Free Things Remembered (Accidentally On Purpose Companion Novel #3) by L.D. Davis

gently pulled me back.
    “Okay,” he said, as his laughter faded. He licked his lips and I reflexively licked mine, which drew his eyes to my mouth. When he met my eyes again, his laughter had gone entirely, though his eyes were still bright with mirth. They also burned with I could only categorize as desire.
    My heart thumped out of tune for several beats, taking my voice and breath with it. When I found myself able to breathe and speak again, I tried to look solemn.
    “Okay what?” I demanded. “Get on with it.”
    “I only meant to see you once and to be done,” he finally confessed. “But once wasn’t enough. I couldn’t stop after that.”
    We were already standing very close, but Grant moved so much closer. I could feel the heat radiating from his body, and smell that scent that was so… him .
    “When I called your name outside the coffee shop, I only meant to talk to you that once and to be done,” he murmured. “But once wasn’t enough. I couldn’t stop.”
    Breathing regularly was so overrated. I struggled to take in a breath so I could ask my next question.
    “What if I would have kept on walking today?”
    I was proud that my voice was still steady and unwavering, even though the rest of me trembled slightly.
    “The fact is that you didn’t keep walking.” He leaned forward and whispered in my ear, “And now I can’t stop.”
    He lingered for a few seconds, and then he was gone.
    I let out a loud breath and turned to watch him go.
    When I turned back around, I almost walked right into Kyle. He didn’t say anything, but he looked at me with a rare grin. It was an attractive and playful grin that sometimes made me mildly empathetic to both Emmy’s and Lily’s tenderness for the guy, but I wasn’t feeling that empathy just then.
    I didn’t know how much he saw between Grant and me, but he had evidently seen enough to know that I didn’t do what I told him I was going to do. He most likely had even seen my dithering response to the man.
    “Stop grinning at me,” I snapped.
    He held his hands up in defense but didn’t stop smiling. In fact, the smile grew wider and more amused.
    “You know what, Kyle? Why don’t you tie a couple of cement blocks to your feet and go jump into the river?”
    “I’m sorry, but,” he started, though he was clearly unapologetic, “ I can’t stop. ”

Chapter Seven
     
    “Emily thinks my nipples are chew toys for her two new teeth,” Donya said.
    “That’s nothing,” Emmy cut in. “Gracie has significantly more teeth and she thinks it’s hilarious when I screech after she bites me.”
    Not to be outdone, my cousin Tabitha said, “I never had a problem with Len and Adri, but with Nicolo, breastfeeding hurts . Neither of us can just enjoy mommy-baby time because I can’t wait to unlatch the kid.”
    That was met by sympathetic noises and comments by the other mommies. I wanted to throw myself out of a window.
    I interrupted my cousins, staring at my phone with disgust. “I thought we were supposed to be talking about our beach vacation. I really don’t need to know about anyone else’s nipples but my own.”
    “When you have kids of your own, you’ll understand,” Tabitha said with a soft chuckle.
    “ My vagina—with the exception of a few days a month—is an entrance and not an exit. I don’t want anything growing inside me like some tumor and I don’t want aching, chewed up nipples. Can we please move on with the planning before one of your offsprings wakes up?”
    It took a couple more minutes for them to pull it together. Then we were able to carry on with planning, but I was beginning to have some regrets. I truly loved my cousins’ kids, but I’d be the only childless, single person in our group.
    Emmy and her husband, Luke, had three children. Donya and Emmet, Emmy’s older brother, had four kids—one each from previous marriages and two they spawned together. Tabby and her husband, Leo, had three children. The last time I