Page 50

Fifty

Jade

Henry and Bodhi are waiting for me at the bottom of the security gate of The Nest. The first thing I notice is that there isn’t a sign on the door proclaiming it The Nest this time.

“Hey, guys.” I wave.

“Hi, Jade!” Bodhi runs over to me and then falls in line to walk with me back over to his dad.

Henry pulls me closer when I don’t give him a kiss hello. “Close your eyes, Bodhi.”

He grabs the front of my coat, tugs me to him and kisses me. No tongue of course. “I missed you last night,” he murmurs in my ear.

We didn’t want Bodhi to feel as if he’s being left out, so we planned a day to spend with him since we shared our news of being together.

“Are we ready?” I ask.

At the zoo, they have a magical holiday lights festival, and I figured Bodhi would enjoy it.

“Are the elephants going to have lights on them?” Bodhi asks.

Henry rustles his dark hair. “No, just lights on the fences and stuff.”

We get into the Uber, with Bodhi between Henry and me. This is dating like I’ve never done it before. It’s almost as if I’m dating two men with very different interests. Especially when Henry’s hand runs along my neck and shoulders, causing a rush of goose bumps under my coat.

The Uber stops once we reach the zoo, and Henry gets out first.

“I’m so excited. We’ve never been.” Bodhi looks up at me, grabbing my hand and Henry’s with his other one.

I meet Henry’s gaze. “Are you sure you’re okay with this?” There’s a very real chance Henry will be recognized, and he’s not wearing a ball cap to even try to disguise himself.

“It’s fine. Maybe in the dark they’ll think I’m a lookalike.”

Jeez, I just love him so much.

Henry goes to get his wallet, but I pull out my phone. “I’ve got this one.” I bring up the tickets I bought earlier and show it to the attendant.

“You tricked me,” Henry says, coming along behind me and whispering it in my ear. “This demands payback.”

I close my eyes because this man and his voice bring me to the edge of want.

“Say thanks to Jade,” Henry tells Bodhi.

“Thanks, Jade.”

“You’re welcome. I hope it’s as much fun as they say it is. I haven’t been here in a long time.”

Again, we fall in line, but then Bodhi sees the merry-go-round and points, jumping up and down. “Daddy! Can I go?”

“Sure.” We head over to the merry-go-round.

“Jade, will you come too?” Bodhi asks.

“Of course.”

We all get onto the ride. Bodhi gets on a horse, and Henry and I take the bench behind him.

“Hold on tight,” Henry says.

“He can ride on his own?” I settle in next to him.

“Yeah, he even rides by himself sometimes. But he wants to be with you, and so here we are.” Henry puts his arm around my shoulders.

“So… I saw you put up some photos from the Lakeshore Trail night on your website,” Henry says.

“You did?”

“Do you think I don’t check up on you? I get alerts when you add new images.”

I drop my head into his shoulder and groan. “That’s embarrassing. Here I was thinking I was being sly.”

“They’re beautiful.”

“Were you my one sale?”

He chuckles and puts his finger under my chin, raising it up to look at him. Then he places a kiss on my lips, and I prepare for him to say yes, which means I’ve lost the customer base I had when I stopped wanting to photograph anything. “No.”

I kiss him again.

“What’s that for?”

“Because you didn’t buy my photo. Someone else did.” I kiss him again.

“Remind me next time not to buy something.” He sounds confused, and I love it.

“Just no pictures. If you want to buy me anything else, I’m game.” I smile sweetly.

He veers closer and whispers in my ear. “I really wish you were naked with your pussy bare in front of me so I could lick you from top to bottom.”

My entire body heats, and I push him back. He laughs and slides his tongue out to lick his bottom lip.

“There are kids around,” I whisper, but he doesn’t stop laughing.

“That’s why I whispered,” he says softly.

The ride starts up, and I take my phone out to try to get a few good shots of Bodhi on top of his horse.

During our walk through the zoo, Henry can’t keep his hands off me. They’re on my ass when Bodhi walks ahead of us. He sneaks a kiss as Bodhi’s enthralled with the elephants, and by the time we’re at the store, I’m ready to take him into a corner and suck his dick. Obviously, I wouldn’t since Bodhi is here. But that’s how turned on he’s gotten me while walking around the zoo in cold windy weather.

Henry buys Bodhi some stickers and a stuffed animal before we leave, and I call up an Uber to get us. I kind of like the feeling of organizing and paying for an activity for us all.

We arrive back at Henry’s condo, and I’m ready to say goodbye, but Bodhi asks me to come inside.

“Can you read me a story?”

Henry’s eyebrows lift.

Of course I will. Anything to spend more time with them. “Sure thing.”

