Chapter 232

Chapter 232
"Nope," he replied, and I turned around, his arms still looped around me as I faced him. With a small smile, I went on my tip-toes and planted a sweet kiss on his lips.

"Yes, you are," I corrected, and he gave me a sad little smile.

If you hadn't caught on yet, tomorrow was his custody hearing. I tried to hide my underlying anxiety at the thought of a court room, but obviously knowing Asmodeus and his annoyingly-observant ass, he caught it.

"The last time you were in a court room was when you had to testify against your brother.. wasn't it?" He asked, and I looked up from the ground to give him a small nod. "Are you sure you should be going tomorrow?"

"What? Yes, of course," I replied, not planning on letting myself abandon him. "You need me there and I'll be there."

"I need you to be safe, and comfortable, and happy. That's what I need," he corrected, and I looked up at him again with a sigh. "Hey," he paused to interlock our fingers, "I need you to not put me before you this time," he told me reassuringly.

"I don't want to leave you stranded," I told him, and he shook his head.

"I'll have the others, and plus, this way I'll be able to look forward to seeing you once it's over," he added, and I frowned a little at him. I knew he was probably right. The last thing anyone would want was for me to have a panic attack in the middle of it all. I usually could hide them pretty well but who knows how bad it could be in there... my brother's trial still haunted me to the day.

"I'm sorry," I said honestly.

"Don't be," he spoke softly, leaning in and planting a gentle kiss on my forehead. A small smile worked its way into my lips at the feeling of his warm lips on my skin.

"I'm sorry about last night, too," my smile went away again as I admitted it. He furrowed his brows when he pulled back.

"What do you mean?"

"When you," I paused to gather my thoughts, "when we were kissing and I freaked out," I felt my face heat up a little. "I feel like I'm kind of a broken girlfriend now," I joked painfully, but he just shook his head and tucked some hair behind my ear that had fallen over my face and then moved his hand to cup my face.

"You're the strongest person I know, C. I always have been and always will be lucky to have you with me, kissing or not. Okay?" He told me plain and simple, and I smiled a little.

"Okay," I replied, and he gave me an impressed smile, both of us knowing that it was the closest I had ever gotten to feeling like what he said was actually true.

He leaned down and brought his lips to mine, and I brought my hands up to the sides of his face as he moved his to my back to pull me in a bit closer. I smiled into the slow kiss, but didn't break it. We went on for a few minutes, tuning out Kade and Layla in the other room as we were engulfed in each other. When we finally pulled away, he had that twinkle in his eyes that I loved so much.

"You know, you make these moments when shit is hard just feel like the sad middle of a movie that has a happy ending," he told me when he pulled away, and his casual words flooded my heart with warmth. "Shit- was I just unintentionally cheesy?" He asked and cringed a little. I chuckled.

"Totally," I replied cheekily and returned my lips to his.

"Ewww," Jake said when he came into the kitchen and saw us. I pulled away to laugh as Asmodeus turned his head to look at him.

"Go back in the other room, Jake," Asmodeus told him with a smile.

"But Jessica and Layla are doing the same thing," he complained, and Asmodeus's smile immediately fell. Jake only lasted a few seconds before he broke into laughter, "gotcha," he pointed at Asmodeus and continued to laugh his little but-t off.

"You think you're funny, huh?" Asmodeus chuckled and let go of me to walk over and scoop up Jake, throwing him over his shoulder. Jake was laughing and shrieking as Asmodeus then play-wrestled with him on the ground.

"Carla help!" Jake laughed as Asmodeus tickled him, and I went along with it, rushing over and kneeling down next to them to pull Asmodeus off of him, but my laughter left me vulnerable as Asmodeus turned around and pulled me tightly into him, basically restricting my movements completely.

The distraction let Jake scramble out from under him, though, and tackle him back down to the ground. I cheered Jake on as he kept trying to pin Asmodeus down, who was laughing hysterically under him. Somehow, though, Asmodeus found a way to bring us both back into a tight hold, and the both of us struggled to break away from his strong arms with all our laughter.

"Well that's one way to keep custody," Kade joked when he walked in and saw Asmodeus practically strangling the two of us on the ground. He laughed and let us go as he stood up, only for Jake to then pounce on me to try and pin me down. I let out an unexpected shriek and laugh.

"Traitor!" I yelled, and Jake kept giggling as I tried to tickle him to get him off of me.