Page 14 of Make Your Play

I want her to let me help her.

***

“I’ll show you where you can sleep so you don’t have to sleep on the couch.”

“I don’t mind the couch,” I say, bowing my head as I sweep my arm toward the door. Riley snorts, ducking her head to conceal her smile as she walks to the bottom of the stairs. She turns to glance at me, giving me a look that says I’d better follow her. “Yes, ma’am. Let’s go.”

We reach the second floor and she motions toward the bathroom. “I know you’ve been in here before, but in case you forgot, the bathroom is over there.” She pauses, a sheepish grin playing on her lips. “There should be an extra toothbrush you can use.”

“Slow down, babe,” I tell her, my voice soft as I wink at her. “I didn’t think things would move this fast.”

Riley whips her head to the side, staring at me with her eyes wide and a blank look on her face. “But you just asked me to marry you.”

I stare back at her for a moment before my face cracks and laughter spills from my lips. Riley’s face lights up and the soft sound of her laughing dances across my eardrums. Even if it’s only for a short moment, I like her like this—not worried about everything else that is going on in life.

If I can help ease her burdens and worries, just to see her like this, I’ll do whatever the fuck I have to.

“Okay, the guest room is over here,” Riley tells me as she walks past two other doors and stops at the one on the right. She opens the door, pushing it as we step inside. There’s a king-sized bed along the far wall, jutting out into the center of the room. Across from it is a dresser with a TV mounted on the wall above. The left wall is all windows and the right is a big walk-in closet.

“I really would have been fine with the couch,” I say, glancing around at all the space. Riley watches me as I walk to the windows, glancing out at the backyard. Turning back around, I look out into the hall and then back to her. “Which room is going to be the baby’s?”

“The one across the hall.” She glances over her shoulder and back to me. “It’s not finished and I still have a few things left to do.”

“Can I see it?”

A nervousness sweeps across her face. “I guess. It’s not ready yet, so keep that in mind.”

Riley spins on her heel and I follow her to the room across from mine. She pushes open the door and I’m half expecting to see it looking like the rest of her house, except it doesn't. The walls are white and it’s barren. There’s a small dark gray rug in the center and a few boxes.

“Nova told me I should wait to order stuff until after the baby shower, so there’s not much yet.” She turns back to me, shrugging her shoulders. “I did order a crib and a dresser, but they won’t be here for a few more weeks because the set I picked was on backorder.” She pauses, looking at the wall before letting out a sigh. “I need to paint too.”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to do that when you’re pregnant,” I say, remembering how I painted for Nova when she was pregnant.

Her throat bobs as she swallows. “Yeah, I don’t know. I thought if I wore one of those masks, I could get it done.”

I stare at her for a moment, irritation pricking my skin. “I’ll do it.”

“Nash, no. I can’t ask you to do that. You’re already doing too much.”

“You’re not asking,” I tell her, the muscle in my jaw tightening as I push my hands into the front pockets of my pants. “I’m telling you I will do it. I want to do it, so please, just let me paint the fucking room for you.” I let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m sorry, that came out wrong. I know you are independent and you don’t need any help, but I am begging you to please let me, Riley.”

She looks unsure at first, but finally she nods. “Okay, you’re right. I shouldn’t be painting.”

“There are a lot of things you probably shouldn’t be doing, but one step at a time.”

“One step at a time,” she repeats, nodding as her eyes search mine. Her lips part, as if she’s going to say something else, but she quickly shuts them again.

I would give anything to know what’s going on in that head of hers, but I’ll settle with what she gives me for now.

CHAPTER SIX

RILEY

Ican't believe I am actually contemplating marrying him.

It's almost as if he found a loophole to help me, but technically he isn't paying directly out of pocket for the insurance, so that's supposed to make it better. A part of me thinks maybe I should just let him pay for it, but then I don't want to feel like I owe him. If I marry him, it's a piece of paper. A legal binding that ties me to him in that sense. No one has to know. It can be our secret and like he said, after the baby is born, I won't have a use for it. I can get everything else figured out and we can get the marriage annulled.

It's not like we'd ever consummate the marriage anyway…

---