Page 18 of The Last Thing (Baker Girls #4)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

WILSON

It’s been a while, but usually the words “we need to talk” are not good words.

“Okay. Let’s go sit.”

We end up in the living room, and while she takes the corner of the couch, I plop down in the middle and lift her legs, resting them on my lap, then I gently massage them.

“What’s up?” I try to keep my voice even.

I’m afraid she’s going to tell me she wants to stop whatever we’re doing.

That’s the last thing I want. Mostly because while she says it’s just sex, she’s been letting down her guard.

She doesn’t just want orgasms, she wants comfort.

The closer we become, the easier her walls become to break through.

I’m getting closer.

I look over at her, only to find her staring at my hands on her legs as I move them down toward her feet.

“What are you doing?”

“Helping you relax.”

She stares at me for a beat, and I’m expecting her to argue. She’s used to handling things herself. She’s closed herself off to love for some reason—and that includes letting someone outside of her family care for her.

“Thank you.”

Well, fuck me . A smile sneaks onto my lips before I can stop it.

“Don’t look so smug.”

“Not smug. Happy. I like taking care of you. And I think you like it too. Why else would you be here?”

She sighs dramatically. “I wanted to talk to you about something, remember?” But I don’t miss the smile she tries to hide.

I give her calf a squeeze.

“What did you want to talk about?”

“Sophia. What you want to tell her and when. And when you plan to tell your mom or anyone else in your life.”

I inhale deeply. All of that has been on my mind too, even if that’s not all I want to talk to her about.

I’ll talk to her about anything. I’ll talk to her all night.

“Sophia asked me today if we’re more than friends.”

My eyes go wide. But I shouldn’t be surprised. She’s a smart kid.

“What did you say?”

“That we’re friends. Then I asked if she wanted us to be more than friends and… she’s hoping for that.”

I am too.

“Okay, that adds another layer to this. Let’s come back to Soph and talk about everyone else first. What about in your life? I assume Frannie knows?”

She nods. “I told her when I got to town.”

“What about your brother? Where does he live, by the way? You haven’t mentioned it.”

She stares at me blankly for a second, like she has no idea what the fuck I’m talking about, then some sort of realization hits her.

“Oh. Justin.” She bites back a smile. “Yeah, he’s not my brother. Not technically. That’s just a thing we’d do to stay safe when hooking up. We look enough alike that we pass for siblings. He’s my cousin Kennedy’s bestie.”

“Was she the one with the dark hair there that night?”

“No, that’s Justin’s wife, Jade. And the other two were?—”

“Ryan Hardison and Brian Ackley.”

She laughs. “Right. I forget people recognize them. No, Kennedy lives out in California with her lifelong bestie turned boyfriend, Devon. But we all lived together in New York for a while. She and Dev met Justin in college, so I met him for the first time when I was thirteen. We immediately had a sibling-like relationship. He moved to Woods Junction, where Jade is from, over the summer.”

“No wonder you ended up here.”

She swallows. “Yeah. Missed my people. Still miss Kennedy. She’s like another older sister.

Our moms are sisters and our dads are brothers, and when we were little, we lived in a duplex next to them.

She and her parents moved to California when I was six.

I cried every night for two weeks after she left.

” She laughs sadly, then shakes her head.

“Sorry. I don’t know why I’m telling you all that. ”

“You can tell me anything.”

She nods absently, then continues on. “Anyway, that whole friend group knows, but that’s it. Does anyone in your world know?”

“My boss. Leo. He was a single dad, and he’s really great with family stuff, so I gave him a heads up I’d have to be out here and there for appointments.

I was planning to stop by and tell my mom tomorrow night, and…

I was going to ask if you’d come with Soph and me to dinner at her house on Sunday. ”

I hold my breath. It’s a risk. She said it was just sex, but nothing about what we’re doing is just anything.

Slowly, she nods. “Okay. I’ll go with you. I’d like to get to know your mom better. You two seem close.”

I smile at that. I wouldn’t be the man I am without my mom.

“We are. Growing up, she and my dad were my biggest supporters.”

“What was your dad like?”

Emotion grips my chest, both because of the topic and because she’s asking about him.

“Upbeat. He was the brightness everyone needed. He was all about fate and having faith that you’d end up where you were supposed to be. Not gonna lie, I’ve been holding on to that lately.”

She reaches over and squeezes my hand, and I clear my throat.

