Page 111 of The Love Dare
As they reached the peak, he admitted with begrudging acceptance that the view really was phenomenal. The entire city sprawled out beneath them, a sea of terracotta, giving way to the sapphire waters of the real sea beyond. Sunlight sparkled off the surface of the Mediterranean. Above, the skies were clear.
He took the final second of the timer to really soak it all in, then turned to Winnie with a victorious, “Ha!”
The sound immediately died on his lips. She folded hers into her mouth, biting back a grin. His eyes bugged out of his head at the sight of what she was holding.
“Is that—?” The words caught in his throat, his brain running on hyperdrive, the emotional upheaval too much to overcome.
“A pregnancy test?” she finished for him. “I took it this morning and I have three more in my purse from last week. Want to see what they all have in common?”
She held it out closer and pointed to the little plus sign on the test window.
He gasped, ripping it out of her hand to look for himself. “No shit.”
“Yes, shit.” She grinned.
“I’m gonna— We’re gonna?—”
He looked at her in desperation, needing to hear the words. She nodded eagerly and took him by the hands, squeezing his fingers, looking at him with so much love, his entire chest felt as if it might burst from the mirrored happiness within it.
“I’m pregnant,” she whispered, getting choked up herself. Tears spilled from the corners of her eyes. A burning sensation whispered that he wasn’t far behind. “You’re going to be a dad, Ty.”
He pulled her in for a deep kiss, infusing it with all the passion and joy he didn’t know how to express through words. Then he pulled back, staring into her eyes, saying the first clear thing that came to his mind, because it was so inherently obvious, so perfectly true.
“You’re going to be the most amazing mom, Win.”
She held his hands against her cheeks, beaming. “And you’re going to be the best dad. I just know it.”
How?
He shook his head. She couldn’t know that. Fear laced through his tone, a vulnerability he would never show to anyone except her. Because she knew his whole past, and she’d still chosen to give him this beautiful future. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.”
“And you think I do?” Winnie laughed and threaded their fingers, holding him tight, sharing not only her own uncertainty, but her conviction and her strength. “We’ll figure it out together.”
Back in the chopper, Tyler scrubs his palms over his face. He can’t miss this. He needs to be there for her, for them both.
When the chopper lands at the hospital, he jumps out as soon as the pilots give the okay and races inside. A coordinator is there waiting, and while he usually loathes special treatment, he just won the city a championship and if they want to give him the VIP treatment, then that’s a-okay with him, especially if it means getting to Winnie faster. The man leads him to a special elevator. When they hit the correct floor, Tyler asks for the room number and takes off running. He hears her voice before he sees her.
“Don’t be shy! We used to take baths together.”
“Yeah.” Alex scoffs. “When we were two.”
“It’s my hour of need. You can’t say no.”
“Yes I can, you weirdo. I am not helping you with this.”
“Why not?” she whines, and a grin pulls at Tyler’s lips. He expected her to be pissed off and out of her mind. A foot-stomping level of frustration is much easier to manage. But Alex’s response has him frowning.
“I’m not talking about sex with my sister!”
What?Tyler stops outside the door, too curious to interrupt. They’re still in the delivery room and the coordinator told him she’s just in early labor. A few seconds won’t matter.
“Oh my god. Look at me right now, Alex. I’m about to literally pop with your best friend’s child. I think we’re old enough to move past that.”
“Not me. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the Virgin Mary.”
She snorts. Outside the door, Tyler does the same.Sorry, bro. I can fully confirm she is one-hundred-percent not a virgin, many, many times over.
“Please, please, pleaaaaaase! Don’t think about the fact that it’s a sex scene. Just take your shirt off, pick up my duffel, turn that way, and clench your jaw. There’s something I’m not gettingquite right about this muscle tone and I can’t tell what it is. I need you.”
