Page 97 of Afterglow

“Hey, take it easy or they’re going to kick me out of here.” I chuckle, meeting her fingers and smoothing them off her head. I squeeze them between my own. “You love me?”

The words feel incredibly fragile between us, precious and priceless.

“So much. So much it scares me.” Her eyes search mine. “I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you.”

I kiss her fingertips and smile as her words sink into my heart, healing me and making me feel whole, complete, and cherished.

“It scares me too. The way I love you… God, it’s so big, Leanne. I feel like I can’t contain it.” I take her good hand and press it against my heart and the steady thump thump thump there. Then I press my free hand to her stomach and feel a different thumping beneath it as my butterfly moves beneath her skin. “You’re exactly what I never knew I needed. You make me feel alive. That first night between us, it’s the best thing that’s happened to me in a very long time.”

“You know,” she whispers as she shifts, trapping our hands between us—our hearts and bodies all connected. “I think it might be the best thing that ever happened to me too. It brought us together, and it gave us her. I love you, Bryce.” She presses closer so our mouths fuse. I swear everything inside me bends to envelop her. Like those words bound us in brand-new ways.

I never thought I’d find love again—never thought I wanted to. I never imagined I’d have the opportunity to love someone and be loved in return after everything I’ve lost.

The kiss continues for what feels like hours, but it could be minutes or maybe days until eventually we fall back into a comfortable sleep, wrapped in each other—content knowing the other person isn’t going anywhere.

When I wake sometime later from our nap, I plant soft kisses along the curve of Leanne’s neck down to her shoulder. She wriggles against me and I smile into her skin. I’ve missed her so much. It was only two days without her in my arms, but I missed her in the acute way you only can when another person takes your heart with them when they leave. She owns my heart now, and I never want to be parted from her again. Her eyelids flutter and their hazel depths are molten, filled with warmth and love only for me.

I lean in, wanting to feel her lips on mine more than I want air, but then a throat clears nearby and I groan at the distraction. Leanne’s top leg is sandwiched between mine, and my arms are banded around her, making it difficult to lift up enough to see the door. When I do, I find Becca watching us. She’s leaning against the frame with her brows raised and a knowing look on her face. My face flushes under her stare.

Then she smiles and says, “Sorry to interrupt, but I figured I should check on my patient.”

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Leanne

Forty-One Weeks ~ Baby is the size of a beach ball

I’m regretting my trip to Walmart immensely.

I usually go to Target, even though it’s a farther ten minutes away, but today I only needed one thing. Now, standing in the self-checkout and feeling as if I just peed my pants, I’m really wishing I’d gone to Target instead, because this feels a little too Where the Heart Is for my taste.

Because I did not in fact pee my pants, but rather my water broke. In a Walmart.

I glance around at all the people continuing on with their days without a care in the world for the very pregnant woman who’s now officially in labor a few feet away. It wasn’t a big dramatic moment—there’s no puddle on the floor—but I’m still left standing here wondering what to do now. It feels odd to waddle to my car like nothing happened and drive home.

Yet, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

At my car, I take the peanut butter out of the grocery bag and toss it into the passenger seat before spreading the plastic over my own—might as well protect the upholstery. It’s only a two-minute drive and Bryce is already there, seeing as he’s barely left my side since my appointment two days ago when Rebecca told me I was two centimeters dilated and thirty percent effaced. Her warning that labor could hit at any time lit a fire under Bryce and he was determined not to leave me on my own. It’s the whole reason we’ve been staying at my house for the past few weeks—to be closer to the hospital just in case.

He’s going to be so pissed he let me go on this errand without him.

Walking in through the laundry room, I feel the beginnings of my first contraction and grasp my stomach. Yup, I’m definitely in labor. Time to tell my giant manly teddy bear it’s time to go to the hospital.

I’m greeted by Bryce’s gruff voice when I round the corner and… he’s yelling profanities. What the hell?

“Bryce?” I ask tentatively as I move through the living room and see him storming around the kitchen, a continued list of expletives rolling off his tongue. “Bryce!” I yell, bewildered.

His head whips in my direction and the shocked look on his face, hand stuck halfway through his hair, is romantic comedy–worthy. “What’s going on?” I ask.

“I… well, I was going to grab a mug from the cupboard for some tea. I figured I’d make you a cup for when you got back.” He grimaces at the floor. “I was reaching for it and then my phone rang—fucking Becca—and I jumped and knocked it and…”

I walk around the counter toward him and he yells, “Stop! There’s glass everywhere.”

I see what he means: my new favorite mug, one I got last month when we took a babymoon to Coeur D’Alene, is smashed to bits all over my rock tile floor. That sucks. “I’ve got boots on, Bryce, it’s okay. And in the grand scheme of things, this isn’t that big a deal.”

“Not a big deal? That’s your new mug. Dammit, I’m sorry. I’ll drive back and get you a new one as soon as I can. I—”

“Bryce, let’s not worry about it right now.” I wince as another contraction tightens across my abdomen, but it releases quickly and I continue on, a little more breathless. “Maybe you could just clean up the glass real quick before we go.”