Free Elisa by E. L. Todd Page B

can’t believe it,” she whispered. “I’m already coming.”
    “ Ellie.”
    She grabbed my shoulders as she thrust into me harder. “Oh—god.”
    She was getting too loud so I covered her lips with my own and silenced her words with my kiss. Her breathing had increased and she gripped me even tighter. When she released her grip, I knew she was finished. I broke our kiss then sat back on my heels, bucking myself inside of her hard. Within a few seconds, I was coming.
    I moaned but kept quiet. “Ellie.”
    “Jared.”
    I emptied myself entirely. I kissed her then pulled out of her.
    “I want to do it again.”
    I smiled. “We can do it as many times as you want.”
    “Good,” she said as she snuggled next to me.
    “You can pick the position next time.”
    “Ooh. I look forward to it.”
    I kissed her on the forehead then fell asleep.

9
     
    At first , the kids were confused by my appearance in the morning. When I had breakfast with them at the table, they stared at me and asked me questions.
    “Do you live here now too?” Tommy asked.
    “No. But I’ll be here a lot.”
    “Do you like my mommy?”
    I smiled. “I like her a lot.”
    Becky made a disgusted face. “Eww. You don’t want to like her.”
    “Why?” I asked.
    “She can be mean.”
    I laughed. “How?”
    “She gets mad when I don’t put my toys away,” she said as she poked her eggs.
    “Good,” I said. “You should put your toys away.”
    She made a disgusted face at me. I wasn’t go ing to win their support by playing the good cop and making Elisa the bad cop. I intended to be a good guardian and role model, even if they didn’t like me all the time. I would discipline them and call them out when they were wrong. I didn’t know much about kids but I knew I had to be consistent with them.
    When Elisa listened to me speak to the children , I knew she was pleased. I always took equal responsibility for punishments. I made it clear that she and I were a team and agreed on every decision. They couldn’t run to me when they wanted to get away with something.
    As the days went by , they didn’t question my appearance. They expected me to be there every morning, and when I wasn’t, they asked about me. It was cramped in the morning when we all got ready for the day. We had four adults, two kids, and one dog in the house. Koku was happy with the arrangement. He always had someone to pay attention to him. In fact, he tried to get away from us for some quiet time when he could. I still paid rent on my apartment even though I was hardly ever there. I wanted to move in permanently but I wasn’t sure if she was ready for that.
    When we were eating breakfast one morning, I looked at her. “You wanna go out to dinner tonight?”
    “Yeah , sure,” she said as she ate her omelet. One of the good things about being there all the time was the home cooked meals.
    “Is it okay if my dad is there?” I tried to slide that in casually.
    She stopped eating. “Uh—just us and your dad?”
    “Yeah,” I said. “Just a casual dinner.”
    “You want me to meet him?”
    “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
    “Uh , okay.”
    “Don’t be scared, Ellie.”
    “I’m not,” she said quietly. I knew she was lying. I wasn’t sure if it was because she was nervous or she just wasn’t ready. I gave her a quick kiss before I left for work. I hadn’t even asked my dad if he wanted to have dinner so I decided to go by the shop on my break.
    “Look who it is,” he said happily as I walked in.
    “Hey , pops.”
    “What brings you here?”
    “I was wondering if you had plans tonight?”
    “Just with the television.”
    Sadie emerged from the back and smiled at me. “Hey.”
    “Hey,” I said to her. I turned back to my dad. “So, you wanna come to dinner with me and Elisa?”
    “I’m finally going to meet the woman who’s made an honest man out of my son?”
    I smiled. “It seems so.”
    “Sure. I would love to. Is she bringing the