The Butterfly Effect (Boggy Creek Valley 1)

Then the realist in me showed up. The mom. The grown up. The woman who had just walked out of a bad relationship and vowed to not tumble headfirst into another one until I was sure. And I knew Aiden had demons he was fighting. He hid it, but I knew they were there.

I needed to ask myself: was I willing to open my heart and trust him with it? If I fell, would he be able to catch me?

But then again, didn’t he need to know the same about me? If he needed to heal, and I needed to heal, why couldn’t we heal together?

Before I had a chance to think too hard about it, I said, “I’ll ask Lacy. My parents will ask too many questions, and I don’t want to answer them right now.”

A lazy smile grew over his face, and he reached his hand behind my neck and pulled me to him. Our lips met, and before I knew it, I was straddling him. I dove my fingers into his short brown hair, moaning as he wrapped his arms tightly around me. The feeling of his hard-on pressed against my core nearly made me come on the spot. The only thing keeping me on the ground were the sounds of Ben playing next to us.

Then, as if to tell us he wasn’t having any of it, Ben stood.

Aiden must have been watching him from the corner of his eye like I had been. Our mouths broke apart, and we both turned to look at him.

“He’s standing,” I whispered.

“Is he going to walk?” Aiden asked in a hushed voice.

Ben’s little eyes went from me to Aiden and then back to me.

“Oh. My. God. Aiden, he’s going to walk.”

Aiden pushed me off of him, causing me to do a pretty impressive roll as he moved back to give Ben room to take his first steps alone.

“Come here, buddy, you can do it!” Aiden said, prompting Ben to take a step.

I quickly moved next to Aiden on my knees as I smiled. “Are you going to walk, baby boy? Come to Mommy.”

Ben frowned. We had changed the rules of the game, and he wasn’t happy.

“Why isn’t he moving?” Aiden asked.

“I’m…I’m not sure. Why does he look so mad?”

Aiden and I turned and looked at each other.

“He liked us kissing?” I asked.

With a shake of his head, Aiden said, “He liked you sitting on me. He thought we were playing. Sit on me again.”

I felt my mouth drop open. “You want me to sit on you again so we can get him to take his first steps?”

He nodded. “I’m impressed he’s been standing there as long as he has. Hurry!” Aiden reached for me and pulled me to him.

“Aiden, I don’t think—”

Ben laughed, and we both stilled.

“He does think we’re playing,” I said.

“And he wants in on it.”

My heart felt like it broke in two. For nearly a year, my son had needed a father. He had Hunter and my own dad, but he needed something more. And a part of me panicked. I was letting Aiden into our lives. Ben was falling head over heels for him, and what if things didn’t work out?

Suddenly, Aiden tickled my stomach, and I laughed as I pushed his hand away. “What are you doing?”

He did it again, and Ben laughed, nearly falling back onto his behind. Then, he took an unsteady step.

I gasped and reached out for him.

“Come on, buddy, you can do it,” Aiden urged again.

Before my eyes, Ben took his first two steps and then fell to his hands and knees.

I jumped off of Aiden and reached for him. “Ben! That was amazing! You did it! You did it!” I held him to me and hugged him as I covered him in kisses, making him laugh.

When I looked over at Aiden, he had an expression on his face I couldn’t read at all, but I swore he had tears in his eyes.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He nodded and smiled. “Would it be okay if I stayed at your house tonight? And we kept Ben home?”

And just like that, whatever remaining walls I still had around my heart cracked open and fell to the ground. Aiden hadn’t even been home two full days, and I was lost to him. This time, I had so much more on the line than simply my heart. But I knew in the very depths of my soul—he was worth the jump.

With a smile, I said, “It would be more than okay.”

Willa

I chewed on my lip as I waited for Bree’s response. She leaned against my counter and smiled but said nothing.

“Are you going to tell me what I’m doing is wrong?” I asked.

“If you’re coming to me for advice on how to behave like a proper woman, you’re barking up the wrong tree, Willa. Yesterday afternoon, I fucked your brother in the passenger seat of my little sports car and asked him to use his handcuffs on me. I’m as far from proper as they come.”