Page 29 of Kicking Up Dust

Fuck, I can’t wait for my therapy appointment next week. Talking about everything had been hard at first, but each week it got easier.

I knew, logically, a lot of the affection I had for Blair was because she was my baby’s mother and I already loved the kid inside of her so, so much. I also knew a large part of my psyche saw her as some sort of… savior, perhaps. The woman who pulled me from the roof without even realizing it, who gave me a reason.

But it wasn’t fair to put all of that on her. Not when it wasn’t even love—yet, though I could see it going there pretty quickly.

Blair shifts with a quiet groan when I put the truck in park outside my favorite hotel in Billings.

“Hey,” I whisper, hating that I have to wake her up. “I’m gonna get us checked in. Do you want to stay in the truck, or do you wanna come in? It shouldn’t take long.”

“Where are we?” she asks instead of answering, blinking blearily.

“Billings. A hotel.”

She yawns. “I thought we were going to your ranch.”

“We are. We’re about an hour out, but I figured you’d rather meet everyone tomorrow instead of after a long day of driving.”

Blair hums and then closes her eyes, resting her head against the window again. I lick away the dopey smile I want to give her.

“Stay awake long enough to lock the doors behind me at least.”

“Mmkay,” she says, but makes no moves to actually get ready to lock the truck. A second later, her eyes pop open and she sits up. “Wait, no, I’ll go in with you,” she decides, reaching for the door handle.

“Aht, let me get the door, mama. I’ll be right there.”

The first thing Blair does when we get in the lobby is ask where the restroom is, and I feel like a dick for not waking her up sooner to see if she needed to pee. Our last rest stop was two hours ago.

The receptionist is smiling when I turn back to face her after watching Blair disappear down the small hallway to the left.

“How far along is she?”

“Uh, twenty weeks,” I tell her, reaching into my wallet for my ID and debit card.

“Ooh, halfway!”

“Yeah.” I can’t help it if I don’t sound as enthusiastic as she does. I’m still a little bitter. “Just one night, please.”

I don’t think to verify anything else. I just swipe my card when she tells me the total, most of my attention on the hallway, waiting for Blair. When she comes out, hiding her mouth behind her hand while she yawns again, I let her know we’re all set.

It’s not until I push open the door to the room that I realize my mistake.

“Fuck.”

“What?” Blair asks, pushing her hair away from her face as she looks up at mine… and then into the room herself. “Oh.”

There’s only one bed.

“Sorry, I swear this wasn’t on purpose. I think the receptionist just assumed, and I didn’t think to ask. I’m just used to booking hotels for just me, so⁠—”

“It’s fine, cowboy,” Blair says, pushing past me for the bathroom. If my kid is causing her to have to piss again, I swear I’m going to have to tattoo her name on my dick just to make up for the hell it’s put her through.

But she just turns on the shower instead. “Genuinely, I’m going to pass out the moment my head hits a pillow anyway. I don’t care where that pillow is.”

She crosses her arms over her front the way girls do when they’re about to take off their top, and I spin around, my back to her. There’s no way in hell I’ll be able to share a bed with her after seeing her naked again.

“You sure you don’t want me to go ask for a room swap?” I ask, even as I hear the whoosh of the fabric as her sweats hit the floor.

“I’m sure, cowboy.”