Page 342 of Nobody's Girl

She smiles up at me. “I believe you might be right, Kyle. I’ll make an effort to stop the dreams. If my wish to see what life would have been like with you came true, then I should be able to wish for it to stop.”

Taking her hand, I lead her to the house. “Things sure have changed quickly for all of us, Ally. My mom is going to freak out. I don’t even want to think about what Laura’s mom’s going do. Thankfully, you gave us this house. It’ll make things a lot easier,” I say as I open the door.

Laura’s sitting on the sofa, watching TV. “I’ll disappear out the back door so you two can be alone,” Ally whispers to me.

My heart is pounding in my chest. I make my way to her and she smiles up at me. A real smile, a genuine smile, a happy to see you smile. When Laura smiles, it radiates over her whole face. She’s beautiful and good, and she’s carrying my baby.

This is right.

“Hi,” I say.

“Hi to you too.”

I kneel in front of her. My hands rest on her knees as her smile fades. “I love you, Laura.” My voice quivers and I swallow hard to steady it. “I want to ask you something and I don’t want you to answer right away. There isn’t just one reason why I’m asking you this. It’s for many reasons.”

Her light blue eyes darken and she frowns. “Kyle, wait,” she says and places her hands on top of mine. “You don’t have to do this. I’d never keep this baby from you.”

Moving my hands from under hers, I run them along her thighs. “Laura, please listen to me. You’re strong, smart, funny, and beautiful.” My hands run up to her waist and I pull her to me as I lean toward her. I place a light kiss on her lips. “You’re sexy as hell and make me feel like I’m the only guy on the planet you care to show that side of yourself to.”

The touch of her hand on my cheek makes me turn toward it and kiss her palm. Her words are quiet as she says, “You are the only one I care to show that part of myself to.”

Pressing my forehead to hers, I forge ahead. “I respect you, want the best for you, and for our child. Just know that I’m not asking this for the baby, Laura. I know you’re incapable of hurting a child to spite anyone. This is not something I’m doing to ensure you let me be a part of our child’s life.”

Her hands cup my face and she tilts my head, placing a kiss on my cheek. “It’s okay. I get what you’re saying, Kyle.” Gently, she pushes me back to my knees. “You’re a great guy. I know you want to do the right thing. We’re young and we’ll change as we continue to grow up. We’re nowhere near who we will become.”

I press my finger to her lips to silence her. “I know that, Laura. There are no guarantees in this life. There is the time you live in at the present and that’s what matters is right now. And right now, we love each other. Right now, I can’t think of spending a day without you. Right now, I can’t think of spending a night without you. And lastly, right now, you and I are going to have a baby and I want it done right.”

My finger still rests on her lips and she takes my hand, pulling it away. “I suppose you’re right. My mother left my real father when she got pregnant, panicked, and ended up marrying someone anyway while she was still pregnant. Their divorce, and the person I thought was my father leaving us, never to return, messed me up. I don’t want that for this child.”

“That won’t happen to this child,” I say, with a tap on her leg. “I’m not your father. I’m solid and you can count on me. We have this house, we have all the money we will ever need, and we have one another. Now I’d like for you to share my name. That way we can be a real family. Not a couple of kids who went and got knocked up.”

Her eyes glimmer with the beginning of tears and I lean up to kiss her. Her hands catch in my hair, holding me to her as if she doesn’t ever want to let me go. Finally, I pull back. “Kyle, you can ask me now. I’m ready.”

I get on one knee and pull the box from my pocket. The large, three-karat diamond shines like the sun as I open the case. Her hands fly to cover her mouth as an audible gasp falls out of it. “Laura Tanner, would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”

Tears flow over her pink cheeks and she leans towards me. A sob comes out of her mouth, then her arms are around my neck as she hugs me and whispers in my ear the one word I’ve been waiting to hear, “Yes.”

CHAPTER 71

ALYSSA

Eden is sitting by the swimming pool. He looks up at me when I walk out of the back door. He sets his cell phone down on the table and stands up, taking me in his arms. Tears flow out of my eyes as my cheek touches his shoulder.

“I know this is hard for you, Alyssa. You know it’s the right thing for them to do. You’ve seen that everything turns out well for them,” Eden tells me.

“Why does everything have to be so damn hard?” I ask him.

“To make us stronger,” he answers me.

“Just like your devil trainer, Beck, almost kills us with his workouts and somehow that makes us physically stronger?” I ask him.

“Pretty much the same, I guess. Maybe we all need our heart broken at least once, so we know what it feels like when love is lost. That way we know exactly how precious it is,” he tells me.

I pull my head up off of his shoulder. “Eden, you somehow always know the exact words to use to make me understand things I never thought I would.”

“It’s my job to make you feel better. You are my world, Alyssa,” he tells me.

“Eden, you’re my world too. I don’t know why I’m such a brat, but I intend to try my hardest to stop,” I tell him.