“He would’ve liked you. Anyway, what about your folks? Do they know?”

She shakes her head. “No. I’m planning to tell them soonish.”

“If you need support, let me know.”

“Thanks.” She sighs, then looks up at the ceiling and laughs. “How did this happen?”

My stubble scrapes across my palm as I rub my cheek.

“I might… I don’t know. That last round, I felt like the condom was going to burst from how hard I was and how badly I wanted to come.

Normally, I’d just chalk a thought like that up to hormones and ego, but my eyes were already closed when I pulled it off.

Maybe it broke or punctured… I don’t know. ”

“Maybe, but I’m sure we… cross contaminated a bit with all the playing around we did. It doesn’t really matter. Here we are. Time to figure out how to handle it. I know you know this, but we’ve got to be careful with Sophia. I don’t want to confuse her.”

“Me either.” But I also want to truly be with Hallie. She isn’t there yet, but Sophia is picking up on what’s obviously between us. “Let’s just take it a day at a time. I think we should wait until after our twelve-week ultrasound, at least, anyway.”

“I agree.”

That’s scheduled for a little over three weeks from now. Maybe it’s stupid to hope we’ll have made some progress by then, but I hope we will.

“So, let’s get through that, and then we’ll talk about it more.”

“Sounds good.”

I gently rub both hands over one of her bare feet, and she groans.

“That feels so good. No one’s ever massaged my feet before.”

I get the feeling that’s because she doesn’t let anyone close enough. Not in this way.

I’m breaking down her walls and she doesn’t even know it. Or maybe she does and despite her protests, that’s what she actually wants.

“I’ll do it every night if you want me to.”

“Don’t make promises you don’t plan on keeping.”

“I don’t say things I don’t mean. Whether it’s here or at your apartment, I’ll massage your feet, your back”—I wiggle my brows—“whatever you want.”

“You’re trouble.”

“You bring it out in me.”

“You should let that side of you out more. The guy from the carnival—and I don’t mean the Ferris wheel. As soon as you let your guard down, your smile got ten times brighter.”

“That’s because I was with you.”

Cheesy, but it’s the truth.

Her jaw sets as she stares at me, but then something soft filters into her expression.

“It was a special night. But I’m serious. You should let that side out. Let Sophia see it. Let yourself have some fun— outside of the bedroom.” Her cheeks heat. “I know you have fun in there. But on a regular day… give yourself permission to loosen up a bit.”

I snort at that. “There will be time for that when Sophia is older.”

“Then there will be this baby. Some unsolicited advice… if the only thing you ever do is focus on Sophia—and eventually our baby—all you’ll end up with is emptiness when they live their own lives.”

It’s hard not to glare at her. She hasn’t been through all this yet. She doesn’t understand it the way I do.

“I’m not going to apologize for prioritizing Sophia.”

But Hallie stays completely cool. “You’re not prioritizing her.

You live your entire life for her at the cost of yourself.

That’s different. And it only leads to bitterness.

I’ve watched parents do it. Either live for their kids or live for their jobs so much that they miss out on everything else.

Finding balance and maintaining who you are as a person and the things you enjoy are important.

Sophia should be your priority, but you should be a priority too. ”

Damn. “That’s… insightful.”

She chuckles. “You sound annoyed.”

“No,” I say quickly. “Just… never really saw a difference until you put it like that. You’re right.”

She flips her hair dramatically. “Of course I am.”

I roughly move my thumb along the bottom of her foot, pressing hard.

She throws her head back and groans. “Deck…”

“Call me Wilson,” I blurt.

That’s what I’ve wanted since she walked back into my life, but I’ve been too chicken to ask.

Her gaze snaps to me.

“Deck or Decker is what people who don’t know me as well call me. Sports buddies, the guys I work with. Anyone who knows me well calls me by my real name. Please, Hallie. Call me Wilson.”

She swallows hard, then leans forward, pulling her legs off me and tucking them under her.

She runs her fingers through my hair.

“Wilson. Hm. I could get used to that. But what about Mr. Decker?”

A low growl slips from me and I wrap my hand around the side of her neck.

“The only time you get to call me that is if you’re riding my cock.”

Her face morphs into a wicked grin, then she runs her finger down my chest. “That can be arranged.”

My gut is tight as I pull into my mom’s driveway.

