Page 90 of Keep This Promise
“I know. It’s why you’re here.”
She smiles. “I wouldn’t say Eden has anything to do with why I’m in bed with you.”
I laugh. “No, that’s all me.”
“A little about you.”
“Only a little?”
“Well, maybe more than a little,” Sophie teases.
I love the fact that we’re lying here after an earth-shattering night together and able to talk and just be open. It’s something I haven’t had in a long time, and I hadn’t realized how much I missed it. Sure, I had a girlfriend here or there, but nothing serious. No one I would ever talk to about my sister. They were casual flings that never even went past a month. Nothing felt right, not until now.
She runs her finger against my lips. “Tell me about your ex. Why did you divorce?”
I sigh, hating this part of the story too. “Jenna and I got married because it was what we thought we should do. We were young, and honestly, I think we got married because we were afraid of losing each other. If we were tied together, then we could force ourselves to work. It didn’t, obviously. Instead of being happy and this united couple, we resented each other. I think we were just too young and immature. She came to me about two years into our marriage, right before med school, and said she wanted to leave but wasn’t sure what I thought. I told her we should probably just end things.”
“You didn’t see a future?”
I shake my head. “Nope. I saw . . . nothing. She said she felt the same, and a month later she filed for divorce. I signed without any fanfare. After I found out she came back to Rose Canyon, I went to med school in California and then settled there. It wasn’t an ugly divorce, but I started to wonder if I wasn’t just meant to be alone. I didn’t love anyone else. I never yearned for a wife or kids. It was easier for me to have less complications and be alone.”
She stays quiet, almost as though she has to digest that last part. It’s just that it’s all different now. Those feelings aren’t the same anymore, I want that. I want her. I want Eden and this life.
“I see.”
No, she can’t. I tilt her chin to me. “How I felt then isn’t how I feel now. I see a life with you. I see a future that wasn’t possible before. You have changed everything for me in a way I never dared hope for. You and Eden living here has given me this . . . chance for more. Things I thought I just wasn’t wired for. I’m happy with you, Sophie.”
“I am too. I can’t believe it, as it feels so fast, but it’s right. I think that, in a way, I have been waiting for this, which sounds silly. After that night in Vegas, I would imagine you and me, especially as my pregnancy progressed. This child was growing inside me—half you and half me, yet I didn’t know the other part. So, my mind would create you.”
“And do I live up to the hype?” I ask.
“You’ve exceeded it.”
I push her hair back and rub the soft skin beneath her eye. “You have no idea how much I want you.”
“If it’s anything like the way I want you, then I think I do.”
“Stay with me, Sophie. Stay and see what we can become. Let’s not fuck around with time because we both know it’s not infinite. I know we said we’d go slow, but I want us to be more.”
“What is more?”
“Together. I want you to be mine just as much as I’m yours. I don’t know what it all means or how we navigate it, but I want to kiss you every morning when you wake up beside me.”
I know there are a lot of complications to what I’m asking. We have to think about Eden and what she’ll understand. She’s young, but honesty is the best way. One day, we’re going to encourage her to acknowledge me as her father. I don’t know how much she’ll remember of Theo, but at some point, it’ll happen.
“And what do we tell people?” she asks.
“What people?”
“Your friends, Mama James, Eden.”
“We tell them the truth. That we are together, and if they have an issue with it, they can fuck off. My friends knew this was going to happen. They’ve been giving me shit since the day you walked into my life. As for Mama James, she loves you and would never say anything bad about it. If anything, she’ll be ecstatic. As for Eden, I don’t know, what do you think?”
“I think we tell her that we’re together, and maybe it’ll lead to her eventually asking if you could be her daddy.” Sophie yawns, and her eyes start to close.
I lean down, pressing my lips to her forehead. “Good night, beautiful.”
She twists, hugging me closer. “Good night, love.”
