Page 117 of Touch the Sky

Tess’s eyes widen, and she stares straight between my legs.

“God dammit,” she mutters. “You’re beautiful.”

Whatever dumb line I was about to say to tease her for staring dies in my throat.

I didn’t expect her to call me that.

Not many people have ever called me that. I’ve gotten cute, hot, sexy, or even handsome from the girls I’ve dated, but beautiful never really came up.

I didn’t even know I liked being called beautiful until just now.

“Was that okay?” Tess asks, worry crossing her face.

I have no idea what my own face is doing. I just know I haven’t ever felt this seen by someone before—which is ridiculous considering she was staring into my pussy, not my soul, but all of a sudden, it feels like I’ve stripped off more than just my clothes.

“Yeah,” I tell her. My throat feels thick, my voice nearly cracking. “It’s okay. It’s just, um, nice to hear that.”

She sits up straight and holds out her hands.

“Come here,” she says, her voice soft.

I let her grab hold of my wrists to pull me down on top of her.

It’s heaven.

Finally, there’s nothing left between us. No clothes, and no excuses. There’s just her skin on my skin, her heart beating right next to mine.

I belong here.

It’s a crazy, stupid, reckless thing to think, but I think it anyway.

I belong here with her like this.

I bracket her head with my arms and hold her gaze. Those green eyes swallow me up, and I let them.

I open my mouth, about to say something I know I’ll regret.

Then the front door bangs open.

“Mom!”

We both freeze as a pair of small footsteps come scrambling into the house way ahead of schedule.

“Are you here, Mom?”

Tess’s face turns whiter than the bed sheets. I look down at her for another second, my own panic reflected in her wide-eyed stare, before I somehow manage to snap myself into action.

I yank the comforter out from under us and throw it over both our bodies just in time.

Shel comes bursting into the room, moth antennae jiggling and sitting a little lopsided on her head.

“Mom! Look at all this candy!”

She skids to a halt, the pillowcase in her hands landing with athunkon the floor.

“M-mom?”

Her gaze darts between Tess’s face and mine. She blinks rapidly, shaking her head as she takes a step back from the bed.