Ivy was uncomfortable as hell. He wasn’t sure Rob or Sarah had noticed, but it had been clear to Will during the introductions. Ivy’s smile had been a little too tight, her back a little too straight. They’d arrived early because he’d figured that getting there once everything was in full swing might be too overwhelming for her. He’d clearly been right on that count—she’d darted into the bathroom as soon as more people had arrived. Either, she was still in there, or she’d disappeared altogether.
Maybe he was trying to push her into his life too hard and too fast. He’d thought that introducing her to the people who were important to him would help her realize that she was important to him. That he was serious about wanting to see where this thing between them went. Well, he knew where he wanted it to go, but he wasn’t sure they were ever going to get there.
He didn’t doubt her attraction to him. Nor did he doubt that she enjoyed spending time with him, but there was this feeling she was holding back. She’d all but said she was waiting for his nostalgia to wear off and that she was just along for the ride until he moved on. And that just rankled the fuck out of him.
Avery smacked him in the mouth, grabbed hold of his lower lip and pulled. He looked down at her. “I’m sorry, poppet, was I not paying enough attention to you?”
The baby smiled at him, all toothless and drooly, and he couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like to have a kid or three with Ivy. He didn’t even know if she wanted kids. She might not. Not that any of that mattered, right now. A discussion like that was months, if not longer, down the road. He needed to focus on the here and now with her. And right now, that meant figuring out where she was and if she was all right.
He wandered back down the hall toward the bathroom. It was empty. At the sound of a child’s frustrated groan, he moved back toward the kitchen and stopped in the doorway. Ivy was seated at the kitchen table next to Robbie and what looked to be some kind of homework.
“Hey,” Ivy said. “I know this is really frustrating for you, but if you’ll help me, I’d like to try a little experiment.”
Robbie frowned at her. “What kind of experiment?”
She smiled at the boy. “It’s kind of a silly one.”
“Yeah?”
Nodding, she spun his book around and pointed to a passage on the page. “Try to read it now.”
“Upside down?”
“Yep.”
The boy looked at her like she’d lost her mind.
“Trust me,” she said with a grin.
Robbie leaned forward and started to read—clearly and far more quickly than Will had heard him before. Robbie stopped a few sentences in and turned toward Ivy—eyes wide. “How did you do that?”
She ruffled his hair. “I didn’t do it. You did.”
He turned back to the book and continued reading. When he’d finished, Ivy asked him a few questions about the content, and the kid was able to answer all of them. “Dad!” Robbie hollered.
“Oh, honey, you don’t need to shout,” Ivy said.
“Dad!” he yelled over her.
Hearing Rob running down the hall followed by Sarah and god knew who else, Will stepped farther into the kitchen and out of the way of the stampeding hordes.
Ivy turned in his direction, and her gaze fell on the baby in his arms. A slew of emotions flashed through her eyes, and he couldn’t read a single one, but they all seemed to be centered on Avery.
Fuck. He was such an idiot. Hadn’t she just told him that her ex had knocked up one of her student’s mums? And here he was, standing here like an arsehole with a baby-shaped reminder.
Rob and Sarah raced over to where Robbie was practically bouncing in his chair. “What’s wrong?” they both asked at once.
“Nothing. Watch!”
The boy turned to a new page and read, almost perfectly, the entire thing while his parents exchanged amazed looks above his head.
Sarah turned to Ivy. “Did you teach him that?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep my boundaries.”
“No. Please don’t apologize,” Sarah said.
“Seriously,” Rob added. “This is amazing. Why does the book being upside down make a difference?”
“Sometimes, the eyes move faster than the brain can process, so it’s really easy to skip words or parts of words as you’re reading. When that happens, retention and even comprehension are all but impossible.”
“So, reading upside down forces the eyes to stay at a similar rate as the brain?” Sarah asked.
“Exactly.” Ivy’s smile was so blindingly beautiful Will felt it in his gut.
Rob closed the book, and his son looked up at him confused. “Go play with your friends. We’ll work on this again, tomorrow, okay? And we’ll try the upside down trick.”
Robbie grinned and jumped out of his chair. He started to run from the room but stopped and turned back to Ivy. “I wish you were my regular teacher,” he blurted before running off.
“That was amazing,” Rob said. “Thank you.”
Ivy straightened in her chair. “It’s a start, but if you haven’t already, you may want to have him evaluated for dyslexia or another learning disability.”
Sarah punched Rob in the arm. “I told you.”
