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Chapter Thirty-Six

Roman

I ’ve been trying to figure out how to tell her that I want her to move in with me, even if just temporarily. Truth be told, I want it to be forever. I know I need to earn her trust and love. But right now, I want to make sure she is taken care of.

She still needs to take it easy for a week or so. If she stays with me, I can take care of her.

The doctor just signed her release form. We are just sitting here in the hospital room as we wait for the wheelchair to come and take her down.

Lincoln already told me where he parked my car. Before I run down to get it, I need to get this out.

“So, uh, what do you think about staying with me for a little while?” I ask as she puts on the clothes Jessie dropped off this morning.

She slowly pulls her shirt over her head. “You want me to stay with you?”

“I’d like to take care of you. The doctor said you need to take it easy, and we still need to monitor and make sure the pain doesn’t intensify or get worse. What if something happens when you’re alone?”

She bites her bottom lip as she studies me. “For how long?”

Forever.

I shrug my shoulders. “We don’t need to have an exact end date.”

“If you think it’s for the best. I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

I try to compose my frustration. She thinks she’d be inconveniencing me. She clearly doesn’t fully grasp just how serious I am about this. After talking to Ma, I know now that I’ve told myself a story all these years, one that isn’t true.

Because she’s right. Staying is a choice. And when I look at Eva, I know that I’ll choose her over and over again.

“You and our baby are the farthest from an inconvenience. I’d like to help. Will you let me?”

“Okay. I’ll stay with you.”

There’s no stopping the smile that comes next. This is going to be good. It’ll give me more time with her. Time to prove my love.

I lean in and kiss her forehead as they arrive to take her downstairs.

“I’m going to run down and get the car. I’ll meet you at the front.”

She’s lying on my couch right now with a blanket and her laptop. I tried to tell her work could wait, but she was insistent she had some loose ends to tie up before she rested.

But that’s one of the things that I love about her. She’s committed. If she says she’ll do something, you know she’ll follow through.

I grab the packages that were sent to my address while we were away. The first one that I tear open is a stack of books. Pregnancy 101 . The Expecting Father . What to Expect When You’re Expecting .

The other package contains the pregnancy multivitamins her doctor recommended. Essential oils that help with morning sickness. Suckers that can combat nausea.

I grab The Expecting Father and join her on the couch, grabbing her feet, then placing them on my legs. I have this constant need to touch her. It’s the only time I feel truly settled and calm.

I open the book and start to read through the first chapter. It’s filled with knowledge that already blows my mind. I feel like I need a highlighter so I can start to mark more important information. How does anyone retain all of this?

I’m so immersed in the book that I don’t realize that Eva has closed her laptop.

“What are you reading?” she asks. “Does that say The Expecting Father ?” Her voice rises in amusement.

“Yeah. I thought I should probably get prepared for what’s about to happen in the next nine months,” I reply as I turn the page, eyes still on the book.

She’s quiet. Too quiet.

I turn my head, and her jaw is on the floor.

“What?” I ask.

“You’re reading a book for our baby.”

I shift in my spot. “Yeah. So?”

“That’s so cute,” she whispers almost to herself.

“It’s not cute,” I reply as I sit up straight. “It’s manly.”

She crawls closer, then throws a leg over me, straddling me. Her hands find my face. “It’s cute. The sweetest thing ever.”

“I just want to do right by you and the baby.” My voice cracks in embarrassment.

Tears form in her eyes. “We both appreciate it.”

My hands find her hips. It’s just instinct with her. This is how my body responds to her. Though I don’t know where we stand at the moment. Am I allowed to touch her? To kiss her?

I know we can’t have sex for a week at least. Doctor’s orders.

Her green eyes continue to hold mine, and they hit me—hard. The depth in them. The questions. The fears. But also—what I don’t even deserve—the trust. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve the flicker of trust that she holds for me, but it twists in my heart.

I don’t say anything. I can’t. Words feel inadequate right now, but I hold her gaze.

Then she leans in—unhurried, cautious—and kisses me.

It’s soft and slow. I feel her hesitation, wondering if I’m going to kiss her back.

I kiss her back, trying to convey how I don’t know how the hell to promise her forever, but am willing to fight like hell for the chance.

She pulls away, my heart pounding in my chest.

“I …” she starts, and I hold my breath, hoping she doesn’t tell me it was a mistake. “Have to pee.”

Her smile tells me we haven’t lost the playful moment.

I return her grin. “I think I read about that in this book. It’ll happen more and more frequently.”

She groans. “You’re going to be so grossed out by me.”

I chuckle as she gets off my lap, not even slightly shy about my hard dick. She knows what she does to me.

When she gets back, she comes right back to the couch, a little slow this time.

“What’s wrong?” I nearly chuck the book across the room.

“What? Oh, I just took another round of medicine. The pain was coming back.”

“How bad was the pain? Nothing too intense, right?” I ask in a panic.

“I’m fine. I promise. I haven’t even taken anything for it since early this morning. It’s been over eight hours. Longer than I’ve gone since I was admitted.”

“Okay. Good.” I sit back down next to her.

She pulls her phone out of her pocket after it vibrates. Though she tries to hide it, I see a trace of sadness on her face as she reads a text.

“Who is it?” I ask.

“Walker,” she whispers. “He wanted to come check on me.”

“Ah, let me guess. He doesn’t want to step foot in my place.”

“I don’t understand why he’s being so unreasonable,” she cries. “I mean, you’re his best friend. He likes you enough to spend his time with you. What’s wrong with me doing the same?”

I sigh, trying to think about this from his perspective. “He’s just hurt. Put your phone down. I’ll handle your brother.”

Her eyebrow lifts suspiciously. “How?”

