Page 140 of The Pact
“No.” I turn the ring slightly on my finger. “It’s not why I married him. You know that.”
“I do know.” She nods.
“I think …” I pause, searching for the right words. “I think Savannah would have liked the idea.”
Alie smiles softly. “Yeah?”
“Yeah, I think she would have. And her kids being part of it one day, Saint helping. It feels … connected somehow.”
“I never really talked to her all that much when she came for games, but I’ve also been chasing a toddler around the last few years. And I was in school, then college, when Saint started playing for us. But she seemed really nice.”
“She was. God, she was just a kid when I met her. Even though I know it’s real, it’s hard to believe she’s gone.”
Alie lets the moment sit for a minute.
“And how are things with Saint?”
I smirk. “You couldn’t wait to ask me that.”
“I waited until it fit into the conversation.”
“Heroic restraint.”
She grins. “Stop stalling.”
“It’s good.”
“Just good?” she deadpans.
“Yes.”
“So you marry the man you’ve pretty much been secretly in love with for years, and it’s just good?”
“What are you talking about? I haven’t been secretly in love with Saint.”
She raises her brows. “Oh, really?”
I glare at her.
She leans forward. “I’m not wrong.”
“You’re annoying, is what you are.”
“Maybe, but I know I’m right.”
I look away, which probably tells us both more than anything coming out of my mouth right now.
“Fine.” I sigh. “It just all feels so natural.”
Alie’s teasing fades into something gentler. “How so?”
“I don’t know. Everything happened so fast, and I think I’ve just been on autopilot,” I say. “Maybe it should feel strange. Being married, living there, sharing his bed, helping with the kids … but it doesn’t.”
“You haven’t second-guessed your decision at all?”
I shake my head slowly. “No.”
I think this might be the first time I’ve given it much real thought, and definitely the first time I’ve put it into words.
