Page 55 of Waiting to Love You

“Not exactly. The girls ordered me home shortly after you left. I just woke up from a nap and am now taking a bath before having a late dinner.”

A guttural groan comes through the phone. “You can’t say things like that, Bri. I’m trying to be a gentleman.”

“Sorry,” I squeak as images of the dirty things I would rather have him doing to me right now flood my mind. If only I wasn’t keeping the fact that we have a daughter together from him… Wait. This could be the perfect chance. My mom is here to watch Rebekah for me while I make plans to meet with Seth. Leia said something about meeting up with the guys for drinks, but I’m sure I could talk him into meeting at Just the Drip for a cup of coffee so we can talk.

“Anyway, I’m glad you could get some rest.”

“Thanks. I needed it for sure.”

An awkward silence stretches between us. Neither of us knows exactly what to say at this moment, and for good reason. Seth isn’t blind. He has to know there’s something going on with me, but he has no idea what it is. I need to come clean before it’s too late. Just as I’m about to say something, Seth beats me to it.

“All right, I don’t want to keep you. Enjoy your bath.” He pauses for a few moments. “I miss you.”

“Do you want to come to Vance and Selina’s with me next weekend?” I blurt out, startling us both.

I’ve missed my chance to suggest we meet up and talk tonight, but Selina offered her party. The last thing I want to do is take the focus off their news, but I need my friends. We’ll both need our friends after I drop the news of our daughter into Seth’s lap. There was probably a better way of going about asking Seth to hang out with me, but if I hadn’t said it right now, I know I would have chickened out.

“I would love to.”

“Great. Awesome. I’ll talk to you later. Bye, Seth.” I trip over my words, getting them out in one breath. I quickly hang up the phone, not even bothering to give him a chance to say goodbye.

“Could you be any more of a spaz, Bristol?” I groan as I drop the phone onto the floor and sink back down into the water.

If I’m going to tell Seth the biggest secret of my life, I think I need a little more practice. If the awkwardness of this conversation is any sign of how it’s going to go, it won’t be easy.

Chapter 15

Seth

Things with Bristol and I have gone relatively back to normal since our talk last weekend. I guess she really was just having a bad couple of days. I’m glad I could help her feel a little better. We exchanged a few texts and phone calls, but she surprised me out of the blue on Wednesday, coming to the construction site I was working at and bringing lunch.

It’s the little things like that that make me fall even more in love with her. I’ve learned more about Bristol in these last few weeks than I know about people I’ve known for a major chunk of my life, and I’m desperate to discover more. She’s slowly opening her heart to me, and I couldn’t be happier, but I can tell she’s still holding something back.

Shaking the dark thoughts from my mind, I pull on a white T-shirt and some socks, shove my feet into my boots, and slip my wallet into my back pocket before striding toward the front of the house.

“You ready to head out soon?” Brady asks as he pulls a jacket on over his long-sleeved flannel shirt and puts a backward baseball cap on his head.

“Yeah. I just need to text Bristol and let her know we are running a little early.” I pull my phone out of my pocket and unlock the screen, my thumb hovering over her name.

“Did you already tell her we would be there at three? What’s it going to matter if we arrive ten minutes early?”

Vance invited the whole crew to celebrate with him and Selina today. He hasn’t shut up about this party since he came in to work on Monday. I have no idea what a gender reveal party is, but I guess finding out the sex of your child is a big deal. One I can’t wait to have the chance to do with Bristol.

I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been thinking about having children with Bristol since we touched on the subject. Sometimes I catch myself dreaming about what our child would look like. Would they have a complexion closer to mine or Bristol’s? Would they have my brown eyes or her piercing green ones? Would they have midnight black hair like my parents or a more auburn color? A perfect mixture of the two of us, or would they favor one of us more? Not that it matters. If Bristol and I are ever blessed with a child, I’ll love him or her with my whole heart. They’ll become the center of my universe, just like their mother already is.

“Earth to Seth?” Brady waves his hand in front of my face. “Where’d you go? Are you that nervous about tonight?”

I’m nervous about my plans with Bristol for tonight. I had wanted to meet Bristol at her house and ride to the BBQ together, but she said something about needing to help Selina get ready. I was hoping we’d have a chance to be alone, and she’d finally tell me what she’s been hiding from me.

“Not even a little.” I chuckle, shoving my phone back into my pocket. “I wish Bristol would trust me.”

“Bristol trusts you, Seth.”

“How do you know that?”

“I just do,” he responds with conviction, patting me on the back. “Don’t forget my mom is dropping a pie off at your place around dinner time.”

Everything is falling into place. Since I already had a pre-approved VA loan, it only took a few weeks for me to close on the house. The moment I had the keys in hand, I went right to work on getting everything in my new home ready for tonight. The guys and I spent the last few days after work doing some minor repairs, painting, and changing out appliances. There wasn’t much that needed to be done, and since Audrey moved in with Connor, I was able to buy a few pieces of furniture from her to make the place feel a little more like home.

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