Page 65 of Watching You

She pulls back just enough to meet my eyes. “What about school?”

“I’ll pay for you to go there,” I say. “I’ll pay for everything. I don’t care what it costs. I want you in mybed, in my apartment, in my city. I want you where I can see you. Where no one else can touch you.”

She studies me, quiet, unreadable. Then she nods.

Not because she needs my money.

Because she’s already chosen me.

And I’ll spend the rest of my life proving she was right.

She’s curled against me now, her head on my chest, the draft jersey draped over the chair like a flag we already bled for. The room is quiet—just the hum of the city outside and the steady rhythm of her breathing. But I can’t stop thinking about it.

Abouther.

Aboutus.

About the calendar I keep in my head, the one she always forgets. The one I never do.

“You’re late,” I say softly, fingers brushing her lower stomach.

She hums, half-asleep. “Late for what?”

I don’t answer right away. I just keep my hand there, still and warm, like I’m waiting to feel something move. “You didn’t miss it on purpose. I know that. But I’ve been counting.”

She lifts her head, eyes narrowing slightly. “Kane…”

“I’m not mad,” I say quickly. “I’m not scared. I’m—” My voice catches, and I have to swallow hard before I can finish. “I’mhappy,Blair. Happier than when they called my name tonight. Happier than when I walked across that stage.”

She stares at me, stunned. “You think I’m…?”

“I know you are.”

Silence stretches between us, thick and electric. Then she presses her palm over mine, right where our child might be growing, and something in her face softens. Breaks. Rebuilds.

“Our obsession made something,” I whisper. “Something real. Somethingours.”

She doesn’t cry. She burns. Eyes shining, lips trembling, voice steady when she says, “Then let it ruin me. Let it remake me. I want to belong to this, Kane. To you. Tothem.”

I pull her into my lap, bury my face in her neck, and breathe her in like she’s the only thing keeping me sane. Because she is. Because I didn’t just get drafted tonight.

I goteverything.

The End