AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know. I know. She agrees with you. She asked about you today in fact. Hannah asked me why she’d never met you.”
“Were you with her?”
“This was another one of the things I wanted to tell you.” Wes slides carefully out from under me to lean against my headboard. There’s a light to his eyes that I’ve never seen before. I mean, clearly, I’ve seen him happy, but this is different. I pull the blanket around my back, clutching it to my chest as I straddle his lap to cover us both. “Hayles, I heard my baby today. The heartbeat…I’ve never heard a sound like that. I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s one thing to go okay, I see Hannah’s belly growing and obviously know there’s a baby in there. It’s a total endgame when you hear the life. Babe, I thought I was going to pass out right there.”
My hand floats away from my chest to lay on his. His heartbeat matches the look on his face. It’s pure exhilaration. “Is this the first time you’ve heard him or her?”
“Hannah asked me to go with her to a checkup. She thought it would be good if I at least met the doctor one time. There weren’t any scans or anything, but she seems to be healthy and so does the baby. It could be any time in the next couple of weeks.”
“I’m glad things look okay. When did she ask about me?”
“After. I told her we should talk in private, she agreed. Instead of going out, we ordered in food at her place.” Wes’s heart is still thumping in his chest. Now, instead of his face being filled with joy, his eyes are wide with a different emotion. “I need to tell you something else. I don’t know how you’ll take it, but I have to tell you anyway.”
“Now I’m scared.” He cups both his hands over mine on his chest, taking the blanket into his fists. I feel like he’s caging me in so I can’t run. This must be bad. Real bad.
“Hannah started asking about you. She wanted to know why she hadn’t met you. Then I told her where things stood, or didn’t, between you and me. She said she was sorry that things weren’t going well. I didn’t feel comfortable talking to her about you like that. It felt gross. I got up and took our plates to the kitchen. I needed a minute, you know?
“I turned around after grabbing some water and she was right there. She could tell I was hurting. She gave me a hug then the baby started moving. I thought the heartbeat was out of this world. Holy shit. I felt like it was a voice for me. Like a tiny hello. It was cool to share that moment.”
“And? I can see it all over your face there’s an and.”
“We kissed, Hayley. It’s not like you and I, but a kiss just the same. She mistook my happiness for a connection. I lingered in it for a millisecond because there was no pain until it became painful. I know there’s no excuse. I won’t even try to make one. I pushed her away and told her no. I couldn’t do it. Even if I never got to hold you or kiss you again, it wasn’t right. Right then and there, I knew I needed to try one last time with you. If it was no, I was going to walk away. Even now, if telling you the truth is a deal breaker, I’ll walk away and give you your happiness.”
My eyes drift closed. I nearly immediately see in my mind the two of them kissing. I ask myself all the questions. Did he want her to? Is she trying to take him away? Is the baby between them stronger than what we have? Is she who he wants? Every question I ask only has one answer.
“No.”
“No, what?”
“No, it’s not a deal breaker. I don’t like it, but I’m glad you told me.”
“Are you sure? This isn’t just you pushing it aside and letting it eat you?”
“I don’t like the images I see when I close my eyes. However, I have to trust you, and like it or not, I have to trust her too. She’s the mother of your child.”
“One day I want that to be you, Hayley. I got a glimpse today of what that could be like. I’d get to be there from minute one.”
“Um, Wes, if you aren’t already there at minute one then you don’t know how things work.”
He folds a stray hair around my ear and smiles. “There’s my girl.”
“She never left. She just forgot who she was for a while. I might again, but I’ll try to tell you when or if I get there.”
Wes leans forward, with his soft hands he cups my face once again and presses his lips to mine. That kiss affirms to me he’s going to try everything in his power to make sure it doesn’t happen. I drop the blanket from my hands. I can feel the cool breeze race across my back. The chill runs up and down my spine.
He allows his hands to slide down to the small of my back, and within a second, I’m on my back as he’s hovering over me. The heat from his body is nothing compared to the love in his eyes. Wes begins once again to shower kiss after kiss across my skin. The hollow notch at the base of my throat. The divot where my collarbone meets my shoulder blade. The spot just below where my rib cage ends.
His fingers forcefully flex over my hips as he ghosts his way across my navel and further south. My fingers reach down for his hair; I take hold. The trace of my fingernails in his scalp creates a growl from him that rolls toward me like the thunder in a faraway storm. Wes runs his tongue along the inside of my thigh, and I immediately arch toward his body.
He’s meant for me, and I’m meant for him.
Wes pulls the sheet up and over both of us. It floats for a moment like a cloud before resting against our bodies. I need him inside me now. I don’t know what will happen if he doesn’t.
I tug harder on his hair, hoping he’ll do what I’m silently asking. His hands walk him back up my body until I can feel him teasing me. My breath becomes ragged, tense. I don’t want to take a full breath again until we’re connected.
Wes pushes inside me in one smooth movement. His eyes roll closed as I pull his head to rest in the crook of my neck. I wrap my hands around his back and neck, holding him close. Neither of us moves. The only things I’m aware of are how hard our hearts are pounding, the slow quick breaths in each other’s ear, and footsteps in the hallway.
Shit!
