Page 194 of Possession

She shrugs. “Not everyone has a phone, you know. Apparently, they’re a luxury. And I decided a long time ago I’m not giving my number to just anyone. I want everything. I want trust and protection and a connection so deep that words aren’t needed. I want to simply look into a man’s eyes from across the room and feel his love.”

“I’ll prove to you I’m that man.”

She gives my shirt a playful tug. “How will you do that?”

I pluck the grocery list from her hand. “I can’t do that in the grocery store, but I can if you give me your number. I’ll prove to you how much we have in common.”

I scan the list for something random to keep the game going, until I hit the bottom of the page.

I freeze and read it again.

Her hand on my shirt fists.

I look into the blues that I literally cannot live without. “No shit?”

Her head and shoulder tip toward one another. “I don’t know. That’s why it’s on the list.”

I throw the list in the cart and claim her face in my hands. In the international aisle, I kiss the woman who has been my wife since the first day I laid eyes on her.

I kiss her like I never have before.

When I tip my forehead to hers, we’re both breathless. “It doesn’t matter where we met, who sent you to me, or what our names were when we said I do. We were meant to be together. And now you’re pregnant.”

Her eyes glass over. “We don’t know that. It’s why we need to buy a test. I’m afraid to get my hopes up.”

“But you’re late?”

“Very. I didn’t want to take a test too soon.”

I kiss her again. “Chica, why are you shopping so slow? Let’s get this shit done and get home.”

She smiles. “I love you.”

“Love you too.” I pull in a deep breath and think about being a dad. I think about my own father that was taken from us too soon and Brian who was ripped away when he never should’ve been. I can’t wait to try to be half as good as them. And to think about doing it with Landyn … I’m the luckiest man on earth. “This is one time I love that you’re late.”

* * *

Landyn

Four years later

“Where is he?”I look down at my three-year-old sitting fidgeting in my lap as he searches the crowd. Brian is a miniature version of his father, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Dark hair and dark eyes, but his complexion is only a shade darker than mine. He’s ornery, energetic, and carries a baseball with him everywhere he goes.

He’s perfect.

“I don’t know, bud. They all look the same.” Brax’s arm is stretched out across the back of my seat. His mom sits next to me, Micah next to her, and Tim and his family are flanking our group. We’re sandwiched in, and it’s hot. It’s only May, but it is Miami. The humidity is no joke.

This is my family now. My father is serving a life sentence in prison for capital murder, and that doesn’t include all the other charges he was found guilty of. The last I heard, my mother had moved to Vegas and was working at a casino. Beyond that, I haven’t checked in on either of them.

I just don’t care.

Particularly today.

Rocco graduates today. I promised him I wouldn’t cry. It was a lie. Graduations are miserable to sit through, but I made everyone attend this one. I even had to force Rocco to walk across the stage instead of collecting his diploma through the mail.

He turned his life around, and we’re going to celebrate him—even if we sweat to death doing it.

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