Page 67 of Accidental Mile High Daddy
I didn’t push. But I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be moved by that or furious that he thought this was the moment to bring it up.
“I’m sorry,” he said carefully. “I’m not trying to fuck this up. I’m just…” He shook his head, droplets flinging. “Can I come in?”
“No.” The words were fast, decisive.
He exhaled like he’d expected it. But he didn’t back away.
Another flash of lightning came through, and I forced myself to focus on it, to count in Mississippi’s until the roll of thunder boomed out. Fifteen. Three miles out. Further, I was sure, than the last time.
But the storm in my head raged on.
I shifted under the porch light, trying to take a steadying breath. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” I said, but the words were barely more than a whisper.
His face softened, the hard lines and fine, minuscule wrinkles smoothing. “You’re scared.”
I pressed the butt of my palms against my eyes, willing them to stop leaking, willing my body to calm down. “Fucking terrified,” I choked.
He didn’t try to touch me, didn’t reach out, but he took a step toward me, his voice dropping. “Then let me prove I’m not walking away, sweetheart,” he said softly.
“What does that even look like to you?” I asked, rubbing my eyes once before pulling my hands away, looking up at him with nothing but the raw emotion coursing through me. I didn’t have the energy to try to hide it anymore. “Don’t tell me you’re going to drop to one knee like the olden days so we cando it right?—”
“No,” he said, blinking a little quickly like he was caught off guard by it. “I’m not ready for that.”
At least he was honest.
“I’m not going to pretend like I’ve figured this out, either. Yes, I have Zach, but that doesn’t mean I’m an expert at this. I’ve stumbled through it like everyone else. But I don’t want to miss this part. Not this time.”
A choked laugh punched out of me, but there wasn’t a hint of humor in it. “You say that like you have any idea how to stay.”
His jaw twitched. “I stayed for Zach.”
“Zach is a part of you?—”
“So are you, now,” he said, his voice calm but the words charged. “Both of you.”
I didn’t trust him. That was the overarching problem here, maybe the only one that mattered, but the horrifying part of all of this was that Iwantedto trust him still, wanted to believe him, even just a little.
So, I gave him something small. Not a promise, not a chance to step in and solidify a place in this, but something.
“I have an ultrasound next week,” I breathed, barely louder than the rain. “Thursday. Two-thirty. Central Women’s.” It wasn’t exactly an offer. I wasn’t directly asking.
His gaze widened a little. “I’ll be there.”
The words were strong, confident, like he meant every single one. But I just couldn’t bring myself to believe him fully.
Chapter 21
Sienna
One week later…
The cafe was too loud.
There wasn’t anything in particular that stood out above the rest — just the ambient buzz oflifethat seemed to crawl under my skin and amplify. The hiss of milk steaming, the loud knocking every time they pulled an espresso, chairs scraping across tile, laughter from a couple behind me that cut through everything in sharp bursts.
Even Jules’s breathing was getting to me.
She stirred her coffee across the table from me, her body justslightlyrigid, her worry there in plain sight but partially hidden. Her dark curls were pulled back, her tanned skin almost glittering in the warm sunlight leaking in through the window beside her. But her eyes, always too perceptive, didn’t miss a damn thing as I rubbed my wrists raw from nerves.
