Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97409 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97409 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 487(@200wpm)___ 390(@250wpm)___ 325(@300wpm)
“You know what I didn’t notice before?” She sits on the stool, and I bend to put her legs up. “How bossy you are.”
“Baby,” I smirk at her, “hate to say it, but it’s just starting.” I kiss her lips before going to the stove.
“Were you this bossy with your fiancée?” I look up at her. “It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it.”
“I personally don’t want to talk about her, but if you have questions, I’ll answer.”
“Does it hurt you to talk about her?”
“No. It did at first, but then, I don’t know, it was just something I had to go through.”
“When did it change to mean nothing?”
“I realized it a few months before you and I hooked up. And when you told me you were having my baby, I knew for sure I was over her. She didn’t even cross my mind.” She smiles and looks down at her hands. “I knew that no matter what I had with her, it was going to be nothing like I have with you.” I put my outstretched hands on the counter. “Even if we weren’t going to give us a chance, I knew I would protect you until the end.”
“You didn’t even know me.”
“I didn’t.” I turn to grab a pan and then a pair of scissors to cut the pack of bacon open. “But the way you handled everything”—I look at her as I place eight pieces of bacon in the pan—“you came at me, and you were so mature. Anyone else would have blown the fucking house down and made a scene when they saw the other person who walked out on them.” The ache fills in my chest. “I’ll never forgive myself, you know . . . for doing what I did.”
“Theo—”
“A couple of things,” I interrupt her. “Don’t ever downplay what I did to you.”
“I’m not downplaying it. It’s just not really worth it. What is worth it is what you did when you found out. That’s what matters.”
“You are too good for me,” I admit to her.
She smirks and then tilts her head to the side, her eyes lighting up. “I was going to say the same thing to you.” She laughs. “What is the next thing you wanted to say, Theo?”
“Don’t say my name like that,” I warn her. “You say my name like that when I can hold you in my arms and then bury myself in you.”
She giggles. “Noted, don’t say your name unless you are next to me.”
“I like hearing you laugh.” I take the pan off the stove. “And I hate to see you cry.”
“I promise, I don’t cry often. Or at least I didn’t before I was pregnant.”
“I don’t want you crying at all.” I turn off the stove. “Not one fucking tear.”
“You can’t order me to do that.”
“No, I can’t,” I agree, “but I can make fucking sure there isn’t a reason for you to cry.”
“Well, you saying those words”—she takes a deep breath in—“makes it pretty fucking hard.” She looks down at her stomach. “Sorry for swearing. I promise I’m really working on it.”
I just smile at her as she talks to the baby while I plate our scrambled eggs with toast and bacon. All conversations about my ex and her parents are gone. “So now that you told your boss and all that, when do you think you’ll be telling more people?” I place her plate in front of her.
“I don’t know,” she answers softly. “Why? Do you want to tell people?”
“Um, yeah.” I take a forkful of the eggs. “I want to tell everyone I see. I would have already, but I was following your lead.”
“What?” she gasps.
“What, what?” I ask her, unsure of what she is asking me.
“You want to tell everyone?”
“Yeah. I would take out the front page of the paper if I could.”
She throws her head back and laughs as she pushes my shoulder. “Okay, well, let’s not do that. I can just imagine the headlines: Trapped by the Local Pariah.”
My fork falls to my plate. “Don’t fucking talk like that about yourself again,” I snap. She looks at me, surprised. I push away from the counter, walk over to the fridge, and grab the carton of orange juice. I was about to slam it on the counter. “You will never say anything about yourself like that. Not in this house, not out there, and especially not in fucking front of me.”
“It’s not a big deal, Theo,” she says, trying to downplay it. “I’ve been called that my whole life.”
“Well, it fucking stops now. I’m not fucking kidding either.” I sit back down on the stool beside her, reaching out to gently touch her stomach. “I’m sorry I swore,” I tell the baby, “I couldn’t help myself.”
Collins doesn’t say anything to me. She just puts her hand on mine.