“So...you think you might want to brave it?” he asked.
“The adult interaction? Absolutely.”
“Good. I’ve got plans for you.” He smiled at the shiver that worked through her body. “But I was talking about dinner at Rob’s.”
She pressed her lips together briefly. She usually wasn’t great with crowds or lots of new people, but Will looked so damn excited about the prospect of her meeting his friends, she nodded. Besides, after tomorrow, even he’d be able to see how wrong they were for each other.
“Okay.”
* * * *
Ivy had no clue why she was so damn nervous to meet Will’s friends. She’d met hundreds, probably thousands, of parents since she’d begun teaching. Meeting fifteen or twenty people shouldn’t be that big a deal. But it was. They were Will’s friends. And even though she knew he’d come to his senses eventually, she didn’t really want anyone speculating about why he’d brought along a dumpy, boring, clearly out of her league date.
But she’d forced a smile and exchanged greetings while Will handed over the chocolate chip cookies she’d insisted on making this morning. She’d already felt like an interloper. The thought of showing up empty-handed was even more uncomfortable, so she’d made the only recipe she could remember off the top of her head.
Sarah, Rob’s gorgeous blonde wife, who in no way looked as if she’d had one kid, let alone three, peeked under the tinfoil then clutched the plate of cookies to her chest, keeping them out of reach of her baby’s grabbing hands. She handed off the little girl to Will. “It was lovely meeting you, Ivy. If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my room. Alone. With this plate.”
Ivy laughed as Sarah turned as if to leave the kitchen.
“Hey now,” Will said. “My girl made those. Pretty sure that entitles me to at least a couple. Isn’t that right, Avery? Your mumma’s being spoilt, isn’t she? Yes, she is,” he murmured to the child, who was currently exploring his face with her pudgy little hands.
Ivy’s heart clenched. Though, she couldn’t tell if it was from Will’s casual endearment for her or the fact that he was holding an adorable baby as though it was the most natural thing in the world for him.
Sarah nudged Ivy with her shoulder and passed her a glass of wine as she nodded toward where Will was making the baby belly laugh. “That one’s a keeper. Going to be a such a good dad, someday.”
Ivy nodded noncommittally as she took a sip of the cool liquid and hoped her hand wasn’t shaking as much as she was afraid it was. He really was going to be an amazing father, someday. She’d already known that from watching him with Phoebe and Kit—soccer ball incident, aside. But seeing him now, with this child, who couldn’t be more than seven or eight months old, made her heart hurt for what she could never have with him. That ship had sailed just as surely as it had never truly been an option.
“We’ll get him trained up for you,” Sarah said with a chuckle, clinking her glass against Ivy’s.
Before she could think of anything to say in response, the sound of the doorbell repeatedly ringing set her nerves on edge.
Sarah sighed and put her glass on the counter. “That’ll be Nigel’s family. Back in a mo.”
The doorbell kept ringing even after Sarah had answered it, and she said, “Jacob, that’ll be enough of that.”
As the new family came into the house, Ivy retreated into the bathroom. It wasn’t that she was hiding. She just needed a little break from all the reminders of how she didn’t fit into this world. And how, even though he was the most comfortable, comforting place she’d ever been, she didn’t belong with Will, either.
After a couple minutes, the sound of chaos had moved farther into the house, and she ducked back into the kitchen to find it empty—well, nearly empty. There was a boy about Phoebe’s age sitting at the kitchen table, scribbling all over what looked like a reading worksheet page.
“Having a rough time with your homework?” Ivy asked. She sighed inwardly at herself. It was really none of her business.
“Daddy says I have to finish my reading sheets before I can play. But it’s too hard.”
“Do you think you might like some help?”
The boy stared at her.
“I’m Ivy. I’m a...friend of your parents. I’m also a teacher.”
He continued to give her the side-eye, but he finally said, “My name’s Robbie. I guess you can sit down if you want to.”
