Sex with Cayden was always incredible. I loved fucking her and I really loved the way that she fucked me. It never got old.

But above everything, I loved the way that I felt after I had sex with Cayden. I practically glowed after we finished, my body feeling lighter and more at ease. My muscles were completely relaxed. Cayden and I laughed easily and hard when we were together after just having sex. I loved the feeling.

Part of what was so fun about being with her was how she didn't completely shut me out once we were done. When Sebastian and I were sexually active, he'd leave me completely in the dust, usually going off to do his own thing. If we had shower sex, he would rinse out his hair and then get out, leaving me to finish the rest of my routine.

But with Cayden, she took an interest in being there with me. She would help rinse the shampoo from my hair and would hand me products when I asked for them.

I also loved that it never felt like there were a storage of kisses or hugs. I would just randomly get so overwhelmed by how much I liked being around her and suddenly feel the urge to pull her in for a hug. Rather than brushing me off or asking what I was doing, Cayden would always reciprocate, like she was just as happy as I was that we were together.

After we finished our shower, we got out and Cayden handed me a towel to dry off. I squeezed the water out of my hair and then headed into Cayden's room.

"Sorry, you probably smell like me now since I only have my products here," Cayden said.

"I love it," I said. It felt like the equivalent of wearing one of Cayden's t-shirts. Every time I caught a whiff of my hair, it reminded me of her. I tightened the towel around my chest and looked at Cayden. "So, what's the plan? Should I get dressed and we run errands together? Or maybe do dinner?"

Cayden smiled a little bit at me. "Dinner? Errands? This all sounds so serious."

I laughed. "You're the one who basically invited me to move in with you, so... you can tease me all you want, but you're the one who seemed awfully ready to move fast."

Cayden threw her head back with laughter. "Okay, fair. Maybe my plan all along had been getting you to move in so we could hook up whenever I wanted, did you ever consider that? I'm just using you."

"Oh, no, ple-e-ase," I said. "No, don't just use me for my body. Don't fuck me so hard that my knees actually shake afterwards. That sounds so horrible."

Cayden pulled me in closer to her, looking down at me. Her expression softened a little and I knew immediately that she was dropping the playful act. "It's you and me, right?" she asked, her voice soft and gentle.

I caressed my thumb against her cheek. "Of course, it's you and me. There's no one else I want."

"No, I just mean..." Cayden sighed a little. "With everything going on. With the Sebastian stuff and suddenly coming out here... you having to deal with my family. We're in this together, right?"

"We're in this together," I confirmed. Sebastian didn't really scare me anymore. There had been so much fear around what would happen next when he didn't know, but now that he knew, there wasn't really anything else to be afraid of. The cat was already out of the bag. It was over.

But Cayden's family did make me a little nervous. I knew she had an interesting relationship with her family, to say the least. Something that had gone on with her dad had been a primary reason why we'd initially lost contact and I thought Cayden was never going to speak to me again.

I felt better prepared for it this time. When we were first hooking up, it had just been me and Cayden figuring each other out. We had a lot working against us and it wasn't in our favor. But the longer we were together and the stronger our relationship seemed, the more confident I was that we would be totally fine and could make it through anything.

Hopefully, at least.

And how bad could her family be? Everyone's family had its own quirks. If Cayden and I kept going at the pace that we were, she would probably eventually meet my family and see how they are. I was sure she would meet them and be a little thrown and lost and uncertain as to where she fit in.

"Everything is going to be just fine," I said and then gently kissed Cayden on the cheek.

-

We decided to take it easy since we were both pretty wiped from the airport and flying. I threw on one of Cayden's oversized t-shirts and we settled into her bed, our limbs melting into each other and crisscrossing every which way until it was hard to tell whose was whose.

I laid my head on her chest and took a deep breath, glad to have a moment to breathe and shut my eyes. I couldn't think of a much better day—easy travel with Cayden, had sex twice, had a nice, warm shower, and now we were resting.

"Can you believe we're really here?" I asked, holding her close. She felt so firm and safe underneath me. Just having her by my side felt like having a security blanket. There was nothing that could hurt me when we were like this.

Cayden laughed a little bit out of her nose. "No, I can't."

"Are you excited to be back?"

She was quiet for a long time, long enough that I worried that maybe she wasn't. If Cayden wasn't happy to be here, I didn't know what to make of it. What did that mean for the next couple of weeks ahead?

"Yeah, I think I am," Cayden eventually answered.

"What are you most nervous about?"

"Family, mostly. Getting back into the routine of being home. I like living alone in New York for the freedom and not being directly under my parent's thumb. But they're also in and out so much that it sometimes doesn't even matter."

"It'll all be okay. We'll figure it out."

"I hope so," Cayden said.

I looked at her. "What should I be prepared for? What makes you the most nervous?"

"Just... everything. My parents are intense people. They're kind of airheaded and flighty. My dad works a lot and seems to always have work to deal with. My mom doesn't really remember things and tends to only pay attention if you're right in front of her. They're very giving people and they've done a lot for me and I love them, but sometimes I... feel a little bit like I've raised myself."

I tightened my hold on Cayden. It was hard hearing difficult stories about her life, or stories where she wasn't treated well. I hated knowing that anyone had ever hurt her or brushed her off, and I hated knowing that she carried any kind of heaviness in her heart.

Cayden and I had moments of miscommunication and times when we weren't totally on the same page, but she always came back around. She was kind and affectionate and caring. And it was hard to think that her parents didn't fully appreciate that about her.

"Do you think they'll like me? Are they okay with me being here?" I asked, not for the first time. But it suddenly felt like a very real discussion since I was actually in Miami now. There wasn't really any turning back, unless they decided to kick me out...

Which they wouldn't. Hopefully.

"They're definitely okay with you being here."

I felt sick to my stomach. "But you're not sure they'll like me?"

"I don't think they really like anyone, even each other," Cayden said. "Sometimes, I'm not even sure they like me. But I think they'll approve of you and they won't have any reason to dislike you. I just don't think they're very good at verbalizing it and I don't want you to get your hopes up."

"It'll be okay," I said. "Your family is sort of similar to mine."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," I said. "My mom can be on my ass sometimes. It's like it's hard to get rid of her. And then my dad kind of balances it out to help her back down, but every once in a while he takes her side. They both constantly buckle down on my future and want every aspect of my life to be perfect... I don't know. There's just always been a lot of pressure on me and a lot of eyes on me. I know it's out of love, it's just almost too much attention."

Cayden kissed my forehead. "If you combined our families, we would have a perfect one."

I laughed. "Perfectly dysfunctional, but maybe that's a good sign for our relationship," I said and snuggled into her chest. "Our parents would probably get along almost too perfectly."

Despite the lightness of my tone, I couldn't help but feel a slight tug of concern that maybe things won't be that easy. This somehow reminds me of the Meleri's and my parents—except Cayden's parents seem to be much more extreme, given the way she describes them. What if I'm willingly walking into a snake's pit without even realizing it?