Page 30 of Fall Love

She turns toward her sister, speaking as if I’m not standing here. “He does this swiping thing through his hair when he’s . . .” She grimaces. “When he doesn’t like touching you.”

“What?” Lumi’s eyes pinch as she glances back at me, seeking confirmation for this absurdity.

“What?” I snap as well. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“It’s how you reacted when you first came here and didn’t want to shake my hand,” Neve begins, squaring off with me.

“You didn’t want to shake mine,” I remind her.

“And then at the lighthouse when you held my hand,” she continues.

“He held your hand?” Lumi turns toward her sister, as confused as I am.

I distinctly remember taking her hand to help her stand and holding it a little longer than I thought she’d want to hold mine. I got the hint when she released me.

“I—”

“And at Chug-Along, when you⁠—”

“Just stop,” I cut her off, holding up said hand. “I want to hold your hand. Hell, I’d be happy to hold your hand.”

I keep my focus on her face, where her nose wrinkles, but her eyes flare.

“And I’m happy to be a father, so don’t say it like that disgusts me. Or you.”

I point between us. “We were both there when it happened, and if I recall correctly, you enjoyed it.”

“I don’t think I need to be here for this,” Lumi says, holding up both her hands and glancing at her sister.

“You stay,” Neve demands, looking at Lumi. “You go,” she says, glaring at me. Then she takes a deep breath, setting her hand on her belly. “And if I recall, you enjoyed it, as well.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” I counter. “We enjoyed each other, so why would I ever not want to hold your hand?” I step closer to her.

“He has a point,” Lumi says, her attention pinging from me to Neve.

“Whose side are you on?” Neve counters, aghast by the apparent betrayal.

“Hers.” She nods toward Neve’s belly.

Neve’s shoulders fall, and she glances down at her stomach. She rubs both hands protectively over her belly.

As I stare at her stomach as well, I try to recall what she’s talking about. At Chug-Along the other night, I desperately wanted to take her hand. She seemed so nervous, anxious about whatever she had to tell me, and for good reason.

She’d been keeping a secret from me for nine months.

“I’m sorry if I didn’t respond the way you thought I should have the other night. I needed a minute to process that I was going to be a dad. I’d had ten seconds to accept something that already had nine months to incubate in you.”

Neve wrinkles her nose again.

“Not the best choice of words,” Lumi mutters.

At the time, anger rushed through me, but it quickly dissipated because I couldn’t rectify the past. She hadn’t reached out to me. Driver. Rosie. No promises made. No numbers exchanged.

And I hadn’t been here for her, because I didn’t know.

But now that I did . . . I refuse to leave.

“I want you to go,” Neve says, still glaring at me.