Moments in Time (29 page)

“Positive. I like kids. Especially yours.” Tanner winked at the girls, and they beamed back at him.

I could have kissed him. My nieces and nephew were good kids, but Sean was right, they were a handful sometimes. I couldn’t believe Tanner was volunteering to babysit—like our lives weren’t a big enough mess commuting to school and working. I wouldn’t have blamed him if he’d gone to live at one of the frat houses or sucked up to Wendy until she let him crash at her place. Instead he was crammed into my brother’s small house, changing Pull-Ups and agreeing to be at the beck and call of three little kids, by himself, just to help my brother.

God, I fucking love him.
The urge to grab him and at least hug him nearly overwhelmed me, but I knew I was already late for class. “I’ll be home by five, so I can help you out then.”

“No worries.” Tanner took a seat next to Emma and filled her glass with milk. “We’ll be fine.”

Sean zipped up all three backpacks. “Call my cell if you have any questions.”

“Will do.”

“Thanks, man, you’re a godsend.”

“Something like that.”

Tanner grinned at me, sending warmth washing over me from head to toe.
Eat your breakfast before you do something stupid like tackle him.

“I’ll drop them off here around two,” Sean said.

Tanner nodded. He’d already started folding Megan’s napkin into a flower for her. Giggling resumed before Sean and I even made it to the table.

When breakfast was over, I followed Sean outside with the girls. I put Melissa in her car seat while he strapped in the baby.

“Hands out of the way.” Sean slammed the minivan door shut, then turned to me. “He sure has a way with kids.”

“Tanner? Yeah. They love him.”

Sean paused, rubbing the car door handle, then looking up at me. “You love him too. I can see it.”

“Sean, we don’t have to talk about me and Tanner as a couple. I know you’re not completely comfortable with it.”

“That’s the thing. I am. Jesus. I mean, I thought it would be awkward, and I planned to just push through it, but it’s not. You guys, I don’t know. It’s like you belong together. You… fit.”

“Thanks.” I couldn’t imagine a nicer thing for him to have said.

“I’m thankful you both decided to come stay here. And I’m glad I’m getting to know him.”

Except that. “I’m glad too. So is Tanner.”

“Good. See? Maybe Quinn’s right about one thing.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“He always says things happen for a reason, but sometimes we’re just not ready to see the reason right away.”

“So you think that dude set his Pop-Tart on fire so you and I could reconnect?”

“Okay, so maybe not that. Still. Something brought us back together.”

I nodded. “Good luck with the lawyer. We’ll take care of the kids and get dinner ready.”

“You guys are better as wives than Laura.”

“I won’t tell her you said that.”

“Tell her whatever you want. It’s too late for anything to make an impact on her.”

B
ETWEEN CLASSES
,
my work at Gino’s, Tanner’s shifts at the bookstore, and commuting back and forth to Sean’s house, Tanner and I were busier than we’d ever been. I always knew it was more convenient to live on campus, but I had no idea what a hassle it was to make the added drive daily. By the time we got to Sean’s, had dinner, spent time with the kids, and did some studying, we were exhausted.

I hadn’t touched Tanner for yet another week, and I didn’t think I’d last the day without changing that. Tanner must have felt the same. I’d seen the looks he’d been throwing me, particularly the night before while we were watching a movie together, but I wasn’t about to do anything with Sean and the kids in the house. I didn’t care that the doors locked. It didn’t feel right. And I didn’t trust either of us to be quiet enough. Especially since it had been so long.

Sean handed me the last dirty dish to load into the dishwasher while Tanner put the juice and milk in the fridge.

“I’m gonna run to the grocery store while the kids are at preschool. Any requests?” Sean asked, grabbing his wallet off the counter and shoving it in his pocket.

“If you get a can of crushed tomatoes and some spaghetti, I’ll cook.”

“Thanks. The kids loved that the other night. Anything else?”

I tried to think but couldn’t. All that registered in my brain was that Sean was going out. Tanner and I would be alone in the house. My cock was totally onboard with this thought and already looking for an escape plan from my pants.

“I think that’ll do it. Tanner, you need anything?”

