Page 52 of The Curveball
“Sage,” he whispers back.
I lift up onto my knees, discarding the pillow as hecloses the distance between us, and then his lips are on mine again and I'm burning up from the inside out. And yet, despite the heat, despite the fire, I've never felt safer.
Brady breaks away first, resting his forehead against mine, his hands gripping my hips tightly. “Wait, I didn't come here for this. We have to talk.”
I nod, and with a shaky exhale, I move slightly so he can sit down beside me. He immediately takes my legs and drapes them over his lap, tucking me into his side.
“I won't pretend to fully understand everything you've been through, why you keep pushing me away, and why it's so hard for you to believe that I could be good for you. And I know you could do so much better than a washed-up baseball player on a small-town team, barely making enough to support himself and his siblings. But I'm asking you for a chance.” His voice grows stronger. “Just one chance to see whatever this is between us grow into something amazing. Because Iknowthat it could.”
I reach up and cup his cheek, feeling the brush of his stubble against my palm. His eyes close for a second, then open again, and he stares down at me.
“I don't know how to stop running. I don't know how to let someone care for me. Not the way you want to.” I choke back a sob. “I’ve been on my own for so long, having to take care of myself, having to do it all alone. I don't know if I can be the woman you think you want.”
“All I want is you,” he says emphatically and without hesitation.
“And if I hurt you?” The words rush out of me. “If I can't stay here forever and be the happy family you’reimagining? What if everything falls apart and it's all my fault? How are we going to move forward if that happens? We're having a kid together, Brady. If it doesn't work out, what will that mean for our child?”
“It will still mean they have two parents who love them, who are committed to giving them a good life. But don't they deserve a chance at having two parents who also love each other?”
I want that. So badly. It's like a dream I've never let myself have. A reality for so many, but a fantasy for me. And he's offering it all.
“What…what would it look like?” I ask softly, dropping my gaze down to my lap. “If we were together, I mean.”
I feel his chest rise and fall with a long, slow breath before he responds.
“Are you asking me what I wish it could look like? Or what I think you'd be willing to accept?” he asks wryly.
I wince. I deserve that. “Tell me what you wish.”
“For starters, you would stop trying to move out of here and into some dump of an apartment. You’d let me hold you in my arms, feed you, rub your feet when they hurt, and drive you to work. But most importantly, you’d let me in. We’d talk and really get to know each other, not just on the surface level where we decide if we can be friends and co-parents. We’d get deep. Find out who we are, and who we could be together.”
His arms tighten around me.
“You’d let me love you.”
Silence falls when he stops talking, as I let his words seep into my bones, into my very soul.
“That sounds really nice,” I whisper. “And I think…I could fall in love with you, too.”
Gentle fingers graze my chin and tilt it upward. Those warm brown eyes are soft. Beautifully tender. And filled with hope.
“So…”
I lick my lips and give him a tremulous smile. “So, I'm staying. In this apartment, and with you.”
This time, when he kisses me, I feel light and free. I let him take it deeper as I awkwardly swing my legs over and straddle his lap. But as our bodies press close together, something unexpected happens.
“Wait,” Brady says, pulling back with a gasp. “Was that…?”
I rub my stomach. “Our child telling us exactly what they think about us being together? Yes, apparently so. You could feel that?” I look up at him with a growing smile.
His face is full of wonder as he nods. I take his hand and place it right where the bubbling sensation of our baby moving inside of me is the strongest. A few seconds pass with Brady staring intently at my stomach before it happens again and his gaze shoots up to mine.
“Holy shit.”
I burst out in laughter. “Right? It's the weirdest feeling ever. At first I thought I was just imagining it. But it's gotten a lot stronger over the last week.”
Without any warning, Brady stands up, still holding me in his arms, turns around, and deposits me on the bed. He sits down beside me and drops his head downuntil he’s hovering over my stomach. Only then does he pause and look up at me.
