Page 95 of Claimed by my Bestie's Dad

I feel my temper flare, not at her, but at the whole damn situation. “I’m not going to have to choose, Madison. I’m not going to lose you, and I’m not going to lose Aurora either. We just need time.”

“But what if time doesn’t fix it?”

I step closer to her, reaching for her hands, but she pulls away again. It stings, this rejection from Madison. But she’s demanding answers. This doesn’t seem like the right time to tell her… There’s been a thought dancing around in my head about what I feel for her. But I can’t say it now. I don’t want to slap it on the situation like a Band-Aid.

“I’m in this with you, for the long haul. Aurora will come around, but we can’t control how quickly that happens. What we can control is us. You and me.”

“I just… I can’t stand the idea of being the reason things are broken between you two.”

“You’re not the reason. This is going to take work, but relationships take work. And I’m willing to put in the time, because I want this. I want us.”

Madison lets out a shaky breath. “I don’t want to lose you, Ethan.”

“You won’t, but I can’t lose you either, okay? We’re a team now. We face this together.”

Madison closes her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. When she opens them again, there’s still fear there. But she seems more determined than before.

“I’m worried about…everything. The baby, Aurora, how people are going to react. I don’t know if I’m ready. I know I want to be with you, but I’m not ready for the whole world. Now that Aurora knows, we have no choice but to be ready for the world.”

I pull her into my arms. “It’s okay to be scared, but we’ll figure it out. We just don’t have to have it all figured out right now.”

She leans into me, resting her head on my chest, and for a few moments, we just stand there, holding each other.

“I’m sorry I snapped at you,” I finally apologize.

“I forgive you. Ethan, can you…stay over at my place tonight?”

A grin fills my face. Because that is exactly what I want to do. “Yes, I would love to have a sleepover with you.”

Madison bites her bottom lip, then stands on her toes to kiss me. We still have some things to figure out, but we can figure them out together.

46

MADISON

Madison,are you doing okay?Zoe’s text message is a welcome one the next morning. I stretch, my hand bumping into something. I roll over and see Ethan.

I completely forgot that I had invited him to stay the night. I smile as he stirs, my touch enough to wake him up.

He blinks at me a couple of times before welcoming me into his arms. I snuggle up against him for a minute, and neither one of us speaks. I don’t want to move or even really be awake. My eyes drift closed, and I feel myself just slipping into Dreamland when Ethan stirs again.

“I need to be at the hospital in an hour.”

I sigh. That’s not what I want to hear. I want to stay right here all day.

Ethan kisses the side of my head and rolls away from me. “I’ll take care of the dogs, get them out so they can get a little exercise. You don’t need to get up.”

“Yes, I do. My bladder is about to explode.”

Ethan laughs. “Well, then, do get up. I have never done surgery on a bladder before, so you would be on your own there.”

I laugh with him as I push myself out of bed and head to the bathroom. I feel spoiled as he takes care of getting the dogs out and fed. I spend a few minutes in the bathroom brushing my hair and teeth so that I don’t look like a complete monster.

Then, I hug Ethan close to me before he heads to his house to get ready for his shift. “Text me if you get the chance.”

“I will. Hey, we’re a real couple now, and we’re not keeping it a secret. So…if you wanted to show up at the hospital with lunch for me, I wouldn’t turn that down.”

I smile, but I know it’s not something I’m going to do. I’m not ready to take that kind of step in our relationship.

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