Page 94 of Beating Heart
“Sunny, we’ve got more to show you.” He pulled from my embrace, and I felt the loss of him the minute he hurried to the kitchen.
“You’re going to love this,” Nash said against my ear. “The kid likes to go a little overboard for his girl, apparently.”
His voice was light and full of tease, but nothing about this moment felt light to me.
Nash had completed me in ways I wasn’t ready to say aloud yet, and so had his son.
These two had been the reason I smiled every day now.
“It’s a meatloaf cake with my favorite spray cheese. Have you heard of Easy Cheese, Sunny?”
“Ummm… it’s Easton’s favorite road trip snack, so of course I have. Because cheese in a can is quite the invention, right?” I said, glancing down at the heart-shaped meatloaf on the large platter. The orange spray cheese made a zigzag line across the front, which I guessed was their attempt at making it look like a beating heart.
“Pops doesn’t bake, so we made you a meatloaf cake with a heartbeat. Because you’re a doctor, and me and Pops have beating hearts, ‘parently. And Pops says the heart is your favorite of the bodies.”
“Organ. It’s her favorite organ,” Nash said, clearing his throat as his gaze locked with mine. “We didn’t want to make it a boring circle. So, we went with a heart-shaped meatloaf. Pretty classy, eh?” he said, moving to the kitchen, acting like they hadn’t gone completely overboard for me.
“It’s perfect,” I said over the lump in my throat. “Thank you so much.”
“Hey.” Nash carried the enormous meatloaf cake over to the table and stopped in front of me as Cutler wrestled on the couch with Winnie. He placed his thumb and finger on each side of my chin and turned my face until I was looking at him. “Don’t go quiet on me. We’re excited for you. You’re going to crush it. I know how badly you want this. This is us supporting you, nothing more.”
Had I completely scared him about showing any sort of emotion? He was always so quick to tell me that nothing was a big deal. Not to overthink it. Reminding me that there was an expiration date for us.
Was that for my benefit or his?
I shook my head and smiled. “I know. And I appreciate it. I’m not being quiet because I’m freaked out.”
“Then what’s going on in that head of yours, beautiful?” He leaned down and grazed my ear, keeping his voice low.
What was going on in that head of mine?
“Nothing. I just appreciate you both going to this effort,” I said.
But it was so much more, and he knew it.
And for the first time in my life, I actually didn’t know what I wanted.
And that scared the hell out of me.
twenty-five
. . .
Nash
King
Nash is being a total dick today.
You’re working five feet from me, dickskunk. Why are you sending this in a group text?
King
Because I want everyone to know.
Of course, you do.
Romeo
