Page 130 of Before I Loved You

“They sure will.” I lean down to kiss her temple.

“It feels good telling people,” she admits.

I rub the back of my neck. “Yeah, about that…”

“What?”

I laugh nervously. “So don’t get mad.” She stops walking, narrowing her eyes on me. “I was doing some research about babies. Just preparing myself. And I accidentally left some books in the living room at my house, and, well, Nate came home and saw them.”

Her eyes widen. “And what did you say?”

“I mean.” I scratch the top of my head, suddenly feeling fidgety. “I blurted out the truth. I didn’t want to lie to him. I told him you and I are together and that we’re having a baby. But he’s not going to tell anyone, including Natalie. He just asked that we tell the group as soon as possible because he doesn’t keep anything from Natalie, and not saying anything will kill him.”

She blinks a couple of times. “You told him that we’re together?”

My brows furrow. “Yes. Was I not supposed to?”

She shakes her head. “No. No. It’s not that. I just…we haven’t…I don’t know…I just thought we were supposed to have a conversation about that. I don’t know. I’ve never done this before. I mean, am I your girlfriend? Was I supposed to assume we’re together because we’re having a baby? Or was I supposed to wait until you asked me? Oh God, just tell me to shut up, please.” She covers her face with her hands, turning a faint shade of pink.

“Sarah?”

“Mm-hmm?”

“Can you look at me?”

“No, I don’t think I can right now.”

I chuckle, removing her hands from her face. “I didn’t officially ask you because I thought you knew how I feel about you.”

She bites her bottom lip. “I mean, I do. It just would be kind of nice to hear it. I’m not good with this, and it might help to reaffirm things for me.” Her big green eyes look up at me, vulnerability like I’ve never seen before flashing in them.

My hands brace both of her cheeks. “Sarah Fleur?”

“Yes?”

“Will you be my girlfriend?”

“God, what are you twelve or something, Paul?” She flips her hair over her shoulder and takes a step to start walking away, leaving my mouth agape as she wears a shit-eating grin.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” I scoop her up in my arms, spinning her in the air.

“Ahhh, put me down!” She’s giggling uncontrollably. “It’s so high up here!”

I place her in front of me, resting my hands on her rosy cheeks. The corners of her lips tug up when she says, “Yes, Paul. I’ll be your girlfriend.”

“You’re mine, Sarah.” I rub the tip of my nose over hers. “Don’t ever forget that.”

“Does that mean you’re mine?” she asks.

“Always.”

“Did you just quote Harry Potter?”

I stand straight, scrubbing a hand over my face. “Just because I say the word always does not mean I quoted Harry Potter.” I take her hand in mine. “But is it one of the best scenes of all time? Absolutely.”

She giggles beside me, shaking her head. “Oh, Paul. I love how much of a nerd you are.”

“You do?”

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