Page 63 of Let's Be Forever

“Hey, I’m proud of you. Good luck this season.” The annoyance in her voice softens.

“I’m proud of us. Good luck this season. I’ll be watching you on TV.” I say, feeling lighter after our talk.

I’m certain she’s smiling when she hangs up.

When I’m done getting ready, I slip out of my bedroom and into the kitchen. It’s still early, so I doubt they’ll be up.

I skim the inside of my fridge and close it seconds later because I don’t have much. I know what Anna likes, and she told me what kind of food Rosie eats, but I don’t know Maya’s preferences.

Picking up my wallet and keys, I head out and make my first stop at the grocery store.

When I arrive back, I expect the place to still be quiet, but to my surprise, Anna is poking around the kitchen alone.

“Morning, Anna.” I set the paper bags on the island.

Her eyes land on the name on the bag and lift back up to mine. She waffles before deciding to approach. “Morning, Sy—Sylas,” she corrects, and pushes the glasses up the bridge of her nose.

Anna still has the round frames. She had said she was thinking of changing them. I wonder if she ever did but then returned to these.

She stands in front of me on the side, and she feels so close yet so far away. I want nothing more than to close the space between us, but I stay put.

“You can call me Sy.” There’s an edge of desperation in my voice that I can’t be bothered to hide.

When we first started dating, like everyone else, she called me Sy, but then it becamebabyor sometimesbabe. It depended on her mood and what we were doing.

I wonder if she’s thinking this too. If she is, I can’t tell. She’s not stoic, but I can’t read her expression, and I hate that.

Please let me in, I want to get on my knees and tell her, but I remind myself I don’t want to push too hard. I’m lucky enough she decided to move in.

“I’m not sure if?—”

“We’re co-parents and friends. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

She gives a slow nod. “I’ll think about it.”

I smile at her, and in return, the corner of her mouth twitches.

“Are Rosie and Maya still sleeping?” I ask as I take the food out of the bags. From the corner of my eye, I see her round the island.

“Rosie is. I think Maya might be up, but I didn’t check in case she was sleeping.” Her attention dips to the food. “Don’t tell me you got all that for us?”

“I didn’t have any toddler-appropriate foods, and I wasn’t sure what Maya was into. So I got a little bit of everything,” I explain. “And I made sure to get what you like.”

“You really didn’t have to do that. I can?—”

I turn to look at her and have to will myself to stay focused. It’s not easy being around her, but at a distance, I can find some semblance of control. But when she’s just a few feet away, I’m incapable of thinking properly.

I don’t mean to stare too long, to gawk and let my eyes descend and screenshot every inch of her in my head. I don’t mean to be weird because I’m not being discreet that I’m one hundred percent checking her out.

Anna’s beautiful, always has been, but she’s also really fucking sexy.

“You live here now, so I’m going to provide everything. I’m not negotiating with you. So don’t even think about it.” I level her with a grave look.

Her expression mirrors mine. “No, I’m not doing that. I’m not going to live here for free.”

“Quit being stubborn.”

“I’m not.” She defensively folds her arms against her chest.