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Changing the Routine
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Asking for a Friend Giving Him a Shot
LAYTON“We’re going to walk the Freedom Trail.” I told her, glancing at Marissa when we stopped at a red light. “I figured if we were pulling her out of school for the day, we’d better do something where she would still learn.”“We’re learning?” Annie groaned. “That’s not fun.”“It will be,” I assured her. “The Freedom Trail is like learning history in action. It passes by sixteen locations that are all significant to the history of the United States.”Annie wriggled her nose. “I don’t like history.”“I promise you will today, honey.” Marissa said, turning in her seat to face her daughter. “The guides dress up in historical clothes and you get to see so many things you’ll hear about in school. Think about how exciting that will be when you start learning about all the places we’re going to go to today.”She considered it and finally agreed, albeit reluctantly. “Yeah, I guess that will be cool.”Once we got to the start of our tour and Annie met our guide, dressed in a soft pink billow
Asking for a Friend Meant To Be
MARISSA “Layton!” Annie called from a statue up ahead from where we were on the Freedom Trail. “There’s pigeon poop on this man’s head.”Layton threw his head back, well as much as a six foot something guy could, and laughed. He was more relaxed and carefree today than I’d ever seen him. Even more so than when we’d gone fishing.He and Annie were really bonding. While I would have thought it would make me nervous to see it, the opposite was actually true. It warmed my heart so much it felt like it was about to implode.All day he’d been so dedicated to her. When he told her this morning she didn’t have to forgive him, I nearly started crying. There were tears in my eyes, anyway.The whole scene was just so touching, so honest and sincere. I could practically feel his heart breaking when he saw how sad and hurt she still was about the weekend. But Annie was more resilient than anyone I knew.She bounced back in spectacular fashion and thrived under all the attention he was giving her.
Asking for a Friend Spunk
MARISSA“It’s the oldest standing church in Boston,” she told me excitedly. “The oldest church in the whole city, Mom. Out of all the churches! It was inspired by the same architect who rebuilt London after the great fire.”“Sir Christopher Wren,” Layton piped up helpfully, nudging my hip with his as he came to walk on my other side. “He’s a great British architect. He’s one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, in fact. He was given responsibility for rebuilding fifty-two churches in London after the fire.”“You would get caught up in the architectural history,” I retorted playfully. “Trying to turn her into an architectural buff at such a tender age already, are you?”“A guy can hope,” he said quietly, so quietly I didn’t know if I was meant to hear the words. But I had, and they made my heart soar. Louder this time, he said, “We have to make a right here. The theater is just around the next corner. Do you want to have lunch now, or a late lunch after?”“After,
Asking for a Friend The Long Haul
LAYTONThe morning after the day out at the Freedom Trail, I felt like I was walking on sunshine. Like a fucking rock star. Whenever I spent time with Marissa and Annie, they made me feel like this. Something clicked in me when I got to see them and it felt damn good. The memories of Annie’s excited chatter and happy laughter replayed in my head on a loop. Along with the ones of Marissa’s smiles and the contented look in her eyes. Even Denise got a few seconds of brain-time on the highlight reel.She was a good friend to Marissa, a great care taker for Annie, and I still suspected that she was a champion for me. And so, memories of her watching me watch Marissa with this indulgent smile also made it into the replays.If someone had told me six months ago that I was going to be so besotted with a six year old and her mother, I would have laughed in their face. Hard and repeatedly.But it was undeniable that I was besotted. The more time I spent with them, the worse it became. Marissa h
Asking for a Friend Not Over Yet
LAYTONMy eyebrows shot up. I’d promised Craig I would pay a visit to the site some time. We didn’t have any meetings scheduled here. “Did he say what it was about?”“No,” she replied, her eyes sliding to my open office door. “He just said he needed to talk to you.”Nodding, I smiled. I would find out soon enough what Craig was here for. “Thanks, Carrie. Do me a favor and hold my calls while I’m in there with him.”“Sure thing,” she said, and immediately started punching buttons on her landline. As promised, Craig was waiting for me in my office. He had made himself comfortable and was sitting on the white sofa with a cup of coffee in his hands.When he saw me coming, he set the coffee cup down while standing and reached out his hand to shake mine. “Sorry to show up unannounced, I know how much you hate that.”“That’s okay,” I shrugged, releasing his hand and rounding my desk to take my seat. “I’m getting better at it, actually. It doesn’t bother me so much anymore.”Craig’s brows lif
Asking for a Friend Deep Down
MARISSA“Are you ready for some awesome mom and daughter bonding time today?” I asked Annie as I helped her settle into the car.She clapped her hands and nodded, her head bouncing up and down so hard I wasn’t sure if she could stop nodding if she wanted to. “What are we going to do today?”Since Layton gave me the day off, I returned the favor with Denise—especially because she was already taking Annie again tomorrow—and decided to spend some quality time just with Annie. It wasn’t something we got to do often enough.Between work, school, my dresses, Annie’s activities and Denise’s schedule, we had precious little time to just relax and spend time together as mother and daughter. “Well, for starters I thought we could go to the aquarium. We’ve been meaning to go since we moved here, I thought it was time we finally did it,” I said, glancing at her in the rear view mirror as I slipped into the driver’s seat of our car.Annie’s reaction was even more priceless than I’d been expecting
