Page 88 of Your Second Chance
“I do not.”
I absolutely do. All the time. Daily.
Fuck.
Luna didn’t even bother to hide her knowing smirk.
I threw my hands up in exasperation. “Wearedating, aren’t we?”
She stared at me, her look practically screamingDuh.
I groaned, flopping back onto the sofa. “Why am I like this?”
“Because you’re in love, and it terrifies you.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but the words didn’t come. Was this what real, nontoxic, supportive love felt like? Not obsessive or consuming. Just... good?
He showed up. He supported me without asking for anything in return. He never made me feel like I had to perform or prove my worth. That was why I kept second-guessing everythingbecause I didn’t know how to exist in love that didn’t cost me parts of myself.
“Ugh,” I sat up. “I gotta get going.”
“Call me if you need anything.”
She reached out and grabbed my stomach. “Let your mum have this photo first before you come out. She’s a procrastinator.”
I narrowed my eyes at Luna, and she laughed as I grabbed my bag and headed out of her apartment toward the street. Since we were farther from the stadium, I bought a car a couple months ago. Though Ollie insisted he could be my chauffeur, I liked my independence.
I drove to the stadium, the familiar streets blurring into the background as my thoughts wandered. I should’ve been more scared. Any day, I could have this little girl in my arms, my life forever changed. I should’ve been sadder too, weighed down by all the uncertainty, the lingering shadows of my past, and wondering if I’d ever be like Mami.
But I wasn’t.
These last few months were... different. Everything felt like Ollie did. Warm. Grounded. Safe.
I hadn’t spiraled into the depression I’d half expected to drown me. Instead, I was lighter, like the pieces of my life had finally started to fall into place. Sure, the worries lingered at the edges, the doubts whispering in the quieter moments, but they didn’t consume me the way they once had.
Ollie’s presence had been constant, steady, and unwavering. He didn’t try to fix me or push me to talk when I didn’t want to. He was there when I needed him, offering a quiet strength that seeped into every part of my life.
I parked the car outside the stadium and sat for a moment, resting my hands on the steering wheel as the gentle movementof my baby reminded me I wasn’t alone. Something stirred in me—something I hadn’t known in a long time.
Hope.
With a steadying breath, I opened the door and stepped out.
“Hey, love.”
I turned to find Ollie in a pair of joggers that hung low on his hips and a tight shirt that clung to his chest, every muscle rippling beneath the fabric.
It had to be the pregnancy hormones. There was no other explanation for the way my mind went to stripping him naked right here in the parking lot, pressing him against the car, and begging him to fuck me until I couldn’t think straight.
He smiled, his brown eyes soft and filled with that familiar warmth, oblivious to the sinful thoughts running through my head. “You alright?”
“Fine,” I managed, though my voice came out a little higher than usual, my cheeks heating as I quickly glanced away.Just fine. Totally fine.
He pressed a kiss to my forehead and rubbed my belly. “How’re my girls doing?”
My girls.He’d been asking me that every single night, and every night it made me both so uncomfortable that I wanted to run away and so comfortable that I wanted to give him a hug and cry. Pregnancy was weird. Hormones were strange. So was this depression.
“I’m good. Ready to talk to Peter?”
