Come to Me Softly (Closer to You #2)(17)
Author: A.L. Jackson

An image of my own mother’s face flashed, pressing into my consciousness. Pure and devastating, the perfection of her face. Soft. Compassionate. Filled with all the love Aly was hoping for. She’d been a good mother. The best.

God, she’d been the best.

And I wondered if she’d ever felt like this. Scared. Unsure. Not knowing what the future held.

I swallowed around the emotion wedged in my throat. Aly was going to love like her. “This is going to be the luckiest kid in the world, Aly, just because it gets to call you Mom.”

Aly nodded against my head, her hands coming up to cover mine. I leaned down and pressed my mouth to hers.

Wound myself one notch tighter, climbed one rung higher.

I pulled away and squeezed her a little before I reluctantly let her go.

Christopher was looking at me like he didn’t recognize who I was.

Which shouldn’t have been that big of a surprise because I sure as hell didn’t recognize myself. Not around Aly.

She unlocked something in me I didn’t know I had. Revealed it.

Or maybe she created it. Same way this girl had been created for me.

Cash and Fiona were wrapped up in each other, smiling across at us.

I just let my head drop back to Aly’s again, wishing we were alone so I could show her exactly what she made me feel.

Christopher slammed his empty down on the table. Smacking his lips, he blew out an exaggerated sigh. “All right, enough of this sappy shit.” He pointed an accusatory finger around the table. “You all do realize I’m sitting here, right? I mean, don’t worry about the single guy, or anything.”

Aly laughed, leaning back in the booth so she could see Christopher. “Ha . . . like that’s anyone’s fault here but your own.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, here we go again.” His smile was soft on my girl; then he shifted his eyes to me. “I do believe it’s time I kicked your boy’s ass here in pool, though.”

A low chuckle rumbled from my chest. “Pretty sure of yourself there, my friend.”

“That I am.” Christopher smirked and gestured with his chin for us to get up. I climbed from the booth and extended my hand to Aly. “Come here, baby.”

Aly slid that gorgeous body out from under the booth. She was so f**king tall in those shoes, so damned sexy I didn’t know how to stop the clash of thoughts that clattered through my brain. Because one second I was picturing her as this sweet mom and the next I was picturing her sweating under me.

Aly looked at me from under those long dark lashes, and bit her lip to contain her blush, like she’d just witnessed the salacious scene I’d just fantasized playing like a reel in my eyes.

She tipped up her chin and stepped closer to kiss me in a way that wasn’t exactly proper for a public place. Not that I minded all that much.

I groaned and mumbled the words at her mouth, “You are too much.”

“And I will never get enough,” she whispered back.

“I’m holding you to that when we get home.”

She bumped me with her front. “You’d better,” she taunted a little more.

Desire barreled through my veins.

Motherfucking trigger.

Because this girl really was too much, sent my senses spiraling, left me unsure how to deal with the things she made me feel. Like I wanted to hug her until she couldn’t breathe. Protect her so she always would. Love her until she couldn’t see.

“And again . . . right here, ass**les.” With his finger, Christopher drew a big circle over his head, feigning offense as he climbed to standing behind us. But there was no denying what lit in his expression, everything about it declaring how happy it made him that his sister was happy.

Emotion fluttered through my chest like a riot of birds.

I had to admit I’d made her that way, at least on some level.

And that shit scared me.

“Come on, let’s go grab a table.” Christopher wove through the crowd, Cash and Fiona right behind him. I smiled down at Aly, wrapped her hand back up in mine, and placed a quick kiss to the back of her hand.

I zigzagged us through the throng, sweaty bodies pressed in on all sides. People laughed and talked too loud, fighting to lift their voices above the noise. I squeezed Aly’s hand, just making sure she was fine. She squeezed it back.

I couldn’t help but grin at the little secret conversation we were sharing, like it was just the two of us against the f**king world.

We ducked under an archway into the separate room tucked back at the far end of the bar. Five worn pool tables sat beneath dim lights that hung from the ceiling. A haze thickened the dingy air like a city storm hanging on the ceiling, the faces gathered around the tables little more than silhouettes in the muted glow.

We all stood along the far wall, chatting while we waited for a table to free up.

A waitress came in and we ordered another round of drinks. By the time she returned, a group was finishing their game and gestured for us to take their spot.

“All right, are you ready to make this game legit?” Christopher dug into his back pocket for his wallet and pulled out a twenty. He slapped it down on the pool table.

With a wry smile, I shook my head. “You really want to go there tonight?”

“What, you don’t think you can take it?” He squeezed his shoulders together, lifting his hands, palms up. “I mean, if you don’t want to play with the big boys, I’m sure Aly or Fiona would be a good match for you.”

“Hey,” Aly shot out in defense. The insult earned him a smack to the back of his head.

Laughing, Christopher stumbled back, gripping the back of his head to guard himself. “You are a feisty one, Aly. I’ll give you that.” Then he dug himself in deeper. “Doesn’t mean you can play pool.”

A taunting grin split my mouth as I finished off my beer, and I shrugged like I felt bad for him. I sauntered over to the table, every second of this feeling like old times. The good ones. The ones that made me want to stay. I tossed a mocking glare at him, all too willing to take the bait. “I think I can handle it. I just didn’t want you to embarrass yourself or anything. But since you talked down to my girl, I’m going to make an exception.”

Christopher grinned like I just made his f**king day. “Oh, it’s on, bro.”

“Count me out of this.” Shaking her head, Aly walked over to where Cash and Fiona were snuggled up at a high round table set up along the wall, before she tossed over her shoulder, “You two are never going to learn.” It sounded like she was scolding us, but she was all smiles because she was just cool like that.