Page 165 of Wait For It

I took his free hand in mine. “Well, I just started writing it today. It just kinda came to me this morning. And now I don’t know if I want to wait to do a big wedding after the season’s over because this, um, song, it might be really big by then.”

“Is this song—is it one you want to write?” Killian asked quietly. The pad of his thumb stroked along my cheek while his blue-gray eyes surveyed mine.

“Absolutely,” I answered without an ounce of hesitation. “It just changes things a bit.”

A smile tugged at his lips. “Alright, so what are you thinking, slugger?”

“We could elope.” My voice cracked, and I cleared my throat. “I mean, just so we would have more time to focus on the song together. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

Killian ran his tongue over his teeth with a soft chuckle. “Yeah. Seems to me there’d be only one reason a girl like you would wanna elope with a guy like me. You’re trying to lock me down before the ladies come knocking this season, aren’t you?”

I let my head fall back with a dramatic groan. “Yep, that’s it. Back off, ladies. Killian Reed, World Series champion, is mine.”

This only made his smile grow wider, but he made a show of cocking his head to the side, as if deep in thought. “Well now, wait a second. There is another possibility. Since the night we got engaged, song, uh, prevention hasn’t really been a priority for us, has it?”

I shook my head, trying to keep a straight face at his analogy. I could count on one hand the number of times we’d taken preventative measures in the almost four months we’d been engaged.

“What are you thinking right now?” I asked, feeling the familiar surge of heat moving up my throat.

Killian tugged me off the stone decking and into the water, drenching me from the waist down. Before I could form a protest, he was wrapping me up in arms. “The woman I love is having my baby. I’m fucking ecstatic! When did you find out? How far along are you? Do you feel okay? Do—”

“Babe,” I giggled against his chest, tucking my body tighter around his. “One question at a time. I just found out this morning. I’m only a week late, so I can’t be too far along. And I feel fine, just weepy at unexpected times. Otherwise, I’m perfect—”

“You are perfect, baby. So perfect,” he murmured against my temple. “I’m going to take such good care of both of you—”

“You already do.” With that, I tipped my face up to meet his mouth in a gentle kiss, relaxing into his touch. I knew with every fiber of my being that I was safe in his arms.

Happily-ever-after made for a sweet story, but real love wasn’t perfect, and things didn’t always go according to plan. We were born on the banks of Lake Karankawas, so it seemed only fitting that we’d be together in another body of water when the current sent our lives in a new direction.

My heart skipped when his hand moved down to cradle my flat stomach, already protective of the life we’d made together.

All those years ago, I saved his life, never imagining that one day, he’d save mine too.

When I pulled him from the water, I wasn’t just looking into the eyes of another lost soul.

I was looking at the man who’d become my world.

The man who would give me the courage to fight back.

I’d fallen in love with his heart before I ever even knew his name. He was the melody in my head, the song I would never forget the lyrics to—as if some part of me knew it was always meant to be Killian.

When he was just a boy who needed saving, and I was a girl running.

I don’t run anymore.

I’m finally free.

The end.

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