MUFFLED GROANS

chapter 54 | Man of the house

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10 pm.

"I'm going to bed, I can't stay awake anymore," Matteo yawns and stretches his body after dozing off and waking up a few times on the sofa. "Sleep tight and have a good night," she tells him, with care, and I tell him the same words. "Have a good night too," he smiles and leaves, not bothering Choco who is already sleeping.

I set my eyes back on my book to continue reading but feel Lea come closer. Since I am sticking to the promise I made to myself earlier, I do not pay attention to her, but she already makes it hard by leaning towards me and resting her head on my shoulder. "What are you reading?" her soft voice triggers some weakness, but I fight against it and ignore her.

I fix my glasses on my nose, and she turns her head to look at me as I am still able to resist. Noticing that I am not responding, she does not say anything but puts her head back on my shoulder like an adorable baby, and I internally smile.

The time goes by, the movie keeps playing, and she remains quiet, which already makes me regret it.

She moves away to give me space, and I cannot even read any lines at all anymore, I only run my eyes over them.

"Are you really mad about what I said?" she quietly asks, and I lose. I bite the tip of my tongue and heavily breathe out. "I don't know. Do you think I am?" I gaze at her, and the look she gives me with her pretty eyes draws me in. "Yes..."

I cannot even hold back from smiling, so I avert my eyes from her. "I'm doing what you threatened to do."

"What? I threatened but didn't do it," she now calms down and leans towards me, and she wraps her arms around my waist and sneaks her head under my arm to rest it on my chest. "Push me away if I annoy you but not to get revenge," she mumbles in my nightshirt, and I smile but do not keep my hands on the book. I bring one down to her throat and cup it, and I rub my thumb over her jawline. "You deserve to be punished a little. I cannot be so tolerant all the time."

"But you tried to make me do something bad, this is your fault," she puts the blame on me. "Cheating to make your man win shouldn't be something bad. I'd cheat for you, I wouldn't care."

"If someone else was playing instead of Matteo, I'd have cheated, but I didn't want to do that to him," she makes a good point, loving my son way too much to even betray him for a game. "Hm, good excuse. I let it slip because of that."

"Also, you never pretended to have lost so that I'd win a game...so...I kinda wanted to take revenge for that," I feel her cheeks rise as her lips curved up, and I chuckle. "Stop. Otherwise, I make you beg for my attention."

"No, you won't," she moves her head up to the crook of my neck and presses a kiss on it, but I do not let go of her throat. "I might. I love to hear you beg for me," I close my eyes at the pleasure she gives me with soft kisses on my sensitive neck. "Especially when you try as hard as you can and make me feel so weak."

"I make you feel weak?" she only points this out and looks up at me, so I bring my eyes down to hers and slide my hand over her back. "You know you do."

"I'm glad I do," she grins and completely cuddles up against me, but I drop my book next to me and pull her in to get her on my lap. "Come here. Don't half hug me," I hold her close, and she giggles but puts her arms around my waist and completely rests her body on mine.

— Next day —

Sunday, December 10th, 2023.

9:40 am.

'LEA'S P.O.V'

"Good morning," I smile at Matteo, who just woke up from a long night, and he walks up to us in a pair of sweatpants, with small eyes and messy hair. "Good mor— Wow," he clears his throat after his husky voice cracked. "Fuck, I need to drink," he coughs and joins us at the table, but before sitting down, he drops a kiss on my head.