Page 16 of Finding Home (Willow Valley #1)

SIXTEEN

EVERETT

I ’m currently curled up on the couch with Lila while Tangled plays on the TV.

I’m only half paying attention; the rest of my focus is on the front door as I wait for Chloe to walk through it.

Knowing she’s now living under my roof has this protective instinct kicking in, a need to know she’s safe.

I know we’re in a small town and she’s just at her parents’, but it’s not dampening this feeling.

I breathe a sigh of relief when I hear her key in the lock, and I watch her walk in a second later. She’s carrying a massive bowl with a lid and wearing a tentative smile as she looks at me.

Lila spots her and shuffles off the couch, making her way to Chloe to wrap her arms around her legs, and I watch as a forced brightness takes over her. Not one that says she’s unhappy about the hug from Lila, but rather that she has something else on her mind.

I push up from the couch and say, “Okay, Peanut. It’s time for bed. Say goodnight.”

She looks at me with her pouty expression, and all I have to do is tilt my head before she says goodnight to Chloe and makes her way up to her room.

As I pass Chloe, I brush my knuckles up her arm slightly, watching her hold her breath as a shiver travels through her, and whisper, “I’ll be right back. We can talk then.”

She turns her head slightly, just enough to catch my eyes, and the look in hers, a mix of surprise and relief, has my heart racing. She’s looking at me as if she feels seen. It makes me simultaneously want to puff out my chest and wrap her in my arms.

I follow Lila upstairs, going through our bed time routine and kissing her on the forehead before I join Chloe in the living room.

She’s changed from her jeans and T-shirt into a pair of oversize sweats and a T-shirt that looks very much like it belongs to a man, and I have to hold back the growl that grows in my throat.

Get your shit together, man. She’s not yours. You don’t get to be possessive over her, no matter how much you want to be.

She’s sitting on the couch cross-legged as she types out something on her phone. When I sit at the other end of the couch, she locks it and starts spinning it between her index finger and thumb as she gnaws on her bottom lip. I wait her out, knowing she’ll eventually say what’s on her mind.

“So…” she starts before twisting and facing me. “I may have told my mom I moved in here…” she trails off, and I nod. I wasn’t expecting her to keep this a secret. “And she may have insisted I bring you and Lila over for dinner with her and my dad.”

That shocks me. As much as I should have been prepared for her parents to want to know the person she’s moved in with, I still wasn’t expecting an invitation to dinner at their place.

“I know meeting my family is…weird. I’m literally just living with you because I needed a place and you need someone to watch Lila and meeting family and parents is something people who date do, but I also know my mom and she’s persistent, and if we don’t go over there, she’s going to show up at the fire house and give you shit about why don’t you want to come over and enjoy her home cooked food and company, and I guarantee you then Ryder and the rest of the guys are going to invite themselves over, too, because I know they love her cooking and any opportunity to eat it, they’re jumping.

” Her chest is heaving as she finishes her long-winded rambling, and I can’t help the way my mouth tugs up in the corner as I fight my grin.

Knowing the men of my fire station have enjoyed dinners at Chloe’s family home makes me want to punch something, especially with how close Chloe and Thomspon seem to be.

There’s no way I’m going to give them an opportunity to crash this dinner either, not when it’s a chance to learn more about Chloe, even when I shouldn’t want to.

“We’ll be there,” I say, and she drops her phone in her lap. “I’m sure your mom wants to do this as soon as possible,” I say, and she nods. “We can do either Friday or Saturday, whichever works for her, just let me know.”

She stares at me, dumbfounded. “You’re willing to have dinner with my parents?”

I lift my right shoulder. “If I had heard Lila had just moved in with someone I had never met, I’d want to meet them, too.”

She nods slowly, her teeth still dug into her bottom lip. “You’re gonna meet my parents,” she says under her breath in a way I can tell she didn’t mean for me to hear. Giving her head a quick shake, she refocuses on me. “I’ll let my mom know.”

She pushes off the couch and starts to head towards her bedroom, stopping just before she reaches the hallway to spin and face me. “I probably should have asked this when I agreed to move in and watch Lila, but are either of you allergic to anything?”

“No.”

“Okay.” She nods and quickly turns, leaving me all alone in the living room.

I drop my head back against the couch and sigh.

I need to get my head on straight if I’m not going to fuck this all up.

I jog upstairs and quickly change into a pair of gym shorts, popping my head into Lila’s room to check on her before heading down to the basement.

I turn my music on loud enough that it fills the room, but not so loud the girls can hear it upstairs.

I start on the treadmill, building up to a run, getting my heart pounding as I push myself to go faster.

When I finally start to slow down, I’m dripping in sweat, but I’m not done yet.

My mind is still thinking about shit it shouldn’t be.

The thought of Chloe sleeping upstairs, in my house.

The way she looked this morning in her pyjamas, and the way that droplet of water clung to her freshly washed skin last night and dripped between her breasts.

How I thought about lapping that single drop of water up with my tongue.

With that thought, I hit the weights, pushing myself to my limit, grunting as I do rep after rep, feeling my muscles strain .

As I place the weights down, I hear a sharp intake of breath and look up to see Chloe standing halfway down the stairs, watching me wide-eyed and mouth agape.

I stand. Holding eye contact with her, I grab my towel and slowly wipe my face before using it dry my chest, and I watch her throat bob as she swallows.

I remember the feeling of her eyes on me that night. The way they traced my every muscle when I took off my shirt. Somehow, this feels so much better, and this time she’s fully dressed.

I take a step closer, and her eyes widen.

“I um…” she starts, and I take another step.

“I heard noise when I got up to get water. Hot.” Her cheeks flush, and she stammers, “I was hot. Needed water. Not you’re hot.

I mean, you are, but I’m not saying that.

Oh. My. God. I’m just going to go to bed now.

Bye.” She quickly turns and rushes up the stairs.