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“So the two of you are back together?”
“No, I don’t love her. And I think she pretty much hates me.” He grimaces down at his hands. “But she is going to have my baby, and I want to be a father to my child. I want to be a better father than mine was, and I can’t do that if I stay here. I’ll find a job once I’m there, and then we’re going to try the co-parenting thing.”
I nod, thinking about how weird it is to discuss Quinn’s future plans when all our lives we discussed our future together.
“Besides,” he says with a shaky smile, “You were right when you called me a coward. I can’t stick around and watch you fall in love. I know it’s going to happen. I just can’t see it happen.”
“You’re not a coward, Quinn.”
I regret the words as soon as I say them because isn’t he? Instead of making the hard choices, he took the easy way out every single time.
His grimace tells me that he disagrees. That he recognizes the deception in my words.
“I’m guessing my Mom’s not taking the news well.”
“That’s something else I want to apologize for.”
“No, Quinn. That’s not on you. That’s all her.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
KALLAN
“COME ON, buddy. I’ve got to go,” I say, picking up the squirming ball of fur and putting him in the playpen I bought for him.
Four fucking months and every second of that has been plagued with thoughts of Bailey. I dreamed of her lips on mine a million times. Of getting more than that tiny taste I had before. Her face drove me through cramping fingers. Her voice made me grit my teeth and power through the fiery ball lodged in my spine. Her smile made me ignore the blisters on my fingers. It’s been hell, and I’m exhausted. Sleep was beyond my reach on the flight back, my only thought getting home, but at least it was a more pleasant experience than the flight to Vegas. Then, I was a broody bastard, ready to growl at anyone who looked at me the wrong way.
But now I’m back, and it feels as if a world’s worth of weight has been lifted from my shoulders. If it wasn’t for a desperate need for a shower and a change of clothes, I would have gone straight to town.
To Bailey.
As it is, the half-hour it took feels like wasted time, and I’m not willing to waste a second more. I need to see her, touch her, look in her eyes, and see if she missed me even a fraction of what I missed her.
I’m about to scoop up my keys when a slamming car door freezes me in my tracks.
For a second, my heart bottoms out. Then I’m pissed. Don’t know who it is, and I don’t care. It’s been four fucking months, and I’m not about to tolerate more delays. Whoever it is needs to leave. Nobody but Andrew knows I’m back, and today is not the day I plan on being fucking neighborly.
Grinding my teeth together, I swing open the door, ready to piss off neighbors I haven’t even met yet, but what I find has me perfectly still, frozen in place.
“You’re back,” Bailey breathes, her eyes bright and filled with nervousness. “I hardly dared believe it when Olivia told me. I had to come to see for myself. I thought…” She takes a deep breath, wiping her palms down the sides of her jeans. “I thought you’d have told me?”
Fuck, I have a feeling my wanting to surprise her might have just backfired on me.
“I was coming to surprise you, but I needed a shower. Bad,” I say, trying to pack as much reassurance in those words—those perfectly inadequate words—as I can.
“Oh, that’s…Okay, that’s understandable,” she says, the tenseness dropping from her shoulders. “So, you’re back, obviously, since you’re standing in front of me.”
My legs have a mind of their own as they move closer to her, my eyes roving over her face. Seeing her again and being close enough to touch her is everything.Never again, I vow. Never again will I go so long without seeing her.
“I’m back.” Every beat of my heart feels labored and painful as my eyes search her face, looking for a sign, any sign, that I’m not alone in my feelings. That the time apart hasn’t made her reconsider her feelings for me. So many times, I was tempted to ask her, but it was something I wanted to do face-to-face. So many things get lost in translation when you text. My eyes needed the confirmation, not just my ears. The flash in her eyes, the parting of her lips, gives me everything I need, and I step into her, eliminating the last bit of space between us. No distance, never again. “I’m going to kiss you now,” I warn, cradling her face reverently like she’s made of spun glass that will shatter at the slightest of pressure. But looking into her eyes while I stroke my thumbs across her cheekbones, I know that’s furthest from the truth. Inside her resides a core of steel.
Inhaling deeply, the flavor of smoky nuttiness overwhelms my senses. It’s as if the scent of the coffee she loves so much has seeped into her pores, taking up permanent residence on her skin.
Fuck I missed it.
“Please.”
That one little word seals her fate. She’s mine now. There’s no going back.