“There are so many strategies available to help manage them. And a learning disability has nothing to do with intelligence. It’s just how the brain processes information. And really, it’s not even that the brain is processing incorrectly. We just need to find the right teaching method for his particular way of thinking.”
“Thank you, so much,” Sarah said. “We’ll definitely look into getting him evaluated.” She shook her head. “Here you are, supposed to be out for a nice evening with your man, and you’re working.”
“Aw, don’t say that,” Nigel muttered. “I was going to ask if she wanted to help Emilia with her maths.”
Ivy laughed. “As long as it’s not algebra. That’s above my paygrade.”
Avery started to squirm and fuss, dragging Will’s attention away from Ivy.
“Oh, Wills,” Sarah said, taking the baby from his arms. “I’d forgotten you still had her. I’m so sorry.”
“Avery had fun hanging out with her Uncle Wills, didn’t she?”
The little girl grinned at him as Sarah turned and mouthed something to Ivy, but he couldn’t make out what it was. Whatever Sarah had said caused Ivy’s cheeks to flush.
The doorbell rang, and as Sarah went to answer it and Rob started taking pans out of the oven, Will rounded the counter and pulled Ivy into his arms.
She settled her hands on his shoulders, and he murmured in her ear, “You okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Her brow furrowed.
He shrugged. “You looked upset earlier.”
“Nope.” She shook her head. “Just taking it all in.”
He loved that she still thought she could lie to him. But he supposed now wasn’t the best time to delve into whatever was bothering her, anyway.
“Hey Wills, why don’t you make yourself useful and set the table.”
Will dropped a kiss on Ivy’s upturned mouth and reluctantly released her to grab the plates from the cupboard.
“What can I help with?” she asked Rob.
“Not a thing. You’ve already been a massive help, tonight.”
As the evening wore on, Ivy seemed to relax. By the end of the night, she was joking around with the rest of them, almost as if she’d known them as long as he had.
“That was really nice,” she murmured, resting her head against his shoulder as he drove them back to his flat. “I’m sorry I was so tense and nervous at first. It’s been a long time since I hung out with a bunch of couples like that.”
“You don’t really do that with your friends back home?”
She yawned. “My friends never really cared for Daniel, so the longer he and I were together, the less I saw them. And he ended up with custody of our couple friends in the divorce.”
“How the fuck does that work? Wanker cheats on you, and they all take his side?”
“From what I’ve heard, his new wife fits in to the group better than I ever did, so it’s probably for the best.”
Pulling up in front of his building, he put the car in park and killed the engine. Turning to her, he cupped her face and rested his forehead against hers. “He never deserved you.”
She bit her lip, and he could tell her first impulse was to deny his claim.
“I don’t, either,” he continued.
“Pretty sure you’ve got that backward.”
Ignoring her interruption, he said, “But I’m willing to work my arse off to convince you I’m worth taking a chance on. We’re worth taking a chance on.”
He brushed his thumb across the softness of her lips.
“You deserve so much better than you got. I know you don’t think there’s really a ‘we’. I know you think that I’m going to...I don’t know...get bored and wander away.” She opened her mouth, but he talked over her. “But I can promise you, there’s no chance of that happening.”
Her eyes clouded. “Will...”
After she’d opened her mouth and closed it a few more times, he said, “It’s not just the nostalgia. Or the sex—though, you should know I’m a fucking huge fan of that.”
She laughed like he’d hoped she would.
“I told you that I’d help fuck your ex out of your system. And obviously, I stand by that that promise.”
The ever present blush was back. Well, it was dark and he couldn’t see the color, but the heat of it seeped into his hands.
“And when you told me you wanted me to fuck you in all the ways I’d ever imagined... In all the ways I pictured when I wanked thinking about you, I told you I’d do that, too. We’re not even close to getting through that list.”
She drew a raspy breath and stared at him, her eyes practically pleading for him to take her.
“But there’s something else you need to know.”
He could almost see the thoughts racing through her head as she mentally prepared herself for the worst. “What?”
“I care about you, Ivy. A lot.” He cared about her more than a lot, but the last thing he wanted to do was freak her out. And she suddenly looked ready to bolt. Taking a deep breath, he said, “And, even though I think you’re trying really hard not to, you care about me, too.”
Her gaze softened at the same time she frowned.
He smiled. She was such a bundle of contradictions. Leaning forward, he kissed her. The kiss that he’d intended to be sweet and reassuring quickly spiraled out of control. When they broke apart, they were both breathless, and a determination settled over him. It didn’t matter how long it took or how vulnerable he felt, he’d find a way to convince her that she was wrong and they belonged together.