Page 80 of When We Are Old

I ran from the kitchen all the way up the stairs. It only took two bounds and I was clear on the landing, but shit, the air pushed from my lungs telling me I was far too old for athletics before eight in the morning.

“What’s up, Ewan?” I asked. But he clutched his willy through his pyjama bottoms which answered for itself.

“I need to pee, and Hannah won’t come out,” he groaned.

“Have you knocked?”

Downstairs, Ronnie shouted followed by a large crash. “You okay?” I hollered.

“Ugh. Maybe.”

I knocked gently on the door. “Hannah, love.” I smiled at how much I sounded like my mam. “Are you going to be long? Ewan needs a wee.”

“Don’t come in! I’m naked.”

“What? I wasn’t coming in.” Heat flared up my cheeks. I stepped back for the door, just in case I was crossing boundaries by having my hand on the white wood. Ewan jumped on the spot and then bent low at the waist. “You’ll have to pee in the garden, mate. Okay?”

“What? Dad, it’s freezing.”

“Come on, it's fun. Me and your Uncle Ryan used to do it all the time when Liam was spending hours doing his hair.”

Ewan looked like he wanted to know more, but his need to pee overrode all interest in conversation. “I’m not going to make it.”

Sighing I picked him up. “Pee on me and you’ll lose your Xbox for a week.”

“That’s not fair. Hannah should lose something.”

“Maybe.” I cringed at the thought of Hannah. She was a good kid as far as I could tell, but her mood swings were revolutionary. Ronnie and her had only been here two days and even Jack knew to check her facial expressions before talking, laughing, and sometimes even breathing within her vicinity, and that was to say nothing about the amount of time she spent on the phone.

I rushed Ewan back down the stairs and through the kitchen where Ronnie was bent over sweeping up what looked like a broken mug. I didn’t look at the mess, merely paused to take in the glorious sight of her arse up in the air; what a picture. Outside the back door, I plopped Ewan down on his Crocs—what I liked to call his ‘loser clogs’ and then turned back to Ronnie.

“What happened?”

“Hugo.”

“Ah.” I sighed and shifted over to her, pulling her into my arms and enjoying the brief moment of alone time we’d been blessed with. “I really had no idea you’d never had a pet. I just didn’t consider it to be such an adjustment.” I kissed under her ear, enjoying the little shiver she gave in return as she tilted her neck so I could explore further. I’d realised in the last two days that when I was with Ronnie, I forgot to ask questions, but rather gave into endless kissing and as much sneaky groping as I could get in. “Why didn’t you and Paul have pets?” I turned her in my arms, combining my question with a kiss along her throat, the perfect compromise.

She moaned under her breath and I slipped a hand under the hem of her cotton pyjama top. Her eyes met mine as I brushed my thumb over her pebbled nipple. Ewan would be back at any moment, but I couldn’t help myself. My need for her grew more every day I was with her—if such a thing was possible. How could you be with someone but crave them so much? The 'Ronnie phenomenon' I’d decided it should be called.

“Paul just said it would make more mess.”

I pulled back a bit. “Did you basically manage to marry a male equivalent of your mother?”

Her cheeks coloured. “No. He just didn’t want to spend time doing housework. He wasn’t as domesticated as you.”

“Aye, I’m highly domesticated. You’ll never find another specimen like me.”

“Just as well I’m not looking for one.” She reached up onto her tiptoes and kissed gently around my mouth. God, I wanted to pick her up and have her legs wound tight around my waist. Maybe I should take up Mam’s offer of an overnight babysitting gig.

No. This was supposed to be about us being together. I clutched her closer, scared that I would blink, and this would all disappear.

“What are you thinking?” Her grey gaze rested on my face.

“Whether this is a dream and you are really here.”

She smiled slow, the curve of her lips I wanted to kiss the fuck out of edged into view. “I’m here.”

“Good.” I kissed her again, firmer this time, tilting her head back with a pull of my fingers on her hair.