Mom is one of the most supportive people on the planet, but she also has opinions and isn’t afraid to share them. Fuck, I’m still the mama’s boy who doesn’t want to upset her. I want her to be happy about this.

It’s hard falling for Hallie when I feel like I’m trying to convince her to fall for me.

Though I see glimpses of it, I don’t fully understand why she’s afraid to let someone in.

Her parents are still together. Her sister and cousin are both in happy relationships.

And she makes it sound like she’s never been in love. So who or what hurt her?

That’s not a question I can answer tonight.

Running a hand through my hair, I climb out of the car. I texted Mom right as I left the job site that I’d be stopping by, but didn’t mention why.

She swings the door open as I walk up the front steps.

“Well, what did I do to earn a visit from my son with no Sophia?”

I wrap her in a hug. “Just wanted to say hi.”

She pushes out of my arms and gives me that mom look that tells me she’s on to my bullshit.

“Fine. I need to talk to you about something.”

She waves me inside, and I close the door behind me.

“Good something or you killed someone and don’t know what to do with the body something?”

“Mom, I work construction. There are literally so many holes to put a body in.”

She rolls her eyes as she heads for the kitchen. That tends to be the gathering space in this house more than the living room.

“I take it that means something good, then?”

I blow out a breath. “I think it’s good.”

She leans against the kitchen island and gives me her very serious expression. “Stop being cryptic. I’m too old for that shit.”

“Okay. You remember when I went down to the city for the wedding? And before I left, you implied I should have some fun—of sorts—while I was there.”

She shrugs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But finally a smile comes through.

“Well, I took your advice, and I met an amazing woman and spent the evening with her. It was Hallie.” I hold my hand up before she can say anything.

“But we didn’t know that at the time. We only exchanged nicknames.

Nothing else. Frannie and Mark weren’t with her that night, and I had no idea she had any ties to Ida.

She didn’t know where I lived. Then she showed up at my door as the new nanny.

Neither of us had any idea. Frannie didn’t either. It was completely random.”

Mom tilts her head slightly. “You know what your father would’ve said. It’s fate.”

I swallow hard, emotion socking me in the gut.

The idealistic, romantic side of me, I mostly got from my dad. Whether it was the outcome of a football game, the timing of an important moment, or the people who come into our lives, he always believed it was fate.

I miss my dad. I hate that he never got to meet Sophia, and that I’ve had to raise her without him. I’ve wished I could ask his advice so many times over the years. He was the best.

“I hope it is. Maybe it’s Dad looking out for me. And Soph. Sophia adores her.”

Mom squeezes my arm. “And so do you.”

I sniff, trying to keep the overwhelming emotions at bay. “I do. I have since the moment we met. And now she’s here and… Mom, she’s pregnant. With my baby, from that night we spent together.”

She grabs my other arm too, her eyes filling with tears, and I stop trying to sniff back my own.

“Oh, honey. That’s…”

“It has to be fate. It’s everything I’ve wanted, but was too afraid to admit to or hope for.”

“And she wants this too?”

I chuckle at that. “She’s excited about the pregnancy. She’s always wanted to be a mom. But she’s got a guarded heart. I can see the longing in her eyes. I know she wants this too. But I’m going to have to break through some walls.”

Mom’s smile grows. “I don’t think that’ll take long. You have a big heart, and it won’t take long for her to see it.”

“I hope so. Anyway, I’d like to bring her with us for dinner on Sunday. It will only be as Sophia’s nanny and my friend. We obviously haven’t told Sophia any of this yet.”

“How far along is she?”

“Eight weeks now.”

She covers her mouth with her hand. “Eight weeks. Amazing. Another grandbaby to love.” She pulls me into her arms. “I love you, honey.”

“I love you too, Mom.”

“And don’t you worry. Hallie will come around in time. I can see the joy being around you and Sophia brings out in her, and I only saw it for a little while. She’ll get there.”

“I hope so. I really, really want this.”

“You’ll have it. I believe that. And I think you’re right. Dad’s looking out for you.”

I let out a shaky breath.

It’s hard to admit how badly I want this.

The fear of getting my heart broken if she doesn’t come around is always there in the back of my mind.

But she’s scared too. So if I can be vulnerable with her and show her how much I care, I’m going to do that.

I want her to know she’s safe with me. If that means risking my heart to show her I’ll always keep hers safe, I’ll do it without a second thought.