Tanner looked up from wiping off the kitchen tables. His pupils were huge. I knew that look. I
loved
that look. He was thinking the same thing I was. My cock twitched in anticipation.

“I’m good,” Tanner said, tossing the rag on the counter.

“Okay, then.” Sean headed for the door. “It’s my turn to drive carpool home, so I’ll probably take the kids to Mickey D’s for happy meals. Lock up if you both leave, okay?”

“Sure.” My heart raced as I watched Sean trot down the back porch steps. I held my breath, listening as the car door slammed, the engine revved, and the tires crunched down the gravel driveway.

I turned to look at Tanner, but before I could even focus my eyes, he was on me. Hands on either side of my face, body pressed up against mine, lips prying mine open, tongue—oh, God, I’d missed that tongue—swirling in circles with mine.

Groaning, I grabbed his ass and tugged him closer. I needed to feel as much of him as possible. All of him. Immediately, if not sooner.

We banged into the kitchen wall, rattling the pots that hung on the metal rack by the stove. Tanner humped against me with firm, deliberate thrusts, his cock stroking mine through the thick layers of our jeans. A pan bounced loose from its hook and clattered to the floor, making us both jump, then laugh.

Tanner pulled back, hands still planted in my hair. “Maybe this isn’t the best room.”

“Probably not.”

I tugged him through the doorway, intending to head upstairs, but the couch was right there, so big and inviting and so close. My leg bumped into it, and that momentary pause was enough for Tanner to take the opportunity and plant his mouth on mine again.

His tongue wrapped around mine as his hand slipped under my shirt, up my back, his fingers kneading and caressing. I wanted more. I opened my eyes, sneaking a glance at the stairs. They seemed so far away, and Tanner was right there, warm and ready. I couldn’t wait. I tugged him down onto the couch and sprawled atop him.

So good.

Having him under me, his cock hard alongside mine, his hands hot and strong, stroking my back, was heaven. I whimpered, bucking my hips against his, wishing like hell our jeans would disappear like magic. Like stripper pants. I’d rip them away and fling them over the couch, and then we could be naked together and—

The woman’s scream scared the shit out of me.

Tanner and I fell apart, me onto the floor, him scrambling upright on the sofa. Laura stood in the doorway to the house, not ten feet away from us, house key still clutched in her hand, mouth and eyes wide and round like dark Os.

“What the hell is going on here?” she said, inching along the wall, still staring.

I straightened my clothes, silently thanking God that I was still wearing them. “Nothing. We were just—”

Her head shook as if she was about to have a seizure. “Get out of my house.”

Tanner held up his hand. “Laura, we’re sorry we startled you. We were alone in the house. We didn’t know you were coming by.”

Her eyes somehow widened. “You didn’t know I was coming by? I live here. My children live here. And you two… what is wrong with you?”

My stomach turned. She sounded like my mother. “Nothing is wrong with us. Tanner and I have been together as a couple for months.”

She gasped. Actually fucking
gasped
like I’d just said I was a murderer. “Oh my God. That’s why your mother’s not talking to you anymore.”

I nodded. “That’s her choice.”

“Choice?” Her voice raised an octave. “Choice? How else did you expect her to react? I mean, Jesus, Collin. Are you telling me Sean knows about this?”

Tanner stood, moving slowly as if he didn’t want to spook her more. “There was a fire in our dorm. Sean’s been letting us stay here the past few weeks. He’s been—”

“Stay here? You’re staying in this house? With my kids? Oh, no. Fucking hell, no. Over my dead body.”

The anger in her voice chilled me to the bone. “Laura, we’ve been helping him around the house. We’re not doing anything wrong.”

“Are you kidding me? It’s… you’re… the whole thing is….” Her mouth worked as she struggled for a word.

Tanner shot me a pained look, then glanced at Laura. “I think if we sit down and calm down, maybe—”

Laura glared at him. “You can calm down all you want, but not in my house. I want both of you out. Now. The thought that you two have been around my children makes me sick.”

My hands went cold and started to shake. “Laura, we’d never do anything in front of your kids.”

“I don’t trust perverts.”

Tanner flinched. “We’re not perverts.”

