Page 88 of The Ones We Fight For

“Don’t be sorry.” Talia shook her head and stroked her fingers through his hair. “Walker, you’re not weak for needing help. Do you think I’m weak?”

“I would never think that.”

“I’ve been going to therapy recently, and if you don’t think I’m weak, then I don’t know why you would think that about yourself.”

“You have? But you just seem so put-together.”

“More put-together people go to therapy than you think. Plus, it’s funny that you even think that considering you know how screwed up I am. Do you think Piper’s weak for going to therapy? Carter?”

“No,” Walker answered immediately.

“Then maybe it’s best you stop holding yourself to some unattainable standard.” Sitting up, Talia set her hands on her knees and motioned for him to get up, too. When he did, she set one hand on each of his shoulders and spoke as if directly to his soul. “You’re a good parent, Walker, and those kids love you. You’re amazing with them. The way that you love is fearless and sacrificial. It’s the way I want to love. You’re strong, you just don’t know it, and I think admitting that you need help and going to therapy only makes you stronger.”

“But I want them to know that I’m committed to them. Are they going to think I can’t do this if I have to go to therapy? I don’t want them thinking they’re a burden,” Walker said sadly.

“You can’t keep hiding your pain from them. It’s time that they saw the broken side of you, too. The one that deserves to heal, too. Maybe it’ll be better if they knew that you’re just as sad and as lost as they are.”

Walker sucked in a choppy breath and nodded, the worry already starting to crease his face. “Okay. You’re right.”

“Hey,” Talia’s hand gently traced his arm, and he relaxed a little. “You got this. We can figure us out later. Your focus has always been on the kids, but I think it’s time that you take care of yourself, too. You gotta give yourself the oxygen mask before you give it to the person next to you.”

Walker’s mouth twitched. “What?”

“When you’re on a plane, they tell you that you need to fasten your own oxygen mask before putting ones on your kids, or you won’t be able to help them at all because you’ll be passed out,” Talia explained. “I was a flight attendant for a hot minute.”

“You were?” Walker leaned forward with a glint in his eye. “Flight attendants are on my top ten list of kinks.”

“Okay, I’ll bite.” Talia giggled. “What are the other nine?”

Walker smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“You’re such an asshole.” Talia pushed her shoulder against his.

“No, assholes aren’t on my list, actually,” Walker teased, then immediately jumped off his bed before Talia had the chance to hit him again. “Now, let’s go get a dustpan and tell everyone I need therapy!”

Chapter 32

Talia

If there was a way to force herself to stop looking at Walker, Talia would have found one already. Distracting herself was the closest she was able to get, but the problem with that was that she distracted herself by imagining Walker pinning her to the bed again. He was standing so close to her that she could feel the heat radiating off his skin, and she wanted more of it. Her hands wanted to press into his skin and absorb the heat. She barely noticed when all his nieces and nephews congregated in front of them for the family meeting that she vaguely remembered calling to order with Walker.

When Walker’s hand reached down to hold hers, Talia pulled her head back up to look at him. The confusion behind his sudden show of intimacy dissipated along with her residual desire when she saw the look on his face. He was nervous, his eyes pleading for her support. She gave it with a firm squeeze of her hand and tucked herself into his side. He leaned into her and cleared his throat.

“So, I have something that I need to tell all of you.” Walker straightened his shoulders with a forced rigidity. Talia let go of his hand, and he shot her a panicked look before she set it on his back and started to rub back and forth, the way she did when he had been in the thick of his panic attack.

“Well, finally!” Piper clapped her hands, a wide smile displaying her straight, white teeth. “Took you two long enough.”

“What?” Talia glanced between Piper and Walker for an explanation. The realization dawned on her a second later when she watched Carter lean toward Colin to say something in his ear. “Oh! We aren’t… I… I mean—”

“We aren’t dating,” Walker cut in, saving Talia from the awkwardness as her hand fell away from his back, only to return a moment later when he gave her another pleading look.

“So, just friends with benefits, then?” Colin inquired.

“What’s that?” Cooper lifted his hand like he was in class.

“It’s when—”

“No!” Walker loudly interrupted. “Just friends. No benefits. Colin, that information is not appropriate for Coop.”

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