AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With a lopsided smirk, I shake my head. “No, we don’t have time for that.”
She tries to maneuver around the couch to the kitchen, but I manage to catch her, hauling her toward me until her back is pressed to my chest. She doesn’t put up a fight and lets me hold her by the throat with one hand and lift her dress with the other.
When I lay a smack on her ass, she smiles wickedly.
“Next time, you’ll knock before entering my room, understand?” I mutter in her ear.
“I understand,” she replies. As she turns her face up toward me, our eyes meet, and we both notice just how close our mouths are. It’s an icy dose of reality.
I haven’t laid my lips on hers even once. Regardless of all the other things we’ve done together, I won’t let myself kiss her. It’s too intimate. Something about that act would make everything between us too real.
And after that morning last week when we felt the baby kick, it’s all been feeling far too real for my comfort.
I release her throat, and she moves away.
Just like that, we’re back to being distant and detached.
“You look nice,” I say after clearing my throat.
“Thanks,” she replies, smoothing her dress. “I’m nervous.”
“Why?”
“Because I haven’t told them yet, and I think I’m going to do it today.”
“How do you think they’ll react?” I ask.
Inside, my stomach is turning with the thought of Sadie struggling through this alone or being berated by her family, but then I have to remind myself that not all fathers are like mine.
She shrugs. “They’ll be disappointed. My mom might be excited, but I’m afraid my dad is going to look at me differently.”
I swallow stiffly. “He won’t be cruel, will he?”
Furrowing her brow, she shakes her head. “God, no. Why?”
“No reason. I just don’t want you going alone if they’re going to treat you poorly.”
She chews the inside of her cheek and fights a smile. “That’s sweet, Dr. Goode. But you have your own family to spend time with today.”
I shrug. “Yeah, but they’re all at the church, so we won’t eat until later.”
Her demeanor perks up. “Wait, really? You can seriously go with me?”
“If you want me to.”
A smile curls around her mouth as she nods. “Yes, I would like that very much.”
Shrugging, I add, “And you can come to my family’s while you’re at it.”
This makes her flinch with disbelief. “You sure you want that? They’re going to suspect…”
“Are you kidding? It would make my mother’s day.”
Sadie hops in place excitedly. “Okay, go get dressed then.”
Soon, we’re in the car, on our way to Sadie’s parents’ house. She laughs at the fact that I don’t need directions because I remember how to get there. That felt so long ago, the day she didn’t show up for class, and I was chasing her down like some lovesick stalker.
“You’re not going to tell them it’s mine…” I glance down at her stomach.