“Calm down. I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize your relationship with him. I’m here to look out for you, not make life harder.”

She grabs my hand. “Thank you.” She closes her eyes for a moment and yawns. “Ugh, what time is it?”

I glance at my watch. “Six.”

“Man, I couldn’t make it past seven all of last week.”

“Let me order some dinner then. I want to make sure you eat before you go to sleep for the night.”

I walk away from her and walk into my bedroom. My first priority is to order food. Then I pull up Walker’s name in my messages. This has gone too far. He and I need to work this shit out so he can visit his own damn sister.

Meet me here tomorrow morning. Nine sharp.

His message is instant.

Don’t tell me what to do. Let me handle this with my sister.

I can try to be nice, but I need to make it clear where I stand with Eva.

I’m trying to be nice here but let me make one thing clear—Eva and our baby are my first priority. I will not let you come between us. If you would like to talk like adults, I will be at this address, waiting.

I’m banking on him doing the right thing and meeting me here. This shit between us has got to be resolved if I have any chance of giving Eva the life that she deserves.

When I get back out to the family room, she is lying flat on the couch, looking up at the ceiling.

“I’m bored,” she says on an exaggerated breath.

I smile down at her. “Let’s do something. We can play a card game or something. Do you know rummy?”

Her eyes light up. “Let’s play poker.”

I chuckle. “You like poker?”

“Yes, Mr. Misogyny. You would have known if you had asked any of the women who were here last time—myself included.”

I throw my arms up in defense as she tosses her blanket off her and walks to my dinner table.

“Hey, I didn’t ask anybody to play. That was all your brother.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re all the same. Now, go get your cards and chips.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I smile as I walk away.

When I come back, she insists on shuffling. I realize I might have underestimated her as she shuffles the cards in the air from one hand to the other.

“Okay. Texas Hold’em. No limit.”

“No limit?” I raise an eyebrow.

“You scared?” she says, challenging me with her stare.

I purse my lips, trying to figure out how serious she is about this no limit. “Fine,” I say. “No limit.”

I sit at a booth in the corner as I watch my phone change from 9 to 9:01 . I clench my fist, pissed off that he isn’t willing to do this for his sister.

I’m not that bad of a guy. Does he really think a life with me would be so horrible?

I won’t let him make me second-guess what I have with his sister. Not like he did two days ago.

A figure stands in front of me for a moment, then slides into the booth. I look up. Walker sits there with his arms crossed over his chest.

He’s guarded. That’s fine. I can handle that. At least he showed up.

“Thanks for coming,” I say.

The waitress comes over and refills my coffee, then pours one for Walker.

“I’m doing it for my sister,” he clarifies, just in case I thought it had anything to do with our friendship.

I’m under no illusion that he and I are going to walk out of this restaurant buddy-buddy again.

I take a sip of the hot, freshly brewed coffee.

“Look, I know I messed up where our friendship is concerned.”

He laughs sarcastically.

“I’m not here to make you forgive me. Although I do hope that, in time, you will. I’m here to, first and foremost, apologize. I didn’t handle the situation the right way.”

“Understatement of the century.”

“I deserve that. For what it’s worth, I fought the attraction for months, desperate to do right by you. But I couldn’t stop myself from falling in love with her. I think I knew the moment she walked into my office for her interview. Now, I’m not here to fight with you over this.”

He leans forward. “Good. Because I’m not here to forgive. I’ve watched you treat love like a joke. One-night stands. Ghosting. Laughing at anybody who believes in love. Then I see you with my sister? Yeah, I’m going to freak out.”

He throws those words in my face, but he was right there with me, doing the same. I’m sure he would like to be given the chance if the roles were reversed. Though I know I would be the same way.

That’s why I’m willing to be patient with him.

“I get it. I’ve never done anything to make you believe that I’m the commitment type. I don’t expect you to walk out of here, believing me. What I am asking is for a chance. Not for me, but for Eva. For our baby— your niece or nephew.”

Did I just stoop to the level of using the uncle card? Yes. Whatever it takes to make this right for Eva.

He runs a frustrated hand through his hair. “I thought our friendship was stronger than that. Why didn’t you come to me first?”

My breath catches for a moment. It’s a fair question. “That’s hard to explain. I was in a constant state of denial about my feelings for her. I was terrified of them.”

“Why? Why are you so afraid of them?”

“I was afraid of them,” I clarify. “It’s not easy, and I know I have to work on it, but I’m not afraid anymore. Not like I was.”

“Really? You expect me to believe your entire viewpoint on love, one you’ve held for over a decade since I’ve known you, altered in the matter of months?”

“I called my mom,” I admit as I pull at my neck, feeling exposed. “We talked about my dad and his affair—their divorce. I held a lot of false beliefs about myself because of what my father had done.”

He tilts his head to the side. “You didn’t tell me about any of that.”

“You knew about my parents’ divorce.”

“Yeah, the divorce. The rest is news to me.”

A rush of heat crawls up the back of my neck. “I didn’t talk to anybody about it. Not until Eva.”

He blinks quickly. “You told her these things?”

“I’ve told her more than I’ve told anyone.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that.”

I start to see a glimmer of hope that he may believe that there’s more to this than just sleeping around. I use it as my chance.

“Look, I know we have more to talk about—to work on. But Eva is a wreck. She needs you. What do you say you come over to my place and visit with her?”

He nods his head slowly with sagging shoulders. “I could do that—for her,” he inserts clearly. “This isn’t over between us. And you’re paying for my coffee.”

“Obviously,” I reply as I reach for my wallet.

Just as we get up to walk out, he nudges my arm. “By the way, nice shiner. Whoever did that to you must have a killer left hook.”

A smile hits the corner of my mouth as his playful words give me hope that we can get through this.