The Curve Ball - Samantha Lind Page 0,86

while I wait for her to emerge from the bathroom.

As soon as I hear the click of the door opening, I turn around and about fall to my knees. Riley is standing in the doorway, covered in a few scraps of delicate lingerie. I waste no time closing the distance between the two of us. I want nothing more than to unwrap her like the present she is. “You are incredible,” I tell her, pulling her into my arms. I can’t not touch her when we’re this close to one another.

I slide my hands over her mostly exposed skin, taking my time to memorize the way she feels in this moment. Once my hands reach her bare ass cheeks, I lift her up until she wraps her legs around my waist. I take her back over to the bed, depositing her once again in the center. This time when I box her in, she looks up at me with nothing but lust in her eyes.

“I’m having so many thoughts right now,” I tell her as my lips find bare skin just above the swell of her breasts. I show no mercy, sucking her nipples through the lace of her bra cups.

“Justin!” She gasps my name as I grind my dick against her pussy. The friction the lace is providing is driving her crazy, I’m sure. That, coupled with not giving her direct contact where she wants it most, but we’ll get to that. We’ve got all night to lose ourselves in one another.

Evie might have turned my world upside down in a matter of minutes when Erica dropped her on my doorstep, but it was Riley that threw the curve ball I never saw coming, but I’m damn sure glad she did.

Epilogue

Riley

December

“Morning, pretty girl.” I flip on the light in Evie’s room and find her standing up in her crib. She’s gotten so big these past few months, and I can’t believe that she’ll be one in just a few more weeks.

“How’re my favorite girls this morning?” Justin asks as I walk into our room where he’s still lounging in bed. We’ve been enjoying our lazy mornings now that he’s in the offseason. The Lightning made it into the playoffs but just missed on making it to the World Series. I snuggle up to him, Evie between the two of us. She crawls from my arms and onto his lap, laying her head against his chest.

“I think we’re pretty good,” I tell him as I sit here watching them together. Nothing melts my heart faster than observing him as a dad. He’s so good with her, and you’d never guess he didn’t always want this life.

“Dada,” Evie chatters, pointing at Justin's face.

“Yes, baby?” he asks her, pretending to chew on her fingers and making her fall into a fit of giggles.

“Mama?” she says, pointing at me. I gasp in shock, and Justin's eyes fly to mine.

“What did you say, Evie?” he asks her.

“Mama,” she says, clear as day a second time.

We’ve never really talked about this yet. We’ve never referred to me as her mom, always Ry or Riley. Justin's eyes burn into mine, looking for clarification from me. I have no idea what to do. I don’t ever want to confuse her, but I’d be honored for her to think of me as her mother figure.

“Mama, I kinda like the sound of that,” Justin finally says.

Tears. Tears spring to my eyes and roll down my face—the pure happiness in this little moment. One so private, so pure, so us. Just the three of us, together in bed and adding another first together. “Are you sure?” I ask through my tears.

“There is no one else I’d rather Evie look to as her mother. You’ve been here for her since she arrived on my doorstep. You’ve kissed every boo-boo, picked out almost every cute outfit she’s worn, pushed her countless times on the swing at the park, floated around with her for endless hours in the pool. So, to answer your question, yes. I’m sure that I want my daughter to look to you as her mother. A strong, confident, beautiful woman, who dropped everything in her life to make our lives as normal as can be. We love you so much and are so grateful for every sacrifice you’ve made for us. You could have easily thrown in the towel when things got tough, but you didn’t. You showed your strength and love for us by sticking it out during