Time Will Tell

I knock on the door and it doesn’t take long for him to answer. As soon as he sees me he pulls me into a hug.

“I missed you so much, baby. I’m so sorry.”

I hug him back for a second and then pull away to look up at him. “I can’t do this anymore.” I say softly.

He stares back at me, surprised. “Can’t do us?” he asks me sadly.

I shake my head. “Can’t do this – this Reese thing. If I’m with you, you have to trust me, even if I’m with Reese – which hopefully I never will be.”

He perks back up, nodding at me. “I care about you so much.”

I smile at him. “I care about you, too.”

He moves forward to hold me again but I hold up a hand. He looks at me, exasperated. Oh, you can suffer a few more seconds after what you put me through, honey.

“If you ever accuse me of cheating on you with Reese again, we’re over. And if you ever kiss Celeste again, we’re over – if I ever see it again you won’t have to worry about babies anymore cuz I’ll cut your fucking dick off.”

He surprises me by chuckling. He pulls me to him and buries his face in my hair. “I swear, this whole Reese thing is over. And I promise you I will never go anywhere near Celeste again…”

He trails off and I pull away to look up at him.

“What?” I ask.

“That day you saw me kiss Celeste, I blew her off to go after you… she didn’t take that too well, Teag,” he answers me slowly.

“What are you getting at?” I ask him, nervous because of the way he’s acting.

“She’s filing for custody of Grace.”

I gasp. “What?”

He just nods. “Oh, baby, I’m so sorry.” I say, wrapping my arms around his neck. I can tell he’s trying not to cry.

I push him inside and close the door behind us. “Where is she now?” I ask.

He looks at me, his eyes red. “At my mom’s. She missed you.”

I smile. “Did she?”

He smiles back at me and presses his lips softly against mine. “She kept asking me ‘Where’s momma at?’”

I grin at him, shaking my head. “I missed her, too.”

“You mean so much to both of us, Teagan. I don’t ever want to lose you again.”

I lean forward on the tip of my toes and kiss him. “I don’t want to lose you ever again, either. Kim and Erin don’t want it either.”

He grins at me. “Why?”

She shrugs. “They kept telling me to call you but I thought you might be mad and I wanted you to call first anyway.” I blush.

Noah runs his thumb across my cheek. “Why are you blushing?” he asks.

“I was so pathetic,” I mumble into his chest. “All I could say was ‘I want Noah.’”

He laughs. “I wanted you too, baby.”

“Good,” I say.

“Good?” he asks, leaning down to kiss me.

“Mm-hmm,” I hum into his mouth.

When he pulls away I look up at him; he’s looking at me skeptically.

“What?” I ask, self-conscious.

“I’d like to talk to you about something you said— why in the world do you think that you’re nothing more than a babysitter to me?”

I bite my lip and look away.

“Teagan,” he urges.

“Why don’t you want to do…” I clear my throat. “Anything with me?”

He shakes his head. “Baby, I told you I don’t want to move too fast with you.”

“I understand why you don’t want to have sex, but that night I stayed with you, you acted like you didn’t want to touch me at all. What harm can a blow job do?” I demand, embarrassed. It’s not like I’ve never given anyone a blow job, but it’s embarrassing talking about it – better yet asking why he doesn’t want one.

He brushes the hair from out of my eyes. “Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been… that way with anyone?” he asks me, but doesn’t wait for an answer. “A long time. I want to be with you, I want to touch you. You have no idea how hard it was for me not to rip your clothes off and fuck you right there on my couch but the last time I did that I got a baby.”

I smile. “I assume that by now you know how to use a condom.”

He laughs at me. “I used a condom last time.”

“So double up,” I urge.

“Why, Teagan, are you sexually frustrated?”

I grin at him. He’s gone longer than I have. “Are you?”

He laughs at me more. “Yeah, Teag, I am.”

“I’m on birth control,” I tell him.

“You are?” he asks, and in my opinion he sounds hopeful.

“Yup,” I answer. “I’ve got the kind they put in your arm.”

He grimace’s at me. “The things people do for sex,” he says, shaking his head.

“That and a condom is double the protection…” I say slowly. I want him so bad.

He picks me up in one quick movement, carrying me to his room. “I want you so fucking bad,” he tells me.