Page 99 of Loving You

“Having a good brunch?” Eric asked, his folio tucked under one arm while he reached for me with the other.

I slid into his embrace and gave him a smacking kiss. “A great brunch. Brenna just announced that she’s pregnant.”

Eric’s mouth went slack for a second and his gaze whipped from my face to the women at the table behind me. “She did?”

“Yep. Looks like your little sis is going to be a mom, and you’re going to be an uncle again.”

“Wow.” His throat worked, and though he didn’t seem to have the words to express it, I saw the awe and happiness and even a swell of pride in his eyes.

It never ceased to amaze me how much this man quietly cared for his people, and with every new addition—be it another in-law or Walker baby or the Carrigan family—he just expanded his reach, opened his arms wider, made room for more under that umbrella of love and care.

And that fact made me ready to share something with him that I still hadn’t. “Eric.”

“Hmm?” he asked, looking away from the table and finding my gaze.

“I want to tell you about the birthday thing.”

He tensed, but nodded, waiting.

“Cliff’s gifts were always elaborate, and they felt more like decorations he wanted to string onto me while he paraded me around than things he’d picked out because he knew I’d love them.”

His jaw worked, but he kept that unyielding focus on me without commenting.

“The last birthday I’d had when we were together had been the night I’d finally left him, and the whole experience was what ruined the day for me. He’d taken me to a restaurant that served small portions because apparently, the older I got, the harder it would be for me to stay in shape.”

Eric cursed under his breath and stepped back, but then he immediately closed the distance again with apologetic eyes. I wasn’t sure if he was apologizing for his reaction to my words or that I’d had that experience—maybe both—but I squeezed his arm to let him know I appreciated him.

“My gift was a necklace,” I went on, wincing and bringing my hand to my neck. “I don’t want to give you an actual blow-by-blow of what happened that night, but let’s just say the necklace dipped pretty damn low into my cleavage and earned me some attention at the restaurant he hadn’t liked, and I paid for it later.”

“April.” My name came out on a broken whisper, and he kissed my forehead, breathing through his nose before pulling back to let me finish.

“The necklace was collateral damage,” I told him, knowing that while this was hard to say, it had a happy ending, and I was determined to bring us there. I just had to get the words out first. “And then after telling me I’d need to give him the money for it since it was my fault it’d been broken in the first place, that was when I’d decided I wouldn’t spend another year like that, or with him. He’d said the older I got the harder it would be to stay in shape… but all I could think was that the older I got, the harder it would be to leave. Or to survive.”

Eric rolled his shoulders. “I am so fucking glad that man is behind bars where he belongs.”

“Me too,” I agreed. “And as horrible as all of that was to go through, it means I know what it’s like to be with someone who has no love for anyone but himself. I know what it’s like to want time to stop because you can’t spend another second living with such a person. But now…”

When I lowered my gaze and trailed off, emotions clogging my throat, he put his fingers under my chin and brought my eyes back to his. “But now?”

“Now I see everything through a different lens. I hadn’t wanted to celebrate my birthday because of what happened that night, like it was a reminder of how many years I’d wasted in a situation like that. You attached new meaning to the years passing. You celebrated me with a gift that was so practical and helpful andme—while at the same time also being perfect coming from you.”

A little of the darkness vanished from his expression as a small smile edged up the corners of his lips.

“You made me excited for the years to pass so we could experience all the things couples experience as they grow older together, like our families finding love and making babies,uscontinuing to fall for each other over and over and making our own babies someday. And as much as all of that excites me, I also still want time to stop, but for a much better reason.”

“And what reason is that?”

“Because every birthday we celebrate from now until we’re eighty or ninety won’t be enough, and I’ve wished for time to slow more than a few times since falling in love with you, and coming from me… I need you to know that’s a really,reallyamazing thing.”

His throat bobbed, and he nodded. “I feel the same way. I’m excited for what’s ahead while also hoping it doesn’t come too quickly. I’ll never be able to forget what you’ve been through. I’ll never get the image of you from those early nights, looking so defeated, out of my mind. But I’ll also never stop trying to be the kind of man who loves you so well that one dayyouwill forget. That’s my goal, and that’s what I needyouto know.”

I grinned, shaking my head at him. “Part of me wants to argue about the possibility of me forgetting what I went through, but at the same time…”

“You know it’s a losing battle?”

“I do. Because you already love me so well that I wouldn’t put that past you.”

Eric’s lips pulled up into a real smile then, and he shot me one of those winks that never failed to make my knees weak. “It’s about time you learned arguing with me is futile.”

---