She smiled at him. “Thanks. Why don’t you show me your assignment?”
“It’s kinda hard to read now.” He looked a little sheepish.
She glanced at the paper he’d marked up. “Don’t worry—we’ll figure it out. Everyone gets a little frustrated sometimes.”
An almost-smile lifted the corners of his mouth, and he opened his language arts textbook.
The sound of laughter, and the doorbell ringing again, drifted to them from the other room, and Ivy glanced in that direction, guilt dropping like stones in her gut. She should be out there, meeting Will’s friends like he’d wanted her to. Instead, she was hiding out in the kitchen with Robbie, who was watching her hopefully. The kid won.
She pointed at the story he’d been assigned. “Why don’t you read this out loud to me?”
He frowned but slid the edge of his paper underneath the first line of text and began to read.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ivy was uncomfortable as hell. He wasn’t sure Rob or Sarah had noticed, but it had been clear to Will during the introductions. Ivy’s smile had been a little too tight, her back a little too straight. They’d arrived early because he’d figured that getting there once everything was in full swing might be too overwhelming for her. He’d clearly been right on that count—she’d darted into the bathroom as soon as more people had arrived. Either, she was still in there, or she’d disappeared altogether.
Maybe he was trying to push her into his life too hard and too fast. He’d thought that introducing her to the people who were important to him would help her realize that she was important to him. That he was serious about wanting to see where this thing between them went. Well, he knew where he wanted it to go, but he wasn’t sure they were ever going to get there.
He didn’t doubt her attraction to him. Nor did he doubt that she enjoyed spending time with him, but there was this feeling she was holding back. She’d all but said she was waiting for his nostalgia to wear off and that she was just along for the ride until he moved on. And that just rankled the fuck out of him.
Avery smacked him in the mouth, grabbed hold of his lower lip and pulled. He looked down at her. “I’m sorry, poppet, was I not paying enough attention to you?”
The baby smiled at him, all toothless and drooly, and he couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to have a kid or three with Ivy. He didn’t even know if she wanted kids. She might not. Not that any of that mattered, right now. A discussion like that was months, if not longer, down the road. He needed to focus on the here and now with her. And right now, that meant figuring out where she was and if she was all right.
He wandered back down the hall toward the bathroom. It was empty. At the sound of a child’s frustrated groan, he moved back toward the kitchen and stopped in the doorway. Ivy was seated at the kitchen table next to Robbie and what looked to be some kind of homework.
“Hey,” Ivy said. “I know this is really frustrating for you, but if you’ll help me, I’d like to try a little experiment.”
Robbie frowned at her. “What kind of experiment?”
She smiled at the boy. “It’s kind of a silly one.”
“Yeah?”
Nodding, she spun his book around and pointed to a passage on the page. “Try to read it now.”
“Upside down?”
“Yep.”
The boy looked at her like she’d lost her mind.
“Trust me,” she said with a grin.
Robbie leaned forward and started to read—clearly and far more quickly than Will had heard him befor
e. Robbie stopped a few sentences in and turned toward Ivy—eyes wide. “How did you do that?”
She ruffled his hair. “I didn’t do it. You did.”
He turned back to the book and continued reading. When he’d finished, Ivy asked him a few questions about the content, and the kid was able to answer all of them. “Dad!” Robbie hollered.
“Oh, honey, you don’t need to shout,” Ivy said.
“Dad!” he yelled over her.
Hearing Rob running down the hall followed by Sarah and god knew who else, Will stepped farther into the kitchen and out of the way of the stampeding hordes.
Ivy turned in his direction, and her gaze fell on the baby in his arms. A slew of emotions flashed through her eyes, and he couldn’t read a single one, but they all seemed to be centered on Avery.
Fuck. He was such an idiot. Hadn’t she just told him that her ex had knocked up one of her student’s mums? And here he was, standing here like an arsehole with a baby-shaped reminder.
