Page 62 of The Run Home
“What are you doing?” she said through her laughter.
I stopped spinning, not wanting her to get sick. Leaning her back against the wall, I kissed her. Deep and reverent and messy. This woman was giving me a baby. A chance to do this right. A chance to have the family I always wanted but didn’t think I could have.
I pulled away, both of us breathing hard and our foreheads pressed together. “Thank you, Shae.”
She let me take her home and get her situated in her massage chair. I told her I’d be back with a plate of dinner shortly. Mom was making lasagna and always made two pans of it, enough to feed an army. Warrick and his crew would probably be by shortly to eat some too.
But me and Kinsley? We had plans. When she got home, cheeks pink from Tatum’s attention, I asked her if she’d drive two towns over with me. There was a jewelry store there, and I had a diamond ring to buy. Shae might have said no the first time I asked her to marry me, but I had a plan to keep asking. And I needed a ring to sweeten the deal.
Kinsley talked my ear off the whole way, throwing out boy names and all the reasons why the ones I liked just wouldn’t do. I didn’t quit grinning the whole fuckin’ time. I wasn’t sure I’dever been this happy. Not even winning the World Series felt this damn good.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Shae
“I can’t eat another bite!”
Those two were trying to force-feed me the last two weeks. It was a whirlwind of shopping for the baby, work, and this little makeshift family that was somehow created between the three of us. Kinsley and Boon came over for dinner almost every night since the day of the ultrasound. He wouldn’t let me cook, instead bringing either takeout or whatever Gigi had made for us. Sometimes Kinsley would go back to Gigi’s right after dinner, sometimes she would snuggle on the couch with us and watch a ’90s romantic comedy. I was determined to educate her and her father on the best genre of movies ever filmed.
“But the pad thai is sooo good!” Kinsley whined, trying to shove the almost empty container in my face.
I pushed it away. “The baby will pop when the baby’s ready. I won’t eat my way into maternity clothes.”
Kinsley giggled and ate the rest of the pad thai herself. Boon’s hand stole into my lap and nestled against the belly that seemed a little pudgier than usual. Especially when I tried to button mypants. I loved it when he touched my belly. Loved that he wanted to be a part of every move this little one made, even if we couldn’t feel it quite yet.
As much as I tried to guard my heart against Boon, the last two weeks had proven that he meant what he said. He was all in on taking care of me and this baby. My heart swooned every time he talked about our son, but my brain still kept up a commentary about how this could all be fickle. Maybe Boon was caught up in the excitement, and once the shininess of a new baby wore off and the real work started, Boon would decide it was too much for him.
Kinsley scrambled to her feet. “Gotta go. Tatum’s supposed to call me.”
Boon grunted. Kinsley stuck out her tongue, then ran out the door to go back to her room next door for a private conversation with her boyfriend. Honestly, she and Tatum were pretty cute together. Boon still didn’t like it, but he was at least giving them a chance.
“God, I thought she’d never leave,” he joked, moving the empty boxes of takeout out of the way and throwing his arm around my shoulder to snuggle me in tightly to his body. He was joking, of course. He and Kinsley were getting along so much better lately. They’d had their breakthrough and both of them were putting in the work on their relationship. It was a privilege to get a front-row seat to seeing Boon blossom as a father.
We were sitting barefoot on the floor, leaning against the couch, but the way that smirk was looking, he had plans for me that involved being more horizontal. We still hadn’t had sex since he found out about the baby despite the green light from my doctor. He’d found other ways of pleasuring me, but when I went to reciprocate, he’d pull away and say he just wanted to make it good for me. Frankly, I wanted more.
I shivered, wishing I’d grabbed one of my sweaters before we sat down to eat. This old house was beautiful, but it was drafty. This week had been the last streak of cold weather before spring took over and bled right into summer. I should probably enjoy the last of the cool weather. I’d be fully pregnant and miserable in the heat soon enough.
Boon immediately jumped to his feet and headed across the room to throw some logs on the fire and light the kindling. “I got you, lovebug.”
I was so busy checking out his ass as he leaned over to get the fire started and wondering how I could convince him that what I really needed was his dick inside me that I missed his question.
“Huh?”
He turned around, catching my gawking. That only made his smirk grow. “My eyes are up here, Shae,” he said in some godawful falsetto voice.
I rolled my eyes and he chuckled, coming to sit back down by my side. “I asked what your parents’ marriage was like. From my kid perspective, they seemed happy. Was that a correct impression?”
The fire snapped and popped as it got going. I snuggled into his side, stealing his warmth until the fire pumped out heat. “They were happy. Although I felt some pressure. They spent so many years trying to get pregnant that when I finally arrived, they showered me with attention. I felt like I couldn’t mess up. I was their one-and-only child, so I had to be perfect for them. That was on me though. I put that pressure on myself.”
Boon ran his hands up and down my arms before wrapping me up and putting his leg across mine. He was like a heat rock, a furnace in and of itself.
“And I was the opposite as the baby of the family. I felt like I could screw up all the time and get away with it. Except atthe end there. Dad wanted me happy and settled, and I think he knew the life I was living wasn’t my full story.”
I looked at him, taking in his strong jawline and scruffy chin. He was so good-looking. Sometimes I had to pinch myself that he was here with me. I mean, maybe he was only here because of the baby, but he was still here.
“If baseball wasn’t your full story, then what is?” What I was really asking was how long did he plan to be here in Blueball. How long could I conceivably have him here with me and the baby?
He turned toward me then, a soft smile on his lips. He kissed my cheek. “I think it’s exactly this. Finding out what building a family is like. I had a chance with Kinsley, and I didn’t take it. I regret that now, but I’ve been given a second chance.”
