AllFreeNovel
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“You’re serious?”
“Yeah, why not?”
“Why not?” I laugh. “You know, you’re really selling it right, snowboard guy?”
“Fuck, I mean, I want you to move in. We’ve been doing our little dance, and with you knocked up with my kid, I want in,” he says, tapping my stomach.
“You know this is not one of your races, right?” I chuckle. “There is not a medal at the end.”
“I know,” he says, caressing my stomach. “Believe me, I do. We’re good together. I know we’re polar opposites with tons of baggage we keep dragging behind us. But let’s figure out this shit. You can stay being my pain in the ass, and I can be your asshole. What do you think?” He smiles up at me.
“You’re really serious?” I ask, taking a deep breath.
He points to the large window and the view of the mountain beyond that. “Look, the storm is dying down. Wanna go for a walk?”
“Sure,” I say, following him to the door. He hands me his jacket and a Red Bull beanie. Outside, the world has turned into a winter wonderland. The snow crunches under our feet as we slowly start to walk to the lake.
“You know, Ace of Spades, I’ve never fallen in love with anyone in my life. I’ve never gotten a spark, but when I saw you sitting on the slope, my world got turned upside down.”
I stop walking, and he does the same. “I know I kid around a lot, and I forget things, and I’m not good at all the relationship stuff. But I want to try to be a better person for you and bean in there.”
“Jesse, you don’t have to explain.”
He runs a hand through his long hair and curses under his breath. “Damn you, babe, you made me fall for you from the moment you crashed into me on the slope. And when you held my hand all sweaty and shit, I just knew. But I’m so fucking scared, scared to lose you like I lost my mom.” He takes a deep breath. “I can’t lose you now that I’ve found you,” he whispers, his voice hoarse.
Tears prick my eyes, because I know this is his way of saying he loves me.
“This is all I can do. I can snowboard, and that’s it. But I don’t know shit.” His voice is soft, like the look in his eyes. I know he means every word he just told me.
“That’s why I like you,” I whisper. “I want you. I want you to lov—” I bite on my lip, running my fingertips over his chiseled jaw.
“Stop.” He grabs my arms, turning me around, pushing himself against my stomach.
“Okay,” I say, and his mouth hikes up a little bit.
“I almost let you go once. I’m not gonna do it again.”
“Jesse, you weren’t the only one who doesn’t know how to do this.”
His cheeks heat up. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too,” I confess, pushing him away, and crouching down, I fill my hands with snow.
“What are you doing?” He chuckles, doing the same.
I make a ball and throw it right at him. It hits him square in the face, and he coughs while he wipes the snow from his cheeks. He flashes me a devilish smirk and throws his ball high in the air. “You feeling lucky, babe?”
“Do you?” I laugh.
He stops throwing the ball. “Yeah, I am.” He swallows hard and drops it. “Will you stay?”
I brush my hair back, pushing down the butterflies fluttering around in my stomach.
“You and me, babe… that’s what I want.”
“Okay, snowboard guy.” I giggle through my tears.
With two big strides, he takes me into his arms. I smile, brushing the tiny droplets of snow out of his face. Tracing the line of his jaw with my trembling fingers, I tell him, “I’ll stay.”
