The Night I Was Saved

Chapter Seventeen

I hiss as some of the sizzling hot butter shoots from the pan onto my bare chest, yet the enormous grin that's still plastered on my face doesn't seem to fade. The idea that she's still in my bed, along with the fact that she seems to make a little progress when she is close to me serves as euphoric. I don't think anything can change my good mood right now.

I crack three eggs above the pan and watch how the see-through jelly slowly turns white. The smell triggers the idea of a good old brekkie with sausages, beans, and toast, and I wonder if Jo has ever had that. I'll make sure to make her that soon.

"It smells nice." Her voice pulls my attention away from the pan in front of me. She's walking into the living, Daisy still to her chest and my phone in her hand. "You forgot it in bed. It rang two times," she tells me as she puts my phone on the table behind me before strolling to the Christmas tree while humming a soft song to Daisy.

I watch how she bends and turns on the lights in the tree. She then stands in front of it so Daisy can see the lights perfectly, and her hand lifts to touch the big bauble with the rabbit on it. The actions are simple, but I'm mesmerized still.

It's how they look at this moment -together in front of the tree- that captivates my attention and fades every other thing around me. Jo's bun -that now that she's out of bed seems even messier than before- and her oversized shirt that falls over her shorts in a way that it's questionable if she even wears them, they wash a type of calm over me that I haven't felt before.

As if she feels my eyes on her, she looks over her shoulder. Her blue-grey orbs find my greens, and she gives me a small smile that turns into a frown after a few seconds while her gaze moves to something behind me. "Hero."

"Yeah?" I mumble, not even paying attention to her sudden change in tone and expression.

"The eggs. I think they're burning," she mumbles as she turns to me fully.

With wide eyes, I turn around and immediately understand her worried expression. The fucking eggs are burning pretty bad. "Fuck!" I curse, harder than intended, at the same time grabbing the pan off the fire and throwing it in the sink.

"Did you hurt yourself?" Jo asks from behind me, and I can instantly tell she's close. My whole body is on high alert, and it's something that I haven't felt as strong before.

"No." I shake my head and turn around, and sure enough, she is standing right in front of me. Daisy is leaning with her cheek against Jo's chest, and both of them are looking up at me, their blue hues identical and sucking me in. "I'm fine," I breathe. It's the first thing that comes to mind, and even though it's fitting to her question, I know that's not why I'm saying it. I'm saying it because their gazes on me makes me feel like that. Fine. Good. Fantastic even. "The eggs on the other hand..."

A small smile plays around her lips, and she tries to hide it by putting her mouth against Daisy's head. The sight is once again something that I wish I could capture, simply because I love the way they're both looking at me right now. "Are you laughing at me?"

Jo's eyes widen slightly and she shakes her head, her lips still pressed into Daisy's hairs to cover up the smile that's turning bigger. "I wouldn't."

"I think you would, though," I respond, stepping a little closer. She doesn't take a step back. Her eyes follow me curiously, just like Daisy's. The little girl is contently sucking on her two fingers while she follows the banter between her mother and me.

"You're wrong," she counters, her voice muffled slightly as if her lips press against Daisy's head harder.

There is this pull between us that our banter made even stronger, and before I've thought the next words through properly, I've asked them. "Come here?"