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He studied me for a moment and then continued. “I just needed to.”
I had no idea what that meant, and when he turned to face the wall again, I contemplated not asking, but that wasn’t what I needed. I needed to know so I could understand what was happening. “I don’t understand.”
He ran his hand through his short hair. “I don’t really either. I just know I felt a connection to him from the moment he was born. Maybe it was because I was in the room, but for whatever reason, I felt it, and I needed to see him every day.”
“Do you still feel it?”
He angled his head and met my stare. “Yeah.”
I mirrored his position and turned my head so we were face-to-face. “When I went in to visit Wyatt yesterday, they were getting his papers ready, and the nurse asked me if it was a mistake that I didn’t list you as his father.”
“What did you say?”
I linked my hands together. “I didn’t know what to say. I just sat there. She gave me a sad smile and then handed me all of his things, including your wrist bracelet. The one you wore the day he was born before we got the ones that would let us into the NICU.”
“They gave you that?” I nodded slowly. “Did you throw it away?”
I shook my head. “I couldn’t. I wanted Wyatt to grow up knowing you were there for him that day and have been ever since, so I kept it.”
Dropping my head, I stared at my hands until he reached over again and wrapped his hand around mine. “I want to be here for both of you.”
I smiled softly when his words wrapped around me like a blanket. “I want that, Race. I do. But I’m in a weird place right now.”
“I know that.” He grinned. “But I’m here, and I’m not goin’ anywhere.”
Leaning over, I pressed my lips against his and kissed him softly. It wasn’t the first time I initiated a kiss, but it was the first time I did it knowing exactly what I was doing and what message I was sending. He reached up and wrapped his hand around the side of my neck, not letting go even when I pulled back. Smiling, I leaned my forehead against his. “I like your name. Your real name.”
He grinned and pulled back just enough to look into my eyes. “My dad gave me the same name of the first car he stole.”
My eyes widened. “Are you serious?”
He chuckled. “Yep. It was a Dodge Colt. He thought it was cool. Pretty messed up, huh?”
“Well…” I giggled softly. “I guess maybe in his own way, it was something of a tribute.”
Race shook his head and laughed. “It was, but I told him after I was old enough to know better that he could’ve at least named me after a car he stole that wasn’t a piece of shit.”
I laughed along with him. “I was going to ask you if I could call you Colt, but I guess that would be a hard no.”
Smirking, he tugged me closer. “How about I make you a deal?”
My eyebrows drew together, but I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. “What’s that?”
“You can call me Colt.” He ran his lips along my cheek until I could feel his breath against my ear. “But only when I’m inside you.”
Arousal shot through my body, and I shivered when he scraped his teeth against my earlobe. “Do we have a deal?”
“Yeah,” I replied, my voice breathy. “We have a deal.”
He pressed a hard kiss to my mouth. “I’m gonna hold you to that.”
Chapter 19
Becs
I heard my phone ding and glanced at the island where I’d laid it this morning. Finding the baby monitor, I smiled when I was once again reminded that Wyatt was upstairs sleeping in his crib. In the two weeks he’d been home, I still wasn’t used to it, and I wondered how long it would take for me to feel like it was real.
Grabbing my phone, I stared at the text, and my eyebrows slowly drew together.
