Page 37 of Falling for You

She smiles, her eyes softening at the mention of our son, making her look even more fucking beautiful, and says, “With my dad.”

I nod and look over her for a moment before I reply, “Okay, let’s go get some food,” and then push away from her reluctantly. And when she goes to walk past me, I grab her hand and link our fingers, making her gasp as tingles spread up my arm. I pull her along with me, keeping my hold on her tight so she can’t let go.

I swear to fuck, if this whole dinner shit is to try and push me away, then she has another thing coming.

I went nearly a year without her, without getting to know her, fuck, I missed her growing our son. I won’t miss any more.

This girl will become my world, I just need her to get on board.

Chapter 15

Penelope

“I can’t believe you convinced me to leave my car at the arena,” I say as Taylor helps me off his bike.

Honestly, I don’t know what I was thinking. My plan when I walked into the rink to watch him train was to follow him in my car so we could have an honest civil conversation about childcare. Watching him lose it with his team, seeing the tension surrounding him, the stress, I don’t know, something pulled inside me, and all rational thought left me.

In the games I’ve been watching, I’ve seen a little difference in him; he’s more aggressive, angrier, and not to toot my own horn, but I’m beginning to believe it was because of me. I had an hour-long phone call to confirm those thoughts, which convinced me to bite the bullet and see Taylor.

“Hello?” I answer my phone as I keep my eyes on my son doing tummy time on his play mat, kicking his legs out, making me smile.

“Hi, is this Nurse Vine?” a female voice replies, and I frown.

“This is...” I confirm, and the woman sighs in relief.

“I uh know this is completely out of the blue, um, and uh, my brother is going to kill me for this,” she starts, and I tilt my head. “I’m not sure if you remember me, but you looked after my daughter Kaylah Evans…”

My mouth parts in shock.

Crap, it’s Taylor’s sister.

“Look, I know this is probably out of line,” she starts, but I cut her off, “No, it's fine. How is Kaylah?”

I hear the smile in her voice as she says, “She’s amazing, thank you,” and I smile.

“That’s good,” I say, “What can I uh do for you?”

She clears her throat and then states, “I’m calling regarding Taylor. He just left ten minutes ago for practice, but he told us what happened, and I uh... He’s been trying to find you since you disappeared after the night you spent together.”

Hudson coos, making me look at him, and I hear Hannah suck in a breath before she whispers, “I know you are probably trying to get your head together; I know you are trying to control your emotions, needing time, but he’s struggling. He has been struggling for months trying to find you, and the longer it took, the angrier he got. I don’t know if you’ve been watching the games on TV, but it has been affecting him. He’s been trying to find you, Penelope, and this last week, not hearing from you, while he understands, he’s struggling.”

I swallow hard and look at my son before I admit, “I’m not sure if I’m ready.”

While I’m not ready for Taylor's bulldozer, I know I can only take so much time, especially when time is short, and he has missed over a month with his son.

It doesn’t matter how stressed I felt or how my emotions played out over the situation. Taylor deserves to get to know his son, I was being selfish by keeping them apart all because I felt like I needed time. I think the call from his sister made me wake up and realize it wasn’t just me involved. It’s him and his family, so I pulled my big girl panties up and grabbed the passes, then packed up my son, handing him to my dad for the evening, not that he was too upset about it.

The man has always wanted a son and now has a grandson to spoil.

Taylor grins, and my stomach tightens as he replies, “And miss the chance of having you cling to me again?”

I roll my eyes, but a small smile plays on my lips as I mutter, “Smooth talker,” making him chuckle as he wraps an arm around my waist, I don’t bother moving away. Like at the arena, his grip is tight, so I know I won’t get far.

He guides me towards Charms café, twenty minutes from the arena, I narrow my eyes at him.

“Did you choose this place because it’s further away from the arena than Bull’s bar?” I ask as he opens the door and gives me his panty-melting smile, not denying it, and I shake my head and walk inside.

He will make it extremely difficult to stay friends and co-parent; I just know it.

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