Page 115 of Need You To Choose Me

“Blondie…”

“No.” She shakes her head. “No, I can’t accept that. You have to take them back. I can’t pay you back for all of this.”

Pay me back?My brows pull together. “I don’t expect you to pay me back, Savannah. It’s forourbaby.”

“I know, but—” Her throat bobs as she swallows, her gaze darting to all the boxes. “I can’t. It’s too much, and I?—”

I cup her cheeks and turn her attention back on me. “Blondie, what is this about?”

“I—” she sucks in a sharp breath. “I just can’t.”

Daniel clears his throat. “I’ll give you guys a few.”

Thankful for some privacy, I skim my fingers over Savannah’s cheeks. “Come here.”

Letting my hand fall, I grab her palm in mine and pull her toward the swing on the porch. Savannah wants to sit down, but I’m faster, pulling her into my lap. “What is going on, baby?”

She’s biting her lower lip, her fingers clasping in her lap. I place my palm over hers but don’t say anything. I wanted her to come to me in her own time. I wanted her to know that no matter what, I’d be there for her, ready to listen.

“You must think I’m crazy,” she says after a while, letting her lip pop as she glances away. “Here you are trying to do something nice, and I?—”

Gently, I slip my finger under her chin and turn her to face me. “You’re not crazy, but I want to know why this is such a big deal. It’s just a few things.”

“A few things,” she snorts. “Things have a price, Blake. And this is a lot of things.”

“They do.” I nod slowly in acknowledgment and assess her silently for a second. This went deeper than her simply not wanting to accept the gift; only I couldn’t quite pinpoint why, so I changed the subject. “You wanna know why I got them?”

Savannah nods silently.

“Because I saw you liked them the other day. You had this little half-smile on your face when you spotted something you loved, so I made a note of it.”

Her eyes widen in surprise, making me chuckle. “I see you, Savannah.”

“Blake…” She shakes her head, one strand slipping from her bun.

“Iseeyou,” I repeat, needing her to know it. Maybe if I said it enough times, she would believe me. “And sue me for wanting to make you happy and see that smile on your face. Be the one whoputsthat smile on your face.Besides, spoiling people I care about makes me happy.” I brush away the runaway lock gently, my fingers grazing the soft skin of her neck. “It was only my mom and me growing up, and she worked her ass off to make sure I had everything, but before I got a chance to give her back all she did for me, she died. So now that I can, I’m not waiting a moment to spoil the people I care about.”

Her fingers tighten around mine. “I’m so sorry, Blake.”

“Me too.” My gaze grows distant, the memories of the past coming back to the surface. It’s been a while since I thought about my mom. “She was a good woman. I saw what it did to her when my dad left. She had to quit college and get a low-paying job to support us. I promised myself I’d never be like him.”

Understanding flashes on Savannah’s face, some of that tension leaving her body.

“I…” Her tongue darts out to slide over her lips. “My mom wasn’t like that. She used her pregnancy to blackmail my father, but he didn’t take the bait, and by then, it was too late for an abortion, and she never let me live it down. Everything that happened was somehow my fault, everything she did came with a price tag. So yeah, I’m not really the best when it comes to stuff like this.”

What the actual fuck?

For a moment, I thought she was lying. Shehadto be lying because I couldn’t believe anybody would act that way, but the empty, hopeless expression on her face told me otherwise.

Dammit.

“Savannah, baby, I’m so sorry.”

She forces out a smile. “It’s fine. It happened years ago.”

“No, it’s not fine.”

Not in the slightest.

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