Southern Chance (Southern 1)

We work side by side for the next five hours, only stopping to use the bathroom and drink, and when my phone rings, I pick it up without looking at the name. “Hey, baby.” His voice comes out soft. “Whatcha doing?”

“Working.” I stop what I’m doing to answer him, the smile on my face is automatic when he’s around or talking to me.

“I’m done for the day, and I was going to swing by and get you,” he says, and I’m about to make an excuse when the doorbell rings. “Answer the door.”

I walk to the door, and when I open it, he’s standing there with a bouquet of wildflowers. “For you.” He hands them to me, and my hand drops from my ear with the phone in it. He comes in and kisses me right away, crushing the flowers between us. “Missed you,” he says when he finally lets me go. “You ready?”

“She is,” Olivia says, and I look behind me, and she stands there with her feet crossed, watching us with a huge smile on her face. “Have fun.” She hands me my bag.

“What time are you getting Ethan?” I ask, and he looks at me, opening the truck door.

“As soon as you get in the truck.” He smiles and ushers me into the truck, and before I know what is going on, he pulls up to his house. “Savannah will be here in ten minutes.”

I look over at him. “I hope you don’t mind, but I don’t want to be there when she is around. I get that we all have to live in this situation, but I’m still …” I shake my head. “I understand if you want to bring me back home, and I can come when he is already here.”

“You can wait in the kitchen,” he says. “She never comes in.” I look over at him. “Even though we are co-parenting a child together, it’s still my place.” He looks down and then over at me. “It was just something that we never crossed. I don’t go into her place, and she doesn’t come into mine.”

“Do you want to go into her house?” I ask.

“Nope.” He gets out of the truck and so do I.

“I’m going to ask Casey to pick me up at nine,” I say when he unlocks the door.

“Kallie.” He says my name. “Let’s get through dinner,” he says.

“What are we eating?” I ask, and he shrugs while I shake my head. “I’ll see what I can come up with.” I’m about to walk away from him when he grabs my hand and pulls me to him.

“You haven’t kissed me,” he says softly, pushing my hair away from my face. “I missed you.”

“I missed you more,” I say, putting my hands around his waist, and my stomach flips and flops like a fish out of water. He tilts his head and leans in to kiss me, and when I think it’ll be a soft kiss, it’s needy with his tongue slipping into my mouth and his hands buried in my hair. I arch my back into him at the same time a car pulls up, and I hear a car door close. I look over and see Savannah getting out of her car with Ethan, and they just look at us. “Oh my God,” I say, and then I look at him.

“I’ll wait for you inside,” I say, and he just nods. “Also I might be throwing up in case you are looking for me.”

I walk into the house and close the door behind me. Walking into the kitchen, I open the fridge and spot a couple of things, and when I slam the fridge door, I come face-to-face with Ethan, and he’s alone. “Um, hi,” I say to him as he looks at me with eyes just like his mother.

“Hi,” he says, putting his bag on the couch and coming over.

“Where is your dad?” I ask, suddenly nervous and anxious and scared of this little boy.

“He’s outside with Mom,” he says, getting on the stool. “They are having an adult talk.” I look toward the door, not sure what to do.

“Um,” I stutter, “it’s nice to meet you.” He smiles at me.

“What’s for dinner?” he asks, not even giving a shit that I was just almost dry humping his dad while he sucked my face.

“I was going to do mac and cheese,” I say, and he nods at me.

“Cool,” he says, getting up. “I’m going to put my things away.” Grabbing his bag, he starts to walk, and then he stops. “You really are pretty,” he says and heads to his room.

“Thanks,” I whisper and let out the huge breath I was holding in.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Jacob

“Go inside, buddy,” Savannah says to Ethan. “Give me some sugar.” She smiles at him. He hugs her around her waist, and she bends down to kiss him. “Love you.”