The Realest Ever - By Keith Thomas Walker Page 0,84
Kyra could think of. It was also the one answer she couldn’t give him. Donovan did let fear and love interfere with his decision-making, but his heart was in the right place. Plus, for as long as she’d known him, Donovan was always right. Kyra didn’t have the heart to crush his dreams, especially when she wanted the same things.
“How about we compromise,” she said. “I won’t move out of my aunt’s house and get my own place. When I move out, I will come here with you. But…” she said before Donovan could get too excited. “… I don’t think that should be today or even this month. Donovan, I can’t think of one single thing that could come between us. But we can’t go into this thinking only about us. I don’t want to shuffle my kids around anymore. We got to be extra careful, because of them.”
Donovan let her words sink in before he responded. He nodded. “You’re right. I guess I got a little over-excited.”
“I like that you’re excited about us,” Kyra said quickly. “That makes me feel real special.” She gave him a flirty smile.
“What about tonight?” Donovan asked. “Can y’all stay here tonight?”
“Yes,” Kyra said. “We can spend the night whenever you want. What happened to all of your weights and benches anyway?”
“I moved it to the garage.”
“That must’ve been a lot of work.”
“It was,” Donovan said. “I had four people helping me. My back was hurting when we got through.”
“I can rub your back,” Kyra offered. The thought of getting Donovan topless made her giddy. Thinking about rubbing his body down with massaging oil made her nipples harden.
“Do you know anything about giving a massage?” Donovan asked.
“Nope,” Kyra said. “But I bet I can rub and squeeze on you until you feel real nice.”
“Is that so?”
Kyra nodded. “Definitely.”
Donovan checked his watch. It was only eight-thirty. “What time do the kids go to bed?”
“Not for at least a couple of hours,” Kyra said. She kissed him passionately. “You have to wait.”
Donovan kissed her back. “You want me to wait for everything.”
Kyra kissed him again. “This’ll be worth it, baby. Trust me.”
≈≈≈≈≈≈≈
Donovan had nearly every season of the Simpsons on DVD. Kyra knew he loved the animated show as a child, but she didn’t know he was still watching it.
“Hey, don’t judge me,” he told her.
He popped in one of the DVD’s and made chocolate chip cookies while Kyra and the kids lounged in the den. Donovan had ice cream as well. Kat and Quinell had been eating junk food all day, but they attacked the new snacks like they were starving. Kyra thought Donovan was spoiling them, but she loved seeing smiles on her children’s faces. They were nearly as happy as she was.
Kat passed out first at ten-thirty. Quinell held out for another hour. Kyra turned off the television when she saw his head nodding.
“Come on,” she told him. “Donovan’s going to let you spend the night here. Is that cool?”
Quinell smiled, nodded and yawned at the same time. Kyra took him to the room Donovan prepared for them. Kat was already curled up on one side of the bed, snoring lightly.
“You don’t mind sleeping with your sister, do you?” Kyra asked.
Quinell shook his head and lay down fully dressed. Kyra helped him out of his shoes and jeans and pulled the covers up to his chin. Quinell rolled to his side and was still smiling as he dozed off. Kyra gave him a kiss on the cheek and went to rejoin Donovan in the den. She wasn’t surprised to find him yawning as well. She took a seat next to him, and Donovan put his arm around her. Kyra snuggled against his warm body.
“Long day, huh?” she asked.
“I feel like I picked y’all up at seven a.m. instead of four in the afternoon.”
“I’m sorry,” Kyra said. “I know they can be a handful.”
“Nah, it’s cool,” Donovan said. “Your kids are great compared to the knuckleheads I have to deal with at school.”
“Are you going to sleep?” Kyra asked.
“No. I’m going to make some coffee. Want some?”
“You don’t have to drink coffee,” Kyra said. “You can go to sleep if you want to.”
“I haven’t had you in my bedroom for a whole week,” Donovan said. “I plan to enjoy tonight, for at least three more hours, before I go to sleep.”
Three hours? Damn. Kyra’s heart fluttered at the possibilities. “Well, in that case, I’ll have some coffee, too.”