned around to see Asher holding out a T-shirt.

I lifted an eyebrow but didn’t reach for it. “What’s that?”

“A shirt,” he grumbled.

“Mm-hmm. Doesn’t answer my question.”

“It’s to replace your other one.”

“My other one?”

“Sutton.” He kind of growled out my name.

“What?” I asked, letting out a little laugh and smiling at him. “I don’t understand why you’re giving me a T-shirt.”

“You sleep in your ex’s,” he answered almost begrudgingly.

“Yeah, because it’s big and comfy.”

His jaw ticked a little at that answer. “Right, and this will be big on you since you’re tiny.”

“Rude, just because I’m not a six-something giant doesn’t mean I’m short.”

“You’re five-five.”