Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 59004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59004 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 295(@200wpm)___ 236(@250wpm)___ 197(@300wpm)
I nod, squeezing his hand. “Then I really should tell you.”
“Tell me what?” Troy’s eyes hold mine as we sit there, idling outside his house. My dad still hasn’t arrived, but he’ll be here anytime. “What is it, Liz?” He searches my face. “Did something happen?”
“No,” I say quickly. “It’s not about Vitali at all. It’s about us.”
He nods. There’s a flash of fear in his eyes. “I see…”
“I’m pregnant.”
A few moments of silence pass between us, and I worry that maybe he’s not so thrilled by the news as his eyes stay trained on the shifter. However, when he finally looks up, his eyes are shining.
“You’re pregnant…”
“Yeah,” I say, leaning forward and touching his cheek. “I am. I found out tonight.”
“Really,” he smiles, leaning forward and placing a soft kiss on my lips. We linger, though the kiss doesn’t deepen. There’s something more sentimental about staying there just like that.
“Are you happy?” I ask as we finally break away.
“Happier than you’ll ever know,” Troy murmurs, squeezing my hand. “Tonight, as terrible as some parts were, couldn’t have turned out better.”
I laugh. “Yeah, it was a roller coaster ride for sure.” Dad’s headlights illuminate the walls of Troy’s house, and I exhale sharply. This is it.
“If he were going to throw a fit, he would’ve done so by now.” Troy’s words provide little comfort.
“He didn’t know I was pregnant then, either,” I reason, giving Troy a weary look. “This might not work in our favor.”
Troy shrugs. “He can take it out on me. It’ll be okay.” His voice is full of amusement, but I don’t feel as confident. I want my dad to be happy for me, no matter how rocky our relationship has been in the last few months.
Dad joins us as we step out of the car, and I can already tell he’s calmed down a bit since we left Vitali’s place. “I’d like to talk to Liz alone for a minute,” he says, eyeing Troy.
“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea,” I agree. “It’s nice tonight, so why don’t we just stand out here?”
“I’ll step inside, but if you need anything…” Troy says.
“It’ll be fine,” I reassure him with a smile, nodding to the house. “It’s my dad.”
Troy nods and slips away into the entryway, flipping the blinds open on the window facing us. I can’t help but laugh.
Dad shakes his head. “He must really care about you.” His tone is difficult to decipher, but I nod.
“It’s mutual.”
He shifts his weight onto his heels and then back again. “I need to make sure that you actually love him and this isn’t some fling, or he hasn’t manipulated you. He’s never done something like this, but I need to know that this is what you want.”
I furrow my brows. “Why? You didn’t care that I was going to be married off to some man that I didn’t even know. Why would this matter to you at all?”
Dad purses his lips. “I deserve that. I just… I thought we were doing what was best, but the moment I found out that Vitali tried to force you…” His eyes darken. “I knew I had made a mistake. Will you forgive me for that?”
I’m surprised, rarely having had my dad ask for such a thing. “Yeah… Yeah, I can. Can you forgive me for not being honest about Troy?”
Dad chuckles. “Yeah, I think so. It’s still weird, but I’d rather see you with a man like Troy than Vitali. Tonight really showed me that.”
Silence falls between us for a few beats, and I can tell my dad has something more to say, as do I, but I wait for him to go first.
“I just need to know that you really do love him.” Dad looks up at me. “I let business get in the way of the things I care about, and that’s part of this lifestyle. I’m going to do better, and it would make me feel better if I knew you’re with Troy because you truly love him.”
“I do,” I say, smiling. “I really do love him.”
“Okay,” Dad sighs. “Then I give you my blessing to be with him.”
“You should probably know that you’re going to be a grandpa,” I say hesitantly, drawing courage from Troy’s shadow in the window. “I found out tonight.”
Dad is dead silent, his body tense, but then he relaxes. “Then we’ll just have to be one big happy family.”
I laugh. “You don’t have to pretend you’re excited about it.”
For the first time in the evening, he cracks a half-smile. “Oh, I want to murder Troy, but I can’t lie. I’ve wanted a grandkid for years now, and that’s just news you can’t be mad about.”
I motion to Troy in the window to come outside, and within seconds, he’s stepping out into the night air. “I told him.”