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He nods, his jaw firm. Then he picks up the pen again.
“How much is it?”
“Seventeen hundred,” I say.
He flinches, and then, with a nod, fills in the amount. Then he reaches into his pocket and withdraws a card.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“This one’s on me.”
“No,” I say, grabbing his wrist, feeling panicked. He shouldn’t do this. This isn’t his battle. This isn’t his family and he shouldn’t have to do this.
“Yes,” he says, ringing the bell to get the attention of the salesperson. “I don’t know what this is about, and I don’t need to. But right now, you’re upset, and if I can’t make it better, there’s a very good chance I’m going to punch a hole in a wall.” His jaw is tight, his brow severe, and I realize just how tense he is.
“I’m sorry,” I say, pressing my forehead into his chest.
He wraps his arms around me and strokes my back. “There’s nothing to be sorry for. Let me do this for you. Just this once.”
“It’s so much,” I say.
“I know,” he says. “And also, it’s not.”
“Can I help you?” A bored woman stands behind the desk and Derek passes her the form and his credit card. She gets to work processing it as he continues to rub circles on my back.
He said love isn’t transactional. But I don’t think he fully understands how big this is. Because even if he didn’t actually say those three little words, I’m reading between those lines. I only hope I can meet him in the middle, somehow.
CHAPTER34
DEREK
OCTOBER
“Go sports!”
I look up at the stands to where Megan is sitting with her friends, wearing one of my old jerseys. She has it pinned in the back and it tugs over her belly. She looks so damn cute as she giggles with her friends, Ainsley and Aly, the latter of whom is waving a foam finger like it’s the greatest thing she’s ever seen.
“Who gave her a foam finger?” Freddy says, his eyes landing in the same place.
I wave at Megan, and she blows me a kiss.
“Oh man, you can’t leave that unreciprocated,” Freddy says, nudging me.
“Fuck off,” I grumble.
“Look at her! She’s the mother of your child and looking hot as fuck—”
“Watch it,” I growl.
“And she just blew you a kiss across the stadium. You’re really going to leave her hanging?”
Of course I’m not going to leave her hanging. I pull out my phone and type out a text.
ME:You look good enough to eat. Prepare for a full spread after?
I see her look down at her phone and her cheeks flush. When she looks up, her eyes are glazed and she bites her bottom lip.
“Dude,” Freddy says, leaning over. I pocket my phone before he can see anything. “What did you do there? That was hot as fuck.”
