Page 71 of Falling For My Best Friend's Brother

My feet touched the ground once more, and I gazed up at Knox, biting my lower lip. “I love you, Knox. I’ve loved you for a very long time.”

He raised a brow. “How long?”

“That’s a story for another day.”

He kissed me. “Fine. But I want to hear you say you love me again.”

My heart was full. God, I could literally expire from how happy I was right now. “I love you.”

Knox kissed me again and again. “One more time.”

“I love you so much, you asshole.”

He pushed me back with every kiss until my bag dropped to the ground and the back of my knee hit the couch. “I think once more would be nice.”

I laughed at his ridiculousness. “I love you, Knox Coleman.”

“I loveyou, my princess. I promise that I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you just how much.”

He would keep that promise, but he started from tonight, truly taking his time to love every single inch of my body until our bodies and hearts became one and the same.

Epilogue—Nina

34 weeks later…

“Ahhhh!” I screamed at the top of my lungs as a searing pain rocketed through my entire body from my lower abdomen. It was getting more frequent with each passing hour, and I was about to faint from how intense the feeling was. “I’m never having sex with you again!”

“Whatever you want, Princess,” Knox murmured, wincing like he could feel the pain as I clenched the sides of the hospital bed in a death grip. “Let’s just get through this first.” He looked at the middle-aged doctor who had her fingers inside me. “Is she supposed to be in this much pain? She’s about to pass out! Do something!”

“She’s only eight centimeters dilated. She’s not ready.” The doctor withdrew her gloved fingers and replied calmly, as though she was used to distressed soon-to-be-fathers breathing down her neck while their wives were in labor.

“Then make her ready,” he barked at the doctor, pacing the room like a caged animal. “She’s been like this for over five hours.”

The doctor looked at him. “Labor takes time, Mr. Coleman. I’m doing the best I can to make sure your wife and child are healthy. Why don’t you worry about helping her breathe through the pain while I focus on doing my job?”

I exhaled heavily through my mouth as I watched him visibly scowl at the woman. If I truly didn’t feel like I was about to pass out, I might have asked him to calm down. The doctor looked irritable, and I couldn’t blame her. Knox was being very annoying.

A scream tore out of me again as my lower abdomen contracted painfully. All the blood drained from Knox’s face. “Do something, please.” He whispered, sinking into the chair next to my bed. “Seeing you like this, Nina — it’s killing me.”

My heart softened despite the pain. “I know,” I whispered, reaching for his hand. “But I need you to pull it together. For me. And for her.” I placed his hand over my stomach, where our daughter was determined to make her dramatic debut into the world.

Knox exhaled shakily and nodded, his thumb brushing against my knuckles. “I’ll try,” he said softly, though the tension in his jaw suggested otherwise.

We’d been married for about six months. That day I’d decided to go back to my parents' house, Knox went with me. Together we broke the news of pregnancy to my parents. After which, Knox informed my father that he loved me and wanted to marry me.

I was shocked to my bones; I’d been worried too—I was young, in my early twenties, with a baby on the way and a man who’d only just confessed how he really felt about me.

But deep down in my heart, there was a part of me that wanted to take the risk, that knew this was what I wanted. I’d always believed that I didn’t have a place in this world, despite my family’s affluence and my love for art. It’d only taken Knox proposing to me that day to understand that sometimes a person’s place can lie with someone else.

Knox was my happy place, and loving him was something I did very well. And now our baby was about to come into this world as a symbol of our love.

The hours dragged on like years. Each contraction felt like a battle I wasn’t sure I could win, but Knox stayed by my side, his hand firm in mine even when I nearly crushed it during a particularly brutal wave of pain. Fuck. A lot of women would become nuns if they knew what awaited them during labor.

“You’re doing so good, babe,” he murmured, brushing damp hair out of my face. His voice was softer now, a far cry from the frantic, overbearing man from earlier. “I’m so proud of you.”

I wanted to tell him to stop being so sweet because it only made me cry harder, but before I could, another contraction hit, and I let out a guttural groan. My entire body felt like it was being pulled apart, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could take this.

When the doctor re-entered the room, checked my progress and informed me that I was fully dilated, the tears that flowed down my face were pure joy. Nurses filed into the room as machines beeped and the atmosphere tensed.

---