Rob and Sarah raced over to where Robbie was practically bouncing in his chair. “What’s wrong?” they both asked at once.
“Nothing. Watch!”
The boy turned to a new page and read, almost perfectly, the entire thing while his parents exchanged amazed looks above his head.
Sarah turned to Ivy. “Did you teach him that?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep my boundaries.”
“No. Please don’t apologize,” Sarah said.
“Seriously,” Rob added. “This is amazing. Why does the book being upside down make a difference?”
“Sometimes, the eyes move faster than the brain can process, so it’s really easy to skip words or parts of words as you’re reading. When that happens, retention and even comprehension are all but impossible.”
“So, reading upside down forces the eyes to stay at a similar rate as the brain?” Sarah asked.
“Exactly.” Ivy’s smile was so blindingly beautiful Will felt it in his gut.
Rob closed the book, and his son looked up at him confused. “Go play with your friends. We’ll work on this again, tomorrow, okay? And we’ll try the upside down trick.”
Robbie grinned and jumped out of his chair. He started to run from the room but stopped and turned back to Ivy. “I wish you were my regular teacher,” he blurted before running off.
“That was amazing,” Rob said. “Thank you.”
Ivy straightened in her chair. “It’s a start, but if you haven’t already, you may want to have him evaluated for dyslexia or another learning disability.”
Sarah punched Rob in the arm. “I told you.”
“There are so many strategies available to help manage them. And a learning disability has nothing to do with intelligence. It’s just how the brain processes information. And really, it’s not even that the brain is processing incorrectly. We just need to find the right teaching method for his particular way of thinking.”
“Thank you, so much,” Sarah said. “We’ll definitely look into getting him evaluated.” She shook her head. “Here you are, supposed to be out for a nice evening with your man, and you’re working.”
“Aw, don’t say that,” Nigel muttered. “I was going to ask if she wanted to help Emilia with her maths.”
Ivy laughed. “As long as it’s not algebra. That’s above my paygrade.”
Avery started to squirm and fuss, dragging Will’s attention away from Ivy.
“Oh, Wills,” Sarah said, taking the baby from his arms. “I’d forgotten you still had her. I’m so sorry.”
“Avery had fun hanging out with her Uncle Wills, didn’t she?”
The little girl grinned at him as Sarah turned and mouthed something to Ivy, but he couldn’t make out what it was. Whatever Sarah had said caused Ivy’s cheeks to flush.
The doorbell rang, and as Sarah went to answer it and Rob started taking pans out of the oven, Will rounded the counter and pulled Ivy into his arms.
She settled her hands on his shoulders, and he murmured in her ear, “You okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Her brow furrowed.
He shrugged. “You looked upset earlier.”
“Nope.” She shook her head. “Just taking it all in.”
He loved that she still thought she could lie to him. But he supposed now wasn’t the best time to delve into whatever was bothering her, anyway.
“Hey Wills, why don’t you make yourself useful and set the table.”
Will dropped a kiss on Ivy’s upturned mouth and reluctantly released her to grab the plates from the cupboard.
“What can I help with?” she asked Rob.
“Not a thing. You’ve already been a massive help, tonight.”
As the evening wore on, Ivy seemed to relax. By the end of the night, she was joking around with the rest of them, almost as if she’d known them as long as he had.
“That was really nice,” she murmured, resting her head against his shoulder as he drove them back to his flat. “I’m sorry I was so tense and nervous at first. It’s been a long time since I hung out with a bunch of couples like that.”
“You don’t really do that with your friends back home?”
She yawned. “My friends never really cared for Daniel, so the longer he and I were together, the less I saw them. And he ended up with custody of our couple friends in the divorce.”
“How the fuck does that work? Wanker cheats on you, and they all take his side?”
“From what I’ve heard, his new wife fits in to the group better than I ever did, so it’s probably for the best.”
Pulling up in front of his building, he put the car in park and killed the engine. Turning to her, he cupped her face and rested his forehead against hers. “He never deserved you.”
