Page 144 of One Big Little Secret

“I don’t hold it against you. You didn’t know and that was my fault. And I didn’t tell you because I’m expecting anything. If you don’t want much to do with him now—or with me—I get it. I’m not holding you to anything.”

“Salem,” he growls roughly.

“Patton.”

He bangs his fists against his thighs, shaking his head.

“I don’t know what to say,” he snarls. “I haven’t had many girlfriends before, not serious ones, never mind a son. A family.Shit.” He laughs, raking his other hand through his hair. I reach up and smooth it back down. “I’m not being articulate right now. I’m honking at you like a fucking mule.”

“You just found out you have a little boy.” I sniff, losing one hot tear down my cheek. “I think that’s pretty understandable.”

He huffs a breath and sighs.

“It’s cold out here,” he says, almost surprised. “Wait here, okay?”

I curl up in a ball as he disappears inside. For a brief, unreasonable instant, I worry he might flee. He might hot tail it back to Kansas City, back to the busy, prestigious life he had before I came and spat in his punch bowl.

Then he’s back, handing me a white robe.

“Put it on, before you catch a cold,” he growls. “Then come the fuck here.”

Yeah, here come the tears.

“I need—” My voice breaks.

“Listen to me, you beautiful, dumb, marvelous girl.” He presses a kiss to the side of my head. “This is a lot to take in, and I’ll probably be freaking out about it all the way home. But if Arlo really is my son, I know what I want. I need to be in his life.”

“Patton—”

“And yours,” he continues. “If you’ll have me. Fair warning, you won’t keep me out easily, no matter how hard you try.”

The avalanche begins.

I’m crying like a little girl.

All because he’s just spoken words I never even dared of dreaming.

They’re not gentle tears that streak silently down my face.

They’re not soft and they’re not a relief.

I’m bawling straight ugly tears with bone-shaking sobs. Even my legs quiver with the force of my crying.

“Salem.” Patton pulls me closer, cradling me in his lap.

I’m small enough to rest against his chest, which feels like the entire world right now, this haven of him I never want to leave.

“Salem,” he whispers again. My name has never sounded more intense on his lips. “It’s okay. We’ll be okay. I’m here.”

I turn my face into his bare chest.

He smells like warmth and safety, like home, even though I’ve only been with him like this for a matter of days.

“You’re not alone anymore. I promise,” he tells me, rocking me back and forth. His hand sweeps down my hair, smoothing it against my neck.

“I… I never thought this would happen.” I hiccup embarrassingly loudly. God, I don’t know where the tears keep coming from—no human being should cry this much.

But I’m not scared and ruined anymore.

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