Booktree.ngIt-Starts-with-Us-Colleen-Hoover

Chapter Twenty-Three
Atlas
I should definitely go home, but it is so hard to crawl out of this bed after
the last couple of hours with her. Once the couch happened, then the shower
happened. Now we’re both too tired to do anything other than talk.
She’s lying on her back, her arms folded beneath her head. She’s staring
at me, listening intently as I tell her about my meeting with a lawyer
yesterday. “He says I did the right thing by taking him to the hospital. They
were legally obligated to notify Child Protective Services. I’m not sure how
I feel about that, though. It puts the power in the hands of the state, and
what if they don’t think I’m the best place for him?”
“Why wouldn’t they?”
“I work a lot. I’m not married, so Josh will be alone some of the time.
And I have no experience raising kids. They might think Tim is a better fit
since he’s the biological father. They could even give him back to my
mother; I’m not even sure what she did is enough to have him removed
from her custody.”
Lily leans toward me and presses a kiss against my forearm. “I’m going
to tell you what you told me the first time you FaceTimed me. You said,
‘You’re stressing over things that haven’t even happened yet.’ ”
I fold my lips together momentarily. “I did say that.”
“You did,” she says. She tucks herself against me, wrapping a leg over
my thigh. “It’ll work out, Atlas. You’re the best thing for him, and anyone
who has vested interest will see that. I promise.”
I fold myself around her, fitting her head under my chin. It’s incredible
how much we’ve both changed physically since we were teens, but we
somehow still fit together just as perfectly as we did back then.
“I’ve been wanting to ask you something,” she says, pulling back far
enough to look at me. “Remember our first time? What happened after that
night? After my father hurt you.”