Page 122 of Duke
“Glad to hear it.”
“Point is my parentsaren’tfriends. They never were. Obviously I don’t know everything about their relationship, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Mom getting pregnant that torpedoed it.”
I meet her eyes. “It was the fact that they didn’t have a connection as friends that explains why it didn’t work out.”
“Right.”
“I see Mollie’s fingerprints all overthatlightbulb moment.”
Wheeler’s smile grows. “You know her well too.”
“Well, yeah. She is my sister-in-law.”
“She wants us to be together.” Wheeler’s eyes toggle between mine. “Everyone in your family does.”
“Can you blame them? You walked into my life, and everything’s changed for the better.”
She laughs. “You mean I walked out in the middle of our first game of darts, then dragged you on a twenty-hour road trip to Colorado, andthengot pregnant, all while doing my damnedest to push you away?”
“Can we work on the pushing away thing?”
Wheeler nods. “I want to. I’m trying. This—our friendship, our relationship”—she flattens her palm over my chest—“it means a lot to me. I want it to work. So I’ll put in the work I need to do to make that happen.”
My heart feels downright drunk, skipping around my torso without a care in the fucking world.
“If that’s not the sexiest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” I growl.
Wheeler laughs. “Sosexy, me promising to go get therapy and look on the bright side.”
I grab her hand and put it on my crotch. “But seriously.”
“Wow.” Her mouth forms a neat little O. “You…aren’t kidding.”
“I wanna feed you, Blue. But I also wanna fuck you.”
Her eyes go hazy. “Tell me why you wanna be a daddy.”
Because I’m falling in love with you, and I want to follow that feeling to the ends of the earth.
“Because a baby is a big responsibility but also a big adventure. Because freedom can be many things, and I’ve realized that the kind that’s important to me is the kind where I have the freedom to be with my people. Because this babyismy person. Our person. Because I’m not sure I’ll ever have life figured out, but I can try to figure it outandbe a dad all at once. Because being a dad is a dream I have. Because…” I blow out a breath. “I don’t wanna live small anymore. You made me see what’s possible. You’ll keep chasing your dreams, and I’ll keep chasing mine. The baby won’t change that.”
Her throat works on a swallow. “You promise?”
“You have my word.” I press my hand into her belly. “I’ll always take care of you and this baby. I wanna be with you every step of the way, sweetheart. I’m in. Both feet.”
She’s crying again, fisting my shirt in her hand. “Please don’t fuck me over. Because this all sounds so,sonice, baby. You’re right. It is a dream. But if you take that away from me—”
“My brothers’ll take me out long before you do if I ever fall down on y’all. That’s not part of the game plan, Blue. Trust me.”
She looks at me. I look back.
“I’ll try. To trust you.”
“You need some convincing, that’s not gonna be a problem. Surely you know that.”
“Oh, I know,” she says with a laugh. “You can be relentless.”
“We call that grit around here.”
