Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 39424 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39424 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 197(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
I get out of the truck, thank Davis for the ride, and as I’m walking up the walkway, I hear him holler, “Good luck!”
I stride up the steps to her house and knock on the door. I hear her walking around, and when she opens the door, I lose all train of thought. She looks at me worriedly as she leans against the open door. With no emotion whatsoever, she says my name. “Elias.”
I am fighting with myself not to touch her. “Can I come in?”
She almost looks as if she’s going to say no, and I’m ready to argue with her, but she steps to the side and waves her hand toward the inside of her house. “Sure.”
I walk in and stand awkwardly in the living room. “You doing okay?” I ask her.
She crosses her arms over her chest. “You know, don’t you?”
“Davis just told me.”
She purses her lips and nods her head. “Yeah, the whole town knows, it seems.”
There’s no hiding the hurt in my voice. “Except me. I didn’t know… you didn’t tell me.”
She wraps her arms around herself as she walks over to the couch. She sits down, drawing her legs up under her. “Have a seat. I’d say we have a lot to talk about.”
She gestures to the chair across from her, but that’s not going to work for me. I sit on the couch cushion right next to her. “I should have—”
“I can do this—”
We both start talking at the same time, and when we both break off, I gesture to her. “You go first.”
She bites on to her lower lip. “I was just going to say that I can do this on my own. I know this wasn’t something you had planned on, and you can be involved as much or as little as you want to be.”
Dumbfounded, I sit back. There’s a pain in my chest like nothing I’ve felt before. She has to know that I’m going to be involved. “What do you want, Chloe?”
She juts her chin at me and blinks her big eyes at me. “I want you to be happy.”
I see the truth in her words, and it pains me to know that she’d literally do anything for my happiness. “Okay.”
She rears back, searching my face. “Okay? That’s it? What does that mean?”
I’m still holding back and not reaching for her even though that’s exactly what I want to do. “That means I’m going to do what makes me happy.”
I move to sit on the coffee table in front of her, positioning her knees between the two of mine. I put my hand on her thighs trying not to hold her too hard. “Ask me.”
She blinks up at me, and it takes everything in me not to kiss her right now. “Ask me what makes me happy.”
She sits up a little taller and asks me softly, “What makes you happy?”
I lean forward as she looks at me as if she has no idea what I’m going to say. “You do. You make me happy.”
She rolls her eyes and tries to get up, but I hold on to her, afraid if she moves away from me, I’ll lose any chance of convincing her we could be good together. “Please, hear me out.”
She sits back down and scoots to the back of the couch, putting some distance between us. As she juts her chin at me, she snaps, “I’m listening.”
“Five years ago, I fell in love with you. I know I’ve made mistakes, and maybe I didn’t handle things the right way all the time, but when I thought I was dying… when I thought I didn’t want to live another day, you’re the reason I survived, Chloe.”
“But…”
I shake my head. “There’s no buts. Every day I looked at that picture of you and did my best to become the man that deserved you. I’m not, though. I know I don’t deserve you, but I can't let you go, baby. Not again.”
She twists her hands together in her lap. “I’m pregnant, Elias.”
I nod and tilt my head. “I know. Are you not happy about it?”
I hold my breath, waiting for her to answer. Maybe she doesn’t want a child, or maybe it’s just she doesn’t want my child. The thought swirls around in my head until I feel dizzy from it. “Talk to me.”
“I couldn’t imagine having a child with anyone else, but…”
I want to reach for her, but I’m not going to push her. “But what?”
She tilts her head to the side and stares at me. “Where do I start?”
I clear my throat because I’m half afraid of what she’s going to say. “All of it. I want to hear whatever you have to say.”
She purses her lips, and I can see her thinking. “Okay, well for starters, I haven’t heard from you in two days… I thought for sure you knew I was pregnant, and you…”