Page 39 of Say My Name

“You’re using him wrong.”

“I’m riding.”

“That’s what I mean.”

Dominic crouches and lifts Theo from his shoulders. “I’m confident we can resolve this without litigation.”

“You say that now,” I mutter.

He looks across the patio at me. His eyes move over the pale blue dress I chose this morning, then return to my face.

The look lasts a second, long enough to strip away the contract and the clinic and my brother’s best friend. It leaves me warmer than the sun does.

Sophie takes Dominic’s hand and pulls him toward the patio table. “I made plans for your backyard.”

“I didn’t realize it needed plans.”

“It does.”

“Then I’m glad you caught it in time.”

She spreads the drawings in front of him. Dominic sits, and Theo scrambles into the chair beside his sister. Sophie’s design appears to include a castle, three dogs, and a purple structure with wings. Dominic gives it the same focus he brings to an acquisition proposal.

“This part is the tower,” Sophie explains.

“What happens in the tower?”

“That’s where I do experiments.”

“What kind?”

“I haven’t decided.”

“Should I be concerned?”

“Yes.”

His mouth twitches. “Thank you for the warning.”

Theo slaps his hand on the page. “I get a dragon.”

“You can’t put your dragon there,” Sophie says. “That’s the nursery.”

Dominic looks up at me.

One day there could be an actual nursery. A child with Dominic’s dark hair and my eyes could sit beside him, explaining something with the absolute confidence of a person who knows he’ll listen. He’d ask questions. He’d remember every detail. If our child climbed onto a chair or leaned too far, his hand would already be there.

I can picture it so clearly I forget to breathe for a moment—not from fear of what could go wrong, but from wanting it.

I filled a binder with facts I could evaluate—medical history, stability, intelligence—believing that if I could name every risk, I could contain the outcome.

Watching him with Sophie and Theo makes me want the man I picked, not just the terms we agreed to.

“Hey.”

Rachel steps beside me with an empty platter tucked against her hip. She follows my line of sight to the table, where Dominic stops Theo from drawing on Sophie’s plans without missing a beat of her explanation.

When Rachel looks back at me, I take a long drink of iced tea.