Page 84 of Seein’ Red

Not wanting to let her go.

Gravity takes over, however, and I crash down onto her. She doesn’t seem to mind, one hand still clasped with mine above her head, the other tracing up and down my spine. Sweet coos emanate from her, a sound that could easily lull me to sleep.

Just not like this.

Prying myself away, I slide out of her, wincing. I hate losing this connection with her.

Willa doesn’t move as I sneak into the bathroom, grabbing a washcloth and running it under warm water. I find her in the exact spot when I return seconds later. Wearing nothing but a serene smile.

You’ve absolutely stolen my heart, Willa Hayes…

I want to tell her. It’s sitting right there, on the tip of my tongue. What I should have told her earlier. What I should have told her when we were eighteen.

But I can’t.

I won’t.

Not right after sex.

When I tell her, I want her to know that I mean it. From the top of my head all the way to the tips of my fingers and toes. Every fiber of my being belongs to her. To our child. Our family. And that is not something to tell someone after other physical pursuits.

Instead, I tell her the next best thing.

“In case you were unaware, Wills, you’re mine.”

“I guess that would make you mine, then, huh?”

“Indeed. Unequivocally, emphatically, yours.”

23

WILLA

“I have to pee!”

My declaration is punctuated by the slamming of the truck door behind me. I move as fast as I can, my bladder ready to explode.

“Pour Decisions is all of five minutes from your place. You couldn’t have peed at home?” Nash calls out after me.

"I didn’t have to pee then!”

“If this is what the next nine months are going to be like, I’m getting you a travel bucket.”

I hold in my laughter, afraid that I’ll wet myself. Laughing, power walking, and a full bladder are not a good mix.

My heart is just as full as my bladder though, which is a good thing, as sappy as that sounds. Waking up this morning, all felt right with the world. Nash was wrapped around me, our hearts beating in time with each other, and nowhere to be except right there in that moment. For the first time, I even felt at ease with this pregnancy.

The idea of being a mom still scares the shit out of me, but I’m weirdly calm about that. Something about knowing that Nash is in this with me makes it all seem less scary.

It’s me and him against the world.

As it should be.

Out of the corner of my eye I see our friends, all milling around the rough-cut bar, but I don’t stop. I am on a mission.

“Willa?” Kenzie questions as I rush past.

“Hold that thought. I have to pee!” I call back.