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“Is that all you’re w-w-worried about?”
“It doesn’t matter what I’m worried about, sweetheart. This is about your sister. I’ll be fine.”
I turn into the hospital’s emergency parking area. I don’t have time to worry about the damn parking structure. I shut the engine off and look at Lyla. I hate that she’s worrying, but there’s not much I can do about it. Maybe in time I can convince her of how important she is to me. Regret fills me for a minute because I know I hurt her so much that it makes her question everything. I’m hoping in time she will see the truth.
She’s all I want.
Hell, I’m the one wondering why she would even fool with me. Lyla is the one who deserves a better man than me. She says my stuttering doesn’t bother her, but she has to see the way people stare at me. What happens when she eventually gets tired of being with a man viewed as either a freak or less than whole?
It won’t matter. I’ll work overtime to make sure she never regrets being with me. There can’t be any other outcome because I’m not giving her up. Just the thought is enough to send fear and frustration running through me. Maybe that’s why I pull Lyla into my arms and kiss her. Then again, maybe I just do it to reassure myself she still wants me.
When she pulls back, she looks at me, touching her lips. “Wow,” she breathes. “Should I ask what that was for?”
“J-j-just r-r-reminding you that y-y-you w-w-want me.”
Lyla has no idea that I’m worried she’ll realize she deserves better. She doesn’t even grasp the real issue. Hell, I’m not sure I do until this moment.
What happens when Lyla meets Dom? Will she realize she got the weaker brother?
Fuck.
“I’m not sure that’s something I can forget at this point, sweetheart. There’s a little girl growing inside me that reminds me every day,” she jokes.
“D-don’t forget,” I find myself saying before I can catch myself.
“Thomas?” she asks, and I know I’ve revealed too much.
“Y-yeah?”
“Don’t forget me either, okay?”
Her response surprises me and there’s a pain in the vicinity of my heart, but it doesn’t feel bad. “Babe,” I murmur.
“Yeah?”
“N-never happen. N-never.”
She grins and just like that some of the panic I felt leaves me.
Damn…
Chapter 28
Lyla
I was this many years old when I found out you cannot actually die from nerves. If you could, then I would be a goner just walking into the OB waiting room.
When Thomas and I enter, it feels like a million eyes are on us. I know he’s aware of the way I’m trembling because he squeezes my hand and kisses my temple. I look up at him and I don’t know what I’m searching for, but I see his eyes crinkle and a smile on his face.
Reassurance.
Too bad it doesn’t seem to be working, especially as everyone stops mid conversation as we stand there. “This is not uncomfortable at all,” I mumble under my breath.
“Babe,” Thomas says back, his voice quiet, but I can hear the humor in it. When I look up at him, those damn beautiful eyes of his sparkle and I go weak all over. I’m pretty sure it’s dangerous to be so attracted to someone.
“It’s true,” I mutter, and he gives me a squeeze.
“T,” Dragon says, his voice gruff walking toward us. Thomas lets go of my hand and I awkwardly wait while they “man hug”.
“Lyla!” I blink as this beautiful woman with icy blonde hair and curves for days comes walking toward me. She takes me in her arms and hugs me like I’m her long-lost daughter. “I’ve been wanting to meet you for so long. I was about to kill Dragon if he didn’t take me to see you soon.”
“Mama,” Dragon grumbles.
“Well? It’s true!” she says while still hugging me.
I have my hands awkwardly at her back, wondering how long a hug can possibly last and what might happen if I beg her to give me space. I don’t want to be rude, but I’m holding on by a thread here. Luckily, Thomas comes to my aid by taking my hand again.
“Mom, let her b-breathe. She’s been getting sick from time to time. She n-needs air.”
“Oh no. You’re getting morning sickness, still?” she asks, pulling back, although still keeping her hand on my shoulder.
“Just a little. It’s getting better,” I murmur. “She’s just giving me a hard time. Seems like she might be a lot like her daddy.”
“Babe,” Thomas mutters again. It isn’t hard to figure out that he calls me babe when I make him laugh or irritate him. I’m not sure which one it is now, but I like the way he says it just the same.
I look up at him, smiling and shrug.
“She? You’re having a girl?”