Henry’s hand intertwines with mine as we walk up to the security gate that now has a cardboard sign on it again that reads The Nest.

“They did it again, Daddy.” Bodhi rolls his eyes. “Bet it’s Tweetie.” He shakes his head.

“Observant kid you have,” I say.

“I’d be worried if he didn’t figure out what Tweetie was like.”

We both laugh.

Henry enters the code, and we make our way to their condo.

“How about you get in the shower?” Henry says to Bodhi as he hangs all our jackets on the hooks near the doorway. “I put your pajamas for tonight on the top of the dresser.”

“You’ll be here, right?” Bodhi asks me.

“Yep. I promise I’ll stay right here.” I point to the ground.

“Be right back.” He runs into his room, grabs his pajamas and then goes into the bathroom and slams the door.

“Thank God.” Henry walks over to me, caging me against the wall, his lips smashing to mine as his fingers delve just under my sweater so he’s touching bare skin.

I meet him with just as much fervor and feel his desire deep down in my bones. If only there wasn’t a small child showering in the other room who could walk out at any minute.

I lightly push his stomach and slide my lips from his. “We shouldn’t. Bodhi could come out at any moment.”

Henry ignores me, his lips traveling down my jaw as he locks me to the wall with his hips. “We have at least five minutes. I’ve been dying to get my hands and lips on you all night.”

I close my eyes when he sucks my earlobe into his mouth and his fingers inch higher, pulling down my bra cup and squeezing my breast, tugging on my nipple.

“Oh god,” I say, losing my willpower to stop this.

“I want to tear you out of these clothes, spread you open, and devour you.”

He pushes my other bra cup down and both of his expert hands play with my breasts while he sears scorching kisses along my jaw and neck.

“I want you on your knees sucking on my cock while I fist your hair.”

“Jesus, you’re killing me.” I grind my core against his thigh. “How long of a shower does he take?”

He chuckles into my neck. “Not long enough for me to have you the way I want to have you right now.”

“Then I’ll settle for a hot make-out session.”

“That’s my girl,” he whispers, sliding his tongue up my neck.

I wedge my hand between us and cup him over his jeans. His bulge is hard and prominent. I love that he’s just as turned on as I am.

Then it’s game on—he groans, pushing his thigh against my pussy, and my hips rise and grind, unable to get enough friction to finish myself off. Our kiss is crazed and wild. It’s the hottest make-out session I’ve ever had until we hear a doorknob turn.

Henry steps back and keeps his back to Bodhi.

Bodhi doesn’t notice anything though, only rushing over to me and grabbing my hand. “Wanna see my room?”

I accept his hand and let him lead me into his room while hoping my lips aren’t too swollen.

The walls are painted a navy blue, and his twin bed has a plaid comforter, his dresser a walnut wood. It’s a boy’s room in all ways.

My gaze travels to his wall of postcards. “Whoa, Bodhi, have you been to all these places?”

He gets on his bed and crosses his legs. “No, those are from my great-grandparents. They go on a lot of trips and send me a postcard from each one.”

“They’ve really traveled a lot.” Most of them are from within the United States, but some are international.

“Yeah, Daddy sends them away.”

I turn around and look to the door, finding Henry leaning his shoulder against the frame, watching us. “They always wanted to travel.” He shrugs.

And they couldn’t because they had to raise him, are the words he doesn’t say.

He foots the bill. Of course he does, as a way of showing his appreciation for putting their life on hold.

“That’s really nice.” I continue my journey around his room and right next to his bed is the picture I gave him of the sunset in Zimbabwe. “Oh, you have it up.”

“Daddy put it up right after my birthday. Oh!” He hops out of bed and out of the room.

Henry steps in and leans his back to the wall. “I like you here,” he says, glancing around. “In his room.”

I swivel around and arch an eyebrow. “More than in yours?”

He grins. “Don’t put words in my mouth.”

“I almost forgot.” Bodhi runs into the room with his bag from the zoo, dumping it on the bed and pulling out the stickers he got.

“It’s not time for playing. Let Jade read you a story, and then it’s bed,” Henry says.

“Just one thing.”

He opens the stickers and pulls out the sheet with a bunch of elephants on it, taking the biggest one off. Then he perfectly positions the elephant sticker on the glass of the frame on the opposite side of the little elephant in the picture.

“There. Now Jade’s in the picture too.”

My heart squeezes, and my eyes water. I turn my head to find Henry with his mouth parted in awe right before his eyes meet mine, and he smiles.

Bodhi grabs a book from his small bookcase and slides under the covers as if it’s any ordinary night, and he didn’t just make me feel like I fit, like I have a place in this little family.

I think I like myself in this room, too. This kid has stolen my heart and made me want something I didn’t know I was looking for. Or maybe it was what I was looking for all along.