Page 136 of Let You Love Me

Being mistaken for Sophie’s father should make me uncomfortable. I’m only nineteen, a freshman in college. Six months ago, I was still living with my parents, partying with my friends back in Riverside, and generally acting like a jackass without a care in the world.

I’m not ready to be a father, or at least, I shouldn’t be.

But instead of being freaked out at the prospect, the notion of being there for Sophie as her father turns my insides liquid. Everything inside of me melts at the thought. It’s as if that single word has tipped my world on its axis because, the fact of the matter is, I love Lane. I’m head-over-heels, truly, deeply, and madly in love with her. And I love Sophie, too.

I’m fucking proud to be a part of their lives. I’m not afraid of what a serious relationship with Lane means or where it might lead. I’m not worried about going from zero to three-sixty because I’m already there.

From the moment I laid eyes on Lane Turner, before I realized she was the coach’s daughter and a single mom, I knew.

She’s it for me.

As crazy as it sounds, as quickly as our relationship has progressed, I know deep down that she’s the one. And Sophie feels more like mine with every passing day.

I pause at the edge of the sidewalk, ready to cross the parking lot toward Lane’s car when a voice calls out.

“Nichols?”

I grit my teeth and turn, all thoughts of Sophie and what the doctor said vanish as I curse my dumb luck. What the fuck arethe odds of running into Chance Lockhart outside urgent care on a fucking Tuesday?

“Chance?” I angle myself toward him where he stands outside the pharmacy doors, assessing me through narrowed eyes.

His gaze flickers from me to Sophie, then back again as he draws closer. “What are you doing here?”

“Just handling a cut on Sophie’s knee.”

“I got stitches,” Sophie announces proudly, then resumes playing with her prizes.

“We have game film in thirty,” Chance says.

The muscle in my jaw twitches. “Good thing I’m only ten minutes from campus, then.”

He stares at me for a moment, his gaze cold, expression stony. Stepping to my side, his shoulder pressed to mine, he whispers, “Just what the fuck are you doing here, Nichols?”

“I told you—”

“You know what I mean,” he hisses so Sophie can’t hear. “Fucking around with Lane, taking her daughter to the doctor. What are you getting at?”

I meet his eyes, my gaze calculated. “Are you threatened, Lockhart?”

The vein in his forehead bulges, and I see a flicker of something in his expression that tells me I hit my target. “Why don’t you stop worrying about everybody else and focus on yourself, huh?” I clap a hand over his shoulder, mostly because I know it’ll piss him off. “Lane’s a big girl. She can handle herself.”

Before he can say anything else, I step off the sidewalk into the parking lot with Chance’s voice at my back. “You don’t know what you’re doing here, Nichols.”

I wave at him and keep walking, thankful for the girl in my arms. If not for her, I’d be in his face, doing a lot more than giving him lip.

Hell, I’d probably do something I’d come to regret and earn myself a warm spot on the bench come Saturday.

There’s something I fucking hate about that guy.

My phone rings, breaking through my thoughts, and I check the screen to see Lane’s name. Grateful for the reprieve, I press the speaker button and hold it out as we approach her car.

“It’s your mom,” I whisper to Sophie, before I say into the phone, “Sophie’s driving service, can I help you?”

Sophie giggles in my arms.

“Are you still there?” Lane asks, sounding slightly harried and out of breath.

“Lane?”