Page 111 of Push

I spied a hint of something in her eyes.Pride. I was being organized and thinking things through. She approved. I gave myself a mental high-five. I’d finally done something right.

“I don’t want to stuff this up,” I said. “I want to walk into the cops prepared. I want them to take me seriously. So, if Noah’s okay tomorrow, we can drop him off at daycare and go to the station together. Sound good?”

“No.”

“Because it’s not right now?”

Her lips flattened, and she fired a red-hot glare at me. That was a yes.

“I see that face, doll.” I booped her nose again. I was surprised she didn’t bite my finger off. “I’ll be totally honest with you. Right now, I want to fold because you’re pissed off at me, and more than anything, I want you to be happy. But I’m going to be stubborn about this. I think it’s the right move to wait.”

Gwen was quiet for a minute, fidgeting with the button on her jeans as she dissected my plan. “I hate to admit this, but…” Her sigh was heavy. “I think you’re right.”

“Whaaaaat?” I covered my mouth in fake shock.

“Oh, har har.” She rolled her eyes, but there was a hint of a smile on her lips. “Tomorrow?”

I sealed our agreement with a firm nod. “Tomorrow.”

I did everything I said I would.

I made a list, and even though Gwen hovered, shooting me a questioning look from time to time, she left me to sort the mess out for myself.

And I did.

The day wasn’t all stalkers and wrangling my battle plan. I slipped in plenty of fun, too. Noah splashed in the bath. He enjoyed tummy time and rocked and rolled on his knees like he was ready to crawl any second but never quite got going. We skipped Stroller Squad—babies with fevers were a “hell no”—so I packed a bag, hauled the stroller out of the trunk, and dragged Gwen outside when I took Noah for a walk.

I treasured those snippets of family time most of all. I’d never realized how important spending time with my crew was until I’d almost lost them forever.

Gwen shuffled into the nursery after dinner. She smiled when she saw Noah settling on my chest, but her gaze dropped, and she dug her toe into the fluffy tufts of the rug.

“I was going to ask…” She nibbled on her bottom lip. “Tell me if you’re uncomfortable, but could you maybe, um… sleep in the bedroom tonight? I just, um… I’m not sure if I can sleep…on my own…”

I said, “Yeah, of course,” like it was no big deal, but I wanted to race outside, rip my shirt off, and howl at the moon.

Gwen wanted me in the bed. With her.

I floated on cloud nine as I quietly closed the nursery door, took a shower, threw on some pajamas, brushed my teeth—twice—and wandered down the hallway.

Every muscle in my body froze in the doorway to our bedroom.

The room was dark, but the streetlights outside filtered through the curtains. A halo glowed around Gwen as she padded to the bed. My mouth went dry. She wore an oversized gray T-shirt that hung baggy to her mid-thigh. I tugged at the collar of my shirt.Holy heck.

Gwen’s head turned, but I couldn’t see her eyes. “New pajamas?” There was a smile in her voice.

“I, uh…” I yanked my shirt down as low as possible over the blue and white striped bottoms. “Yeah.”

She bent over, one knee on the bed to steady herself as she fluffed the pillows on the other side. Her T-shirt hiked up just enough for a flash of pink cotton knickers. My eyes went wider than saucers.

Gwen’s head turned again. “You alright?” she asked.

I swallowed. “Ye–yeah.”

She jerked her chin at the bed. “Come on.”

I didn’t move. I was about to be banished to the guest room. For sure.Think pure thoughts. Um…Mowers. Baby puke. That cake Marnie made one time. She said it was chocolate, but no kind of chocolate tasted that bad.

“Toby?”

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