“I just saw you two on top of each other. You’re disgusting. It’s immoral. For Christ’s sake, Collin. You know better. You weren’t raised to act like this.”

I snorted. “You’re going to lecture me on Catholicism? I seem to remember you needing to marry my brother when you were sixteen because you were pregnant. What part of being a good Catholic were you practicing when that happened?”

Her gaze turned steely. “I made a mistake, but we did the right thing. We got married. We had the baby. Don’t you dare compare what we did to what I just walked in on.”

“Why not? We’re in love, just like you and Sean used to be. Or can you not remember that long ago?”

She shook her head. “I’m gonna throw up. You literally make me sick. Take your things and your freak of a friend and get out.”

Tanner looked like he’d been slapped.

My body felt numb, but my mind raced. “What are you even doing here? Sean said you haven’t been home in over a month.”

Her shoulders squared. “That’s none of your business.”

“No, it’s probably not, but Sean is my brother. And your kids are my nieces. And they all seemed to think you were gone.”

“I’m here to get my things from my house. And I don’t need to explain myself any more to someone like you.” She pushed past me and stormed up the stairs.

Tanner’s gaze met mine. “I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

He raked his hands through his hair, but that didn’t hide the fact they were shaking. “I shouldn’t have. Not here.”

I’d never seen him so shaken, and it scared me. I stepped closer and cupped the back of his neck with my hand. “We. Not you. We.”

He nodded, then footsteps sounded at the top of staircase, and he pulled away from me, hands shoved deep into his pants pockets. Laura continued with whatever the hell she was doing upstairs—banging drawers and slamming closet doors—for what felt like an eternity. Tanner must have cracked his knuckles two dozen times before she finally stomped down the stairs.

Laura had a suitcase in one hand and a shopping bag in the other. “Since you’re still here, you can deliver a message to your brother. Tell him he’ll be hearing from my lawyer.”

She headed straight for the door and walked out without another word.

Shit.

I
TEXTED Sean immediately, but I got no reply. He’d probably already picked up the kids, and he rarely checked his phone when he was busy with them.

Tanner paced around the family room, looking more rattled than I’d ever seen him. “What are we going to do?”

I didn’t have an answer. “What do you think she meant by Sean will be hearing from her lawyer?”

“I don’t know, but I doubt it’s good.” He traced his fingers over one of the ceramic bowls the girls had made at school. “Is this what it felt like? For you? When your mom disowned you?”

I shrugged. “Not exactly.”

“No one’s ever talked to me like that.” His voice was different. A cross between sadness and disbelief.

“I’m sorry. She’s… that’s the way a lot of people here think. It’s why I was so scared to come out to anyone.”

“I get it now. Fuck. I mean, I thought it was hard when I came out to my parents, but that was nothing. That was like a goddamned Hallmark moment compared to this shit.”

I smiled. “You think they make a card for this?”

Tanner flopped onto the couch. “Maybe. ‘Sorry your son’s gay, but at least now you don’t have to worry about him knocking someone up!’”

I sat next to him, needing to be as close to him as possible even though I knew touching wouldn’t be a good idea. Sean and the kids could be home any time now, and the last thing I wanted was to make things worse. “God, this sucks.”

Tanner reached for my hand, but before he made contact, a car pulled in to the driveway. He peered around the curtain. “It’s Sean.”

“Let’s go help with the groceries.”

My heart pounded as we walked toward the car. The kids were skipping around on the grass, and Sean was leaning into the back of the minivan, loading supermarket bags onto his arm. The second we made eye contact, I knew he knew.

“We’ll talk about it later,” he said in a tone that turned my stomach to stone. “Come on, girls, take your brother and go in the house.”

Tanner came up beside him. “I’ll take the food inside and keep an eye on the kids. You two can talk now.”

Sean handed over the bags, and I watched as Tanner held the door and ushered everyone inside.

“I take it you heard from Laura?”

“What the hell happened?” He sounded angry and confused.

My cheeks heated. “Tanner and I haven’t laid a finger on each other the whole time we’ve been here, but there was no one else home. We were just kissing. I’m sorry.”