“A handful?” He tilts his head. “No, you’re my girls, and you’re both perfect the way you are.”
Emotion clogs my throat as I stare up at him through glassy eyes.
“Will your parents mind?” I ask as I clasp my hands together and pick at the skin around my nails.
“Mind?” His eyes widen. “Maya, my parents can’t wait to meet you. Ivy, too. You’re coming home with me, and I don’t care what you say about it.”
There is a warmth inside my chest that starts to blossom at how dominant he’s being about it. It’s not a question; he’s telling me the answer. Deep down, I knew he wouldn’t have let us be alone on Christmas, but I wasn’t sure what’s best for him.
“Okay,” I croak. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I don’t want you anywhere else.”
A tear rolls down my cheek, and he leans forward to wipe it away. My eyes close with contentment. It’s the first time he’s touched me in days, and it makes my skin raise in goosebumps. There’s an ache in my heart because I want to reach out for him and bury my head in his chest, but I can’t.
There will be no more mixed signals until I can give him all of me without reservation.
CHAPTER 35
MAYA BROOKE
As I head into my last class of the day, I take my usual seat and remove my notebook from my bag. I sigh and slump back into my chair and glance up at the same time I spot Alfie waltzing in.
He doesn’t hesitate before taking a seat beside me as I clear my throat. “Hey, Maya,” he says before throwing his books down onto the table.
“Hey.”
“I was waiting for you to text me about our project…” He trails off. “But you didn’t.”
I purse my lips. The last few days have been a whirlwind of emotions, and the last thing I’ve been thinking about is this project. I turn towards him and study his dark eyes as they focus on me.
“Sorry,” I murmur. “I’ve just been really busy with everything at home.”
Alfie nods in understanding. “That’s okay, but we should probably meet up before the Christmas break so we at least have an idea of what we want to do.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “Sure.”
When our professor walks through the door, and the room quietens down, I try to zone into the class and write down notes that will help with our project. At the end of the hour, he allows us to discuss with our partners, and Alfie immediately leans in.
I listen as he shares his ideas, and if I’m being honest, I haven’t even started to think about what our project could be on, but Alfie’s idea is fairly interesting and clearly something he’s passionate about.
“What do you think?” he asks as he shows me his notes.
“Yeah,” I say sincerely. “It sounds good.”
Alfie’s eyes sweep over my face cautiously. “You okay?” He tilts his head to the side. “You seem really quiet today.”
“Just tired,” I say, which isn’t a total lie.
The conversations I had with my parents have been weighing me down a little, and the restless nights with Skye. Now Finn is there every night, which makes it easier, but there’s nothing worse than waking up to a screaming baby. Even if I don’t do the night duties, it’s hard to fall back to sleep.
“Are you struggling at home?”
I turn towards him with a frown. “Life is a lot harder with a baby.”
Alfie draws in a breath. “So…look, it’s none of my business, but I heard what happened with the dad.”
“Excuse me?”
