“Sloane, I swear to you that she will not tell anyone.”
I felt dizzy and closed my eyes. “If she—”
“She won’t. I promise you.”
“Is that what you had to tell me?”
He sat on the sofa, next to me. “No.”
I leaned my head against the cool leather. “There’s more?”
“You said I seem happier.”
“I’m struggling with caring about your happiness, Tackle. I can’t believe you told your mother.”
He rested his head on the back of the sofa like I had. “I really need to tell you this.”
I sighed. “Okay. Go ahead.”
“My mom asked me how I felt about having a baby. I told her that if she’d asked me that yesterday, I would’ve said no way in hell I wanted one at this point in my life.”
Every muscle in my body tightened, almost like rigor mortis.
“And then I told her today’s answer.” Tackle put his fingers on my chin and turned my face toward him. “Which was—and I’m going verbatim here—‘It’s Sloane, Mom. Can you imagine what an amazing mother she’ll be, not to mention how awesome the kid will be?’”
“Did you really say that?” I asked, trying my damnedest not to cry.
“I really did. Word for word.”
“What does she think?”
“That I handled things with you like a total jackass.”
“What does she think about me?”
“That if you’re smart, like she knows you are, you’ll kick me to the curb. She’s also praying you’ll give me another chance.” His eyes bored into mine. “Will you?”
“It isn’t that simple. There’s still the matter of my brother, who will likely kill you when he finds out.”
“Kill me? I figured he’d throw a couple of punches. You really think he’ll kill me?”
“You’re not funny. He’s going to be really mad, Tackle, and you know it. My parents will be too. At least my mom will be. She’ll be mad at both of us.”
“I’m not so sure.”
“You’re wrong if you’re not sure.”
“My mom seems to think that the two of us have been—how did she put it— ‘tiptoeing around each other long enough, and why won’t we admit what everyone else already knows.’”
“Get the fuck out.”
“She really said it.”
“Not Knox. He isn’t part of everyone.”
“No. He’s not. This will blindside him.”
I could feel Tackle’s sadness about my brother’s reaction as much as I could feel my own.
“He’ll think we betrayed him.”
Tackle pulled me close and kissed the side of my face. “I don’t know about that. He’ll be angry and probably hurt, but at the end of the day, he loves both of us.”
“That’s true.”
“I’m sorry about the whole ‘getting married’ thing. I seriously blew that one too.”
I started to giggle, and once I had, I couldn’t stop. Pretty soon, Tackle was laughing too.
“It was so Neanderthally.”
“You’d love what my mom said about that.”
“Did you tell her everything?”
“About our conversation? Yeah. She kind of pulled it out of me. She said it wasn’t a surprise that you weren’t speaking to me.”
I put my hand over my mouth to stifle my yawn.
“You’re tired. I should go.”
What I was about to do was probably monumentally stupid, but I couldn’t stop myself. “Stay.” I’d rarely seen Tackle speechless, but he was now. “Please stay.”
“You really want me to?”
“A lot.”
He laughed and then got serious. “What about Halo?”
I picked up my phone that sat on the coffee table. I held it up for him to read my brother’s text.
Staying in the city. Didn’t want you to worry.
“That’s a good sign. For him, I mean.”
“I thought so too. Also good for us.”
“You really want me to stay?”
“Oh my God. Yes. How many times do I have to say it?” Perhaps equally stupid was the next thing I did, and that was to stand and remove every stitch of my clothing.
22
Tackle
“You look so fucking beautiful,” I said when Sloane stood before me naked. “Come closer.” I motioned with my finger.
I realized as I took my time studying the changes in her body that, sometime in the last few years, she’d become the woman I measured all others by, without my even noticing it.
Her body was the sexiest I’d ever seen. Her boobs were fuller than when I’d last held their weight in my hands, and her tummy was rounder. Overall, she had more meat on her bones.
I thought about the weeks since I’d seen her naked. There was a reason Sloane had walked out on me that day when I sat in the restaurant across the street from her friend’s apartment. She’d been right in her assessment of what I was saying even before I finished speaking. I was pushing her away, letting her know that while I liked her, I wasn’t interested in a relationship. I realized now what utter bullshit that had been.
When I saw chill bumps on her skin, I led her into the bedroom and pulled the comforter and sheet back.
“Under the covers, Sloane.”
She watched with wide eyes while I removed my clothes and got into bed next to her. I pulled her close so her head rested in the crook between my shoulder and chest.
“Tackle?”
“Peanut?”
“Is there something wrong?”
“I don’t think so. Why do you ask?”
“You aren’t…you know.”
I shifted so I was facing her and plumped the pillow under her head. “There’s nothing wrong.”
“Then, why aren’t you touching me?”
I smiled when she put my hand on her breast.
“If I recall correctly, it wasn’t that long ago you referred to me as a Neanderthal.”
Sloane put her hand on top of mine and squeezed. “That was your brain, not your body.”
I couldn’t help myself; I laughed. “There are so many things I like about you, Sloane.”
“I could say the same about you.”
“But you won’t?”
The playfulness was gone from her expression. “I don’t want you to be with me just because of the baby.”
I caressed her cheek with the tip of one finger. “I’m sorry I made you think that was the case.”
“Tackle, I…um…”
“Whatever you’re struggling to say, just say it.”
“I want this baby.”
I had no idea what point she was trying to make, since I
