Shape of You (+18)

Chapter Twenty

▬▬▬▬ Joel's POV ▬▬▬▬

I wanted to touch her.

"Coffee?" she offered, walking to her kitchen while I lingered in her living room. I could tell by the way she avoided being too close to me that reaching out just to feel her skin on mine was out of the question.

Quintessentially, I was in the doghouse, but fuck if I wasn't trying to get out of it.

"I'm good," I answered her, watching as she moved gracefully in her space, hopping up just a little as she reached for a mug for her coffee.

It felt weird being around her when we weren't on good terms. I was used to that smile of hers fucking with my head in the best way possible whenever she greeted me, but no matter what I did, she wasn't budging and the corners of her perfect little mouth never lifted in my direction. I had a feeling I wouldn't be seeing that look again until I told her all my darkest truths.

But, that wasn't something I planned on doing. I told Dom when he stopped by to watch Evvie about an hour ago what I was up to today, and swore I wouldn't lie to Marley about anything she asked me, but I had no intentions of just offering information she didn't ask for. Maybe one day, if she was still around, but today I was here to fix what I broke...and also tell her what Kim told me three days ago.

I needed Marley Jones in more than just one way. The most important one being in regards to this damn custody battle. Because Marie and her team of fucktards didn't have any real footing to take my child from me, they would grab anything they could, which meant my recent traffic violation was under intense scrutiny by them. That, inevitably would lead them to Marley, one way or another. So, as much as I tried to keep these two things separate, I couldn't any longer. Sexual history aside, Marley had to know about my custody battle.

The other, more obvious way I needed the freckled temptress a few feet away from me was to satiate my hunger for her tight little body. It didn't help I was dodging her for a few days before that fucking cookout, and for the next week  she iced me out, which meant my dick was starving for what only she had to offer.

And now, as she sat across from me and crossed her legs, all under the gaze of my hungry eyes, I realized I was inches away from her and still couldn't fucking touch her.

"Okay, so," she began, my eyes honing in on those plump pink lips of hers as she sipped her drink. Focus on her words you idiot. "Where do we start?"

"Wherever you want. I just want to make this right."

Looking down at her lap, she nodded in understanding. My eyes traced the way her oversized grey shirt hid what I knew laid underneath, and followed the lines of her exposed legs to the knee-length socks see wore often.

"Why don't you want your daughter near me?"

"Woah, you're starting with the heavy hitters."

"I'm starting with what hurt me the most," she explained, those green eyes of hers looking so vulnerable I wanted to beat the shit out of myself for making her feel that way.

"I'm sorry about that," I said, ashamed.

"Did she say something after I watched her that night? Did I do something wrong?"