Asking for a Friend Whatever You Want
MARISSAWhen we were done there, Annie was entranced with the penguins and had decided that she wanted to work in the aquarium when she grew up. The harbor seal training presentation was next and once it was done, she had changed her tune slightly and announced, “When I grow up, I’m going to be a seal trainer, Mommy.”“You can be whatever you want to be, honey,” I said, squeezing her hand as I smiled down at her. “I think being a seal trainer could be really fun.”To me, the showstopper of the aquarium was the four-story Giant Ocean Tank showing off the colorful inhabitants of its Caribbean coral reef. We watched the divers descending into the tank and when Annie told me she wanted to learn how to dive one day, I agreed wholeheartedly.The aquarium took up most of our morning and a bit of the early afternoon. By the time we were done, we were both ravenous so we headed for lunch at the Chowda Co. at Quincy Market nearby.The atmosphere in the restaurant was great and the food was even
Asking for a Friend Out of Control
LAYTONSomehow, I managed to get through the day on Friday actually being productive. After Craig left my office, I popped in my earphones and got into the zone, finalizing a few designs that had been sitting for a while.I attributed it to the feeling that had still been lingering after my day out with the girls on the Freedom Trail. The feeling inspired me and helped me to finish and tweak designs I was now excited to finally be able to show my clients.Before I went home for the weekend, I sent all the designs off for finishing touches on the 3D disks to be prepared for the clients, and planned the model for the biggest one. All in all, it was a good day’s work.It didn’t hurt that I had my date with Marissa to look forward to, which was what I was getting ready for as I stood in my closet and grabbed a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a belt. There was a black leather jacket that hung at the back of my closet. I hadn’t worn it since college, but my lips curled into a smile as I tried
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Asking for a Friend Epilogue Part 2
LAYTONIt was still early, the sun wasn’t even fully risen yet. Annie and I had both snuck out of bed early this morning to make this breakfast. Marissa was fast asleep, lying on her side on the bed.Annie set down the tray and the glass and shook Marissa’s shoulders. “Mommy! Wake up Mommy! We have a surprise for you.”Marissa’s eyes blinked open slowly, confusion clouding them until she rubbed it away as she sat up and took in the scene in front of her. “What’s all this?”“We’re celebrating,” I told her. “I spoke to Craig earlier. They’re on their way to the site for the final clean up. The building’s finally done.”Her lips curled into a sleepy smile. “I can’t believe that it’s over. It’s really all done?”“It’s really all done,” I confirmed, picking up the tray and placing her plate on it on her lap. “Eat up, we’ve got a lot of celebrating ahead of us today.”“Shouldn’t I be the one feeding you breakfast in bed for this?” She asked, frowning slightly. Lifting up the duvet, she patt
Asking for a Friend Epilogue Part 1
LAYTONIn the past two months since Annie’s first ballet recital, there had been three more. Which were four more recitals than I ever thought I would attend. Or actually enjoy.But I did enjoy them. I enjoyed them so much I was even starting to consider myself something of an expert in ballet. I knew was arabesque meant, what pas de deux was, and that attitude referred to a position in classical ballet, and not a little girl shaking her finger in your face.I watched Annie practicing every night, since I had now officially moved in with them. So officially that there was a tenant renting my place and everything. Marissa didn’t know it yet, but I had been looking at houses for us online for the last couple of weeks.Most of my furniture was now in storage since our house wasn’t big enough for all my furniture and all of Marissa’s. I didn’t love the thought of my stuff gathering dust in a storage unit and I wanted us to have a place that was truly ours, not mine or hers.I had to wait
Asking for a Friend Tiny Dancer
MARISSALayton also threw himself deeper into his commitment to our family. He started driving Annie to school sometimes or offering to pick her up. He took her fishing a few more times and taught her how to play catch.Our lives together was everything I was ever too afraid to hope for. Watching him watch her recital now, tears burned the backs of my eyes.His eyes still hadn’t left the stage for so much as second and I could see the pride he was feeling, I felt it too. He was so much better of a father to Annie than Brice ever could have been. And he stepped into that role gracefully and seriously.I wondered if he would bolt when he eventually realized she was starting to look at him as her dad, but he’d done the complete opposite. On the contrary, he freaking loved being her ‘dad.’The final notes of the recital ended, the girls all dipping into low bows as the hall exploded in applause. Parents leaped to their feet and Layton and I joined them.“She was fantastic,” he yelled into
Asking for a Friend Sixth Months of Heaven
MARISSALayton’s eyes were glued to Annie on stage. Watching him now, it was hard to remember a time when I doubted his love or his commitment to her. Or to me, for that matter.The past six months had been perfect. A fairy tale I never believed was in the cards for me. But somewhere, somehow, someone sent Layton to me and let me keep him.After I finally told him I loved him, there was no turning back. And neither of us wanted to. We came clean to Annie about our relationship that same week and she was thrilled.She hugged both of us and refused to let us go. That next week Layton stayed over for the first time that Annie knew of. She was so excited when she saw him arriving with an overnight bag that she zoomed and bounced around all night before finally crashing hard. When she fell asleep, it was on the couch between us.Layton had insisted on being the one to carry her to her bedroom and when he came back to the living room, he had this expression of absolute serenity on his face.
