He smirks at me when I look into his eyes and rub my thumbs across my nipple piercings. It doesn’t take much. That’s enough to send me over. I come, trembles overtaking my body as he pushes me through the orgasm, his fingers quick and sure as he strums my clit. He wrings every last tremor from me, and then he lifts up, pushes my knee toward my chest and puts his weight on it, and he f**ks me harder. I cry out, but his lips cover mine, and he whispers, “Shh.”

I try to hold it back, but I can’t. So, he keeps my mouth busy with his tongue as he pumps in and out, his movements suddenly frantic and quick.

“I’m going to come inside you.”

I nod. I have kept my eyes closed because the sensation of him moving inside me is more than I can bear. But when I open my eyes and find his boring into mine, my breath leaves me and a warm wash of pleasure takes me over the top. It’s nothing like the clitoral orgasm of moments before, but it’s pleasant and so f**king hot. And only then, when I am spent and lax beneath him, does he finally come.

“I’m coming,” he warns. “Coming inside you.” His eyes close, and he grunts, his dick pulsing inside me almost painfully, but it’s a good bite. Definitely not a bad one.

He lets my leg drop, falls onto my chest, and kisses my shoulder, the weight of him so welcome that I never want him to move. But he pulls back. I grab for him, and he dodges my hands, saying, “I’ll be right back.” He kisses my cheek and moves away. I see him slide on a pair of boxers, and he dashes into the bathroom. He comes back a minute later with a warm, wet washcloth, and he cleans me up. “Sit up just a little,” he says. He pulls one of his T-shirts over my head and then slides my panties on me. It’s like he’s dressing a doll, but I’m totally worthless for at least the next few minutes. “I like you f**k drunk,” he says with a grin.

“What the f**k are you doing?” I ask, my voice groggy and thick.

“Hayley will be up in a minute.”

I toss the covers back. “I should go to my room.”

He pulls the covers back over me and climbs in with me. “No,” he says. “Stay.”

I am too well worked to protest. I can barely think, much less complain. I roll over, and he tosses his leg over my bottom and pulls me against him. His fingers tickle up and down my back as I fall back asleep. Quiet comfort overtakes me, and I welcome it.

I feel a tap, tap, tap on the side of my nose and open my eyes to find blue eyes just like Paul’s staring into mine. “Hayley,” I say. I wipe my eyes. The sun is just barely up.

Paul sits up on his elbow and looks over me. “Go back to sleep, Hayley,” he says.

“The sun is shining,” she says.

“No, it’s not,” he tells her. Then he reaches over me, grabs her, and pulls her over my body. She lands between us and snuggles into the spot. She closes her eyes and yawns. “Go back to sleep,” he tells her again.

She rolls onto her side, facing me, and she looks at me for a second, her gaze curious but not at all sad or mad or any of the things I had been worried about. Her little-girl breaths are close enough that they fall on my chin and make me feel all warm and melty inside.

Paul’s toes tangle with mine, and he pulls my foot to rest between his down at the bottom of the bed. He’s touching me. He wants to touch me. I extend my hand toward his head, and he adjusts my palm to rest beneath his cheek and closes his eyes. There’s a slight smile on his face as he falls back asleep.

And there’s one on mine, too. It’s an almost giddy feeling of peacefulness. I never imagined peace to come with quite so much bemusement. But it has. And I like it.

###

I wake up to find a foot shoved hard against my forehead. I open my eyes and see that Paul has one shoved into his stomach, but he’s sleeping through it. Hayley has turned herself around and is facing the end of the bed.

I move slowly, trying not to wake her as I adjust her foot, but the minute I move, her head jerks up, and she says, “The sun is shining.”

Paul chuckles. His voice is nasally from sleep, and he grunts when Hayley’s knee pokes into his groin. “Be still,” he warns. He looks at me. “Sleeping with Hayley is like sleeping with an octopus wearing sneakers that has really knobby knees. I should have warned you.”

Hayley sits up, and she’s absolutely adorable with her hair sticking out in all sorts of directions. She looks like she’s been tumbled in a dryer. Her cheeks are pink, and her eyes are bright and shiny. She is all things beautiful and innocent, all wrapped in one adorable little package. I can’t help but wonder if I was ever that naive, that trusting.

Probably not.

“Can we go get waffles?” Hayley asks.

Paul looks at me and arches a brow. “Waffles?”

“With strawberries and chocolate chips and whipped cream.” She licks her lips. “Then we can go to the park.”

Paul’s eyes cloud for a moment, and I can’t help but wonder what that’s about. But Hayley starts to wiggle her feet in excitement, so I grab one of them and tickle her toes. She laughs and falls back onto the bed squealing.

“Waffles?” Paul asks. He plumps his pillow under his head and stares at me.

I nod. “Waffles.”

“The park?” he asks. He doesn’t look me in the eye when he says that, and it’s odd. Maybe he’s just distracted by Hayley being in bed with us? I don’t know.

“Sure.” I toss the covers off and stretch.