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“I have not!”
“You have,” he said almost absentmindedly.
“Seth, that’s not grumpy. That’s just me.”
He looked up from his phone, and his gaze focused on her. Her heart tumbled a little at that attention. When he looked at her like that, she found it hard to breathe.
“But see, that’s why I love you. You’re okay with who you are.”
She blinked rapidly just as someone rang the doorbell. “But I’m not. I’m fucked up, and my experiences in life make me a bad bet.”
He leaned closer as if to make sure she couldn’t look away from him. Before she could stop them, tears trickled down her cheeks. How did he do this to her with only a couple words.
“Don’t worry. I like the odds.”
Then he kissed her before heading to the door to let everyone in. First came Adam, Jin, and his mother, Merri. It wasn’t long before the house was filled with people from TFH, her brother, and her father.
There was so much food—including her favorite fried rice from Merri. It was hours before everyone left, and Seth lifted her into his arms.
“I can walk,” she protested. “I walked around all night.”
“And you’re exhausted.” He settled her on the bed. “I’m going to make sure that everything is locked up.”
He kissed her nose and then left her alone. As she waited, she thought back to her conversation with Ian.
“So, I guess this is real?” he asked.
She shrugged and looked out the sliding glass door to find Seth. He was talking with his team, laughing at something one of them said. “Not sure.”
He sighed. “I told you in the hospital that he wanted forever. I think he would be good for you.”
She tore her attention away from Seth to focus on her brother. “You do?”
He nodded. “Just don’t throw it away because of your childhood. That would be letting Joseph win.”
Her brother was right, the bastard. Ian understood her the best. He knew Joseph’s mind fucking was going to bother her for years to come.
There were other things to worry about. Babies. Lots of people wanted them. She wasn’t sure she did.
“Oh, no, I left you for a few minutes and you’re freaking out.”
She looked up just as he sat on the mattress next to her. Maybe she had been wrong. Maybe Seth knew her better than her brother.
“It’s just that you keep talking about forever and I’m not sure I’ll be good at it.”
“We could both be bad at it.”
She shook her head. “You won’t, look at you with your normal life and normal parents.”
“Normal life? I grew up with two people who had to keep secrets because they were national secrets. And while my mother might have illegally peeked into my file, I couldn’t tell them anything about what I was doing, and neither could my brothers. So, we weren’t normal, but you know what? I understand you might be scared that I’ll be better at it.”
She gasped, and then he smiled.
“See. I know you. And I will wait. We don’t have to discuss anything beyond tomorrow.”
“But—”
“Autumn Bradford, I’m in this for the long haul. You’ll get used to it.”