Asking for a Friend Living the Dream
LAYTON“I was just thinking about something that happened with Annie a few weeks ago,” I told him, shaking the memories out of my head. As the site came back into focus, I noticed how much progress there had been in the week since I was last here. “It’s looking good, Craig. You guys are really outdoing yourself on this one.”“We’re doing our best,” he said, shrugging. “I encouraged you to do this by yourself without that other asshole involved. Least I can do is to have your back now that you’re actually doing it.”“Thanks, man. I appreciate it.” I still couldn’t believe some days that this building really was all mine. I tried not to think about it too much, since there was still a lot that could go wrong. I didn’t want to tempt fate by thinking about how well it was going. “Has the flooring been delivered yet?”“Right on time,” Craig said. “They delivered on Friday morning as promised.”I breathed out a sigh of relief. The people who manufactured the flooring called two weeks ago to
Asking for a Friend We're a Family
LAYTONSix months after Marissa first told me she loved me, I walked onto the construction site where the museum was just about done. The scaffolding was coming off today and the team was moving inside. We had two months left to go, tops.The past six months had been the best months of my life. By a long shot. The museum was progressing without any major hold-ups, which was more of a relief than I cared to admit out loud.Marissa, Annie and I were doing better than ever. In the last few weeks, we’d started talking about moving in together, and I was sure it was going to happen soon.I knew it was going to be an adjustment to live together, especially for Annie and me, but it was what I wanted more than anything. I wanted to wake up next to Marissa every morning, to have breakfast with her and Annie before we headed to work.I wanted to be there to tuck Annie in at night and to spend lazy weekends with them. Only a year ago, if anyone had told me I would ever want that kind of life, I
Asking for a Friend Tasting Him
MARISSAStars exploded behind my eyelids. The intensity of the orgasm building inside me was astonishing. My body was going to be blown to dust when it hit, but I couldn’t freaking wait for that glorious release. I gripped the sheets harder, trying to anchor myself against the powerful sensations ripping through me.My hands flew to his hair next, tugging it as I held him to me. Knowing my body better than I did, he knew exactly what I needed. Bringing his lips to my clit, he sucked the little bud in between them and flicked it with his mouth.That perfect pressure sent my body skyrocketing. I stifled a cry, relieved somewhere in the back of my mind I had the pillow handy and crushed it over my face. Sensation crashed into me as I came, overwhelming me with a pleasure I would never get used to.Floating in a bubble of ecstatic bliss, my body went limp. When I opened my eyes, Layton was there wearing a satisfied smile.But it was too tight, too strained. His muscles were tense and his
Asking for a Friend Raw
MARISSALayton’s lips on mine were the best thing that I’d ever felt and I never wanted him to stop. I writhed against him, feeling him hard as steel against my center as he continued to kiss the crap out of me. He dipped his head lower and licked a path to my breasts, his hands on the hem of my shirt.There was something we had to do, somewhere we had to go. But I’d lost track of my train of thought. Warm hands came up to cup my breasts over my pajama top, his thumbs dragging over my puckered nipples. A shiver ran through me. I was so damn wet. I wanted him so bad.“Cold?” Layton asked huskily.I shook my head, closing my eyes for a second as I tried to find words. And figure out that gnawing feeling that we had to move. “No, just—”Layton gave me a sexy, knowing smile. “Me too. Let’s take this to your bedroom, shall we? We definitely shouldn’t let Annie find us like this.”Fuck.Annie.Of course, that was why we had to move. I nodded at Layton. “Let’s go.”His hands dropped to cup
Asking for a Friend Prove It To Her
LAYTONHolding the NDA out to her, she took it and her eyes dropped immediately to the signature line. Which was blank. “I didn’t sign it. I told him to tell Banks where he could shove his insane requests.”Marissa blinked, a huge smile spreading on her face. “Annie’s sleeping, but would you like to come inside?”I nodded, pulling her into my arms as the door closed behind me. Marissa lifted herself up on her toes and kissed me, her fingers winding into the hair around the nape of my neck. When we broke apart, she kept her hands where they were and spoke with her lips inches away from mine. “I love you, Layton. I love you so much.”My heart hammered louder and harder than it ever had before. It was trying to beat its way out of my chest to climb into hers. That was what it felt like, anyway. It already belonged to her, it might as well have done it.I blinked at her, taken aback by hearing the words I wasn’t sure I would ever hear from her. “Could you repeat that?”She smiled. “As man
