Where We Belong (A Touch of Fate #1)(81)

I love you.

That was perfect.

You’re so beautiful.





“I AM SO MAD.”

Rolling over onto my side, I slide my hand around until it reaches Harley’s warm body. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I tug her against me, nuzzling my nose into her soft hair. The faint sound of giggling rings in my ears, but I’m so damn tired I can’t talk myself into caring enough to look and see where the sound is coming from.

Harley wore me out today. This girl is a f*cking tiger in the sack. My dick is probably going to hurt for days, but I don’t give a shit because it was worth it…she was worth it. After our afternoon romp in the kitchen, we ate dinner and then I ate dessert…off of Harley. It was the best f*cking dessert of my entire life. Then, we curled up together on her living room floor and fell asleep watching our favorite childhood movie The Goonies.

“Shhh…” I hear someone whisper way off in the distance.

“I am. I’m so mad. I can’t believe this, Quinn!” This time the voice seems closer, but I don’t have time to think about it because Harley stretches her lithe body and rolls over beneath my arm. She buries her head under my chin and I shiver when her soft hand slides up my stomach and settles on my chest.

“Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up.” Stretching my arm out, I let it flop across my face. “Get up. Get up. Get up. Get up.” Harley rolls out of my arms and I groan at the loss of her warm body against mine.

“I’m so mad at you, mom!” My eyes snap open when a sharp jab hits my ribs. Pushing up on my elbow, I rub my face.

“I’m mad at you too!” Looking up, I find myself face-to-face with a fuming Max. My gaze wanders to Harley, my mind still trying to wake up enough to understand what’s going on. Her wide eyes glance nervously down to my naked chest and…that’s all it takes. Sitting up, I tighten the blanket around my stomach, praying to God that Max—or Quinn—didn’t see more than they should have.

Please let me have pants on.

Please let me have pants on.

Shifting my legs I feel the harsh scratch of my jeans against my skin and I sigh with relief.

“This is great,” Quinn says, pulling her phone out of her pocket. Harley growls at her and Quinn throws her hands up in defeat as Max continues to stare daggers at us.

“I can’t believe you guys!”

Harley kneels in front of him, gripping his hands in hers, and he jerks away. Fuck. I probably just scarred the little dude for life. Granted, we weren’t doing anything but sleeping, but judging by the frown on his face, he isn’t happy about what he walked in on.

“Max, honey—”

“You camped out without me!” he yells, looking between Harley and me. “You had a campout, and I wasn’t invited!” Max’s little hands are balled into fists and they’re planted firmly on his hips. Throwing my head back, I laugh, relief washing through me. He wasn’t upset about finding me asleep with his mom, he’s upset because he thinks we were camping out and he was missing out on the fun.

“Max, this was not a campout.” Some of the anger drains from his face and he drops his arms to his sides. Harley looks at me, her eyes begging me not to screw this up.

“It’s not?” he asks.

“Heck no!” I shake my head. “I don’t camp out with girls.”

“Because they have cooties?” he asks hopefully.

I nod once, chuckling when Harley scoffs at Max’s ‘cootie’ comment. “That, and because I only camp out with really big, strong men, like you.”

Max’s eyebrows shoot to his hairline and he licks his lips, his big brown eyes bouncing from my face to Harley’s several times. He offers me a slow smile. “Y-you would camp out with me?”

My stomach hardens and my heart stomps wildly in my chest when I consider the fact that Max has never had another guy ask him to go camping. Shit, I use to love to go camping when I was his age. Some of the best memories I have with my dad and brother are of us pitching a tent in the backyard and roasting marshmallows over the fire pit while my dad told us scary stories. I know I’m not his dad, but I love this little boy, and I can tell deep in my heart that this is a pivotal moment between the two of us.

“You bet your as—er, butt I would!” Harley slaps my arm at my word fumble. “There isn’t anyone else I would want to go camping with.”

“Not even my mom?” he asks quickly, bouncing up and down on his toes.

“Nope,” I say, glancing at Harley and winking, “not even her.” I scrunch my nose as though the thought of camping with Harley disgusts me, and Max erupts in a fit of giggles right before he throws himself against my chest. Two little arms wrap around my neck, and for a split second I’m stunned still. Then I do the only thing I really want to do…I hold him.

“Thanks, Ty,” he says sincerely against my neck, right before he wrenches free from my arms. Jumping to his feet, he takes off down the hall.

“Wait! Where are you going?” I yell after him.

“To get my sleeping bag!” he hollers back.

Harley laughs, reaching her arms out to pull me against her. “That was so sweet of you,” she says, kissing the side of my neck.

“Sweet isn’t the right word,” Quinn quips. “More like sexy as f*cking hell. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to rip your clothes off as badly as I do right now.”