She bit her lip, and he could tell her first impulse was to deny his claim.
“I don’t, either,” he continued.
“Pretty sure you’ve got that backward.”
Ignoring her interruption, he said, “But I’m willing to work my arse off to convince you I’m worth taking a chance on. We’re worth taking a chance on.”
He brushed his thumb across the softness of her lips.
“You deserve so much better than you got. I know you don’t think there’s really a ‘we’. I know you think that I’m going to...I don’t know...get bored and wander away.” She opened her mouth, but he talked over her. “But I can promise you, there’s no chance of that happening.”
Her eyes clouded. “Will...”
After she’d opened her mouth and closed it a few more times, he said, “It’s not just the nostalgia. Or the sex—though, you should know I’m a fucking huge fan of that.”
She laughed like he’d hoped she would.
“I told you that I’d help fuck your ex out of your system. And obviously, I stand by that that promise.”
The ever present blush was back. Well, it was dark and he couldn’t see the color, but the heat of it seeped into his hands.
“And when you told me you wanted me to fuck you in all the ways I’d ever imagined... In all the ways I pictured when I wanked thinking about you, I told you I’d do that, too. We’re not even close to getting through that list.”
She drew a raspy breath and stared at him, her eyes practically pleading for him to take her.
“But there’s something else you need to know.”
He could almost see the thoughts racing through her head as she mentally prepared herself for the worst. “What?”
“I care about you, Ivy. A lot.” He cared about her more than a lot, but the last thing he wanted to do was freak her out. And she suddenly looked ready to bolt. Taking a deep breath, he said, “And, even though I think you’re trying really hard not to, you care about me, too.”
Her gaze softened at the same time she frowned.
He smiled. She was such a bundle of contradictions. Leaning forward, he kissed her. The kiss that he’d intended to be sweet and reassuring quickly spiraled out of contro
l. When they broke apart, they were both breathless, and a determination settled over him. It didn’t matter how long it took or how vulnerable he felt, he’d find a way to convince her that she was wrong and they belonged together.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Will had managed to get Ivy out of her comfort zone more often during the last month or so than she’d experienced during the entirety of her life until now. Case in point, she was currently attending another one of Will’s practices. Sportsball of any flavor bored her. She didn’t care who had the ball. Nor did she care where the ball was supposed to go. Or how it got there.
But damn if she couldn’t stop staring at Will running up and down the field, muscles rippling and sweat glistening on his smooth skin. More than anything, she wanted her hands and lips on his body. She wanted him gripping her hair and shoving his cock into her mouth. She just wanted...him.
A shadow fell over her, and she looked up expecting to see Sarah. Since the dinner party, they’d ended up talking and texting often. Ivy was going to miss her when she went home and all this ended. Ivy’s eyes focused on the woman standing next to her. She was blonde, but it wasn’t Sarah. Whoever this was, she was even more gorgeous and had bone structure that reminded Ivy of drawings of Icelandic goddesses.
“Are you Ivy?” When Ivy nodded, the woman gestured to the seat next to her. “Do you mind I sit with you?”
“That’s fine.”
The goddess smiled and pushed her incredibly expensive-looking sunglasses on top of her head, revealing gorgeous cornflower blue eyes. Sitting, she turned toward Ivy and said, “I’ve heard so many lovely things about you, I had to meet you for myself.”
Ivy opened her mouth and closed it again, unable to find words while she panicked about who’d said what.
The woman shook her head then extended her hand. “I’m so sorry. My name is Peyton Carlisle. I’m a friend of Will’s.”
Ivy’s smile suddenly felt a little brittle around the edges as she shook the other woman’s hand. This wasn’t just any friend. It was the woman who’d propositioned him with the crop via text message. It was the woman who was Will’s sex partner when they weren’t otherwise engaged elsewhere. “I’m Ivy Wright—also Will’s friend.”
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