Page 35 of Whiskey & Wreckage

She spins on her heel and stomps back inside, leaving the door open like I’m supposed to follow. So I do.

She paces the living room like she’s too wired to sit still. “You don’t get to decide when I need rescuing.”

“I’m not trying to rescue you. I’m trying to be here.”

“Well maybe I didn’twantyou here!”

That one stings more than I expect. I plant my feet and watch her like she might explode. “Then what the hell is going on?”

She throws up her hands. “If I talk to you, I’ll tell you. And I don’t know how I feel yet, okay? I haven’t even wrapped my head around it, and I knew if I saw you and your stupid handsome face I’d lose it and then it wouldn’t just be mine anymore.”

I stare at her. “Poppy, what the hell are you talking about?”

She freezes. The silence that follows is thick enough to drown in.

And then—barely a whisper. “I’m pregnant.”

My brain short-circuits. “You’re what?”

“Pregnant.” She says it again, louder this time. Like ripping off a bandage. “I found out a week ago. I didn’t know how to tell you.”

I take a slow breath. “You’re pregnant,” I repeat, like I’m testing the word out on my tongue.

She nods.

“And you didn’t tell me because…”

“I panicked!” she says, throwing her hands up. “This is huge, Thomas. It’s life-altering. We haven’t even been together that long. I didn’t know what we were. I didn’t know where we wereheaded.”

Something in me snaps. “Where we’reheaded?” I repeat, stepping forward. “Woman, have I not shown you how much I fucking love you?”

She blinks.

“Don’t you know youownme, Poppy? You fuckingownme. I’m so wrapped around your finger it’s disgusting—everyone sees it except for you. You think I show up in the middle of the night because Ilikeignoring your boundaries? I’m losing my mind worrying about you.”

Her lip trembles, but she crosses her arms like a shield. “You’ve neversaidany of that.”

I freeze. “What?”

“You talk with your hands, and your body, and all the sweet sexy things that melt my brain,” she says, voice cracking, “but you’ve neversaid it.You’ve never said you loved me. Never talked about… the future. Getting old and wrinkly together. I didn’t know if I was just convenient. If I was just a temporary stop in your life.”

I stare at her.

“You think I’m the kind of man who sticks around forconvenience?”

“I didn’t know what to think,” she snaps. “All I know is one minute I was folding laundry and the next I’m crying because the baby socks I impulse-bought at Target lookedtoo small, and I realized I’m doing this alone. Again.”

I take a step closer. Then another. My voice drops low. “You are not alone. Not now. Notever.”

Her breath hitches.

“I love you, Poppy. I have since the second you walked into my life like a damn thunderstorm and told me off for staring. I love the way you talk back. I love the way you try to carry the world on your own and still make time to fix everyone else’s problems. I love the way you laugh. I love the way you fight.”

I press a hand to my chest.

“And yeah, I didn’t say it out loud because I didn’t want to spook you. Because I didn’t want to fuck it up by saying it too soon. But if you thought this—you and me—was ever temporary?” I step even closer, gently cupping her jaw. “Baby, we’re going the distance.”

She exhales like I just cracked open her ribcage. Tears spill from her eyes. “You really mean that?”

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