Page 83 of When to Call a Blitz

I think I need to sit down.

I collect myself, pushing my shoulders back, and his eyes drop to my chest. “What if I don’t like being calledBaby?”

“Then I’d call you every pet name in the book until we found one you liked.”

I consider this, tapping my cheek with my finger. “I’ve never been a pet name girl.”

“I’ve never been a pet name guy, but I feel like it fits.”

I study him suspiciously. “I’m not sure I like where this is going, Gardner.”

“I think I do.”

We stare at each other for quite some time, and it feels like a standoff. His eyes search mine, and I can tell that he’s thinking… a lot of thoughts.

Meanwhile, all I hear in my head is buzzing.

Emmett is flirting with me. He said he would call me “Baby” again. He said he realized he was a dick.

But with him, I never know. He could change his mind tomorrow.

“I think I’m going to go find my friends,” I tell him slowly, my thoughts slowly creeping back into my mind.

I’m starting to dethaw.

39

EMMETT

The second Juniper reaches for Heidi’s hand in the middle of the room, my heart turns into a puddle of mush and I know, without a doubt, that I’m done for.

Everything clicks into place in that moment. Leo stands next to me talking to Cooper, and I faintly hear my name mentioned. But all I can do is watch as Heidi spins Juniper around and the look of pure joy and adoration on Juniper’s face.

It’s no secret that Juniper has been going through a hard time. Whatever has been happening has surely been hard on her mentally, and I don’t think I’ve seen her truly this happy in a long time.

She loves Elara to bits, but get Elara and Heidi in the same room? She’s over the moon.

I’ve lost so much in this life and all I’ve done is look for someone to piece me back together into the man I was years ago, never once truly acknowledging that my whole life has changed since that day until last week. I’ve never stopped to think that maybe all I’ve needed is someone who can make me feel brand new. And standing here, in the middle of this room, watching as Heidi keeps my daughter company in a room full of her friends, I realize with a clarity that feels like ice in my veins that I like thisperson I’m becoming with her around. I like this person she’s making me. Which gives me all the more to lose.

But if I lived my whole entire life with the fear that the next person I open up to will be tragically ripped away from me, I don’t think I’d have much of a life at all.

Leo taps me on the shoulder. “Go dance with them,” he encourages, giving me a little shove.

Without even a thought, I make my way over to my girls.

My girls.

Heidi looks up at me, her gorgeous eyes large as she processes that I’m standing in front of her, my hand out for hers. A strip of hair falls over her eye, and she blows it out of the way, her freckled nose wrinkling in the process.

“Dance with me?” I ask finally, my voice low.

The room has cleared out some, with mostly only friends and family still hanging out. The light has dimmed, and the music has slowed a little.

Heidi searches me for something she can’t seem to find, and when she finally takes my hand, I can’t stop the grin from spreading across my face.

My body feels warm, and the whole world seems to stop.

I reach my hand out for Juniper too, who takes it with her own smile.

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