No One Else (The Ladies Who Brunch 2)

“Sounds good.” Nerves spike in my veins instantly, even though the adrenaline coursing through me is the good kind.

For the next hour, I watch Ethan shout at the television every time there’s a bad call made, and he and Oliver jump up and down and cheer when a touchdown is scored. I laugh at their shenanigans as Ethan shows him how to properly celebrate a touchdown with a signature move—Oliver’s is roaring like a lion since that seems to be his obsession since the zoo—and Ethan’s is a little dance on his tiptoes.

By the time the game is over, it’s slightly past Oliver’s bedtime, but he insists on one bedtime story instead of his usual three.

“I want Amelia to read to me,” he says.

I glance back at Ethan to make sure he’s okay with it, and he gives me a nod in return.

“I would love to read to you, Oliver.”

We settle into his bed, and I read Love You Forever, fighting back tears as I say the words of the story out loud. I’ve never read this book before, but it should definitely come with a warning that its message will send you into emotional turmoil, especially if you’re about to start your period.

When I finish, I close the book as Oliver leans up against me. “I love you forever, Amelia,” he whispers as his eyes shut, and then more tears begin to fall.

Closing my eyes, I pull him in closer. “I love you too, Oliver.” Kissing him on the head, I slowly slide out of the bed and tuck him under the blankets, just in time to see Ethan standing in the doorway, watching me.

As he closes the door behind us, he leads me to the couch and hands me a tissue. “Are you all right?”

“Um, yeah. I think so. Damn, your kid can lay it on thick.”

Ethan laughs, but it’s reserved. “Yes, he can.” And then he runs a hand through his hair. “He really loves you. He talks about you all the time. I swear, he likes you more than me.”

“I love him too, Ethan. I hope it was okay that I said it back…but seriously, he means so much to me. You both do.”

“Yes, it’s okay.” Ethan stands from the couch and then crouches down in front of me, his eyes bouncing back and forth between mine as he smiles. “I’m falling in love with you too, babe…”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I don’t know why I keep fighting it. You being here with us just feels right. I should have known you would be the woman to put me in my place in more ways than one.”

Laughter leaves my lips, but all I care about in that moment is making sure that Ethan knows I feel the same way. “I love you too, Ethan.”

He rises from the couch and climbs over me as I lay down. “I don’t deserve you.”

“You keep saying that, but yes, you do. You deserve to be happy…and that’s what you make me too—happy. My entire world feels more meaningful with you two in it.”

Our lips meet in a reverent kiss that I feel in my soul, and in a matter of minutes, our clothes are gone and our bodies are connected.

“Amelia,” he groans as we move in sync. Our bodies say so much more than any words we’ve spoken tonight. “I want to feel you, baby.”

“I want that too.”

Ethan wastes no time sliding into me without a condom this time, and we both moan as we absorb the new sensation.

He makes love to me on the couch—slow, intense, all-consuming love. Our hands grip and squeeze, our lips move over delicate skin and over each other’s mouths, and Ethan builds us both up slowly before we find our release together.

This man has turned my world around in the past four months, him and his son. He’s given me the possibility of forever with someone that I feel is my person, the man I’m meant to be with and his child that I’m meant to love—which is why the bomb I discover two days later completely takes me by surprise and threatens all of our happiness, even though I should have seen the warning signs coming from a mile away.