Page 110 of Finding His Silver Fox Daddy

His head cocked to one side as he gazed down at me, but when he didn’t say anything, I kept going.

“I mean, I know we said we’d figure out who we were together and that we’d work on ourselves with Shawn and Emily. And we have. We’ve been making great progress, I think. So . . . maybe we can talk about telling people soon?”

His tremulous smile didn’t reach his eyes, and nerves fluttered in my belly. “I . . .” He trailed off before taking a deep breath. “Daddy, I love you, and I’d love to be able to tell people. But I . . . I’m not ready yet. Just the thought of it terrifies me. What if . . . ?”

His voice trailed off, and I rubbed his wrist with my thumb, doing my best not to take this personally. This wasn’t about me. “What, baby? What’s wrong?”

His eyes squeezed shut, and my gut clenched. “I’m so sorry, Henry. I’m just . . . this still feels new to me—the relationship thing. Well, not new, exactly, but—”

“Baby.” I tugged him until he gently fell in my lap. “What’s going on in that gorgeous head of yours?”

He stared down at where his fingers had started picking invisible lint off my shirt. His words came out mumbled when he spoke again. “I never thought I was good enough to be loved, to be chosen. And though Emily has helped me through a lot, I still struggle to believe we could make this last. That . . . I could make it last. I can’t help but feel like I’m going to screw something up, and you’ll see that I’m not—” His words cut off abruptly.

“Not what, my sweet boy?”

When he didn’t answer right away, I tucked a finger under his chin and lifted his head until he met my gaze. My heart broke when I saw his eyes were shining, and it shattered when he whispered, “That I’m not worthy of love.”

“Oh, baby,” I breathed, leaning in closer until our foreheads were touching. The position was a little awkward, but I didn’t care. My Angel Baby needed me. “Listen to me: Nothing you could ever do or not do would make me love you less. I know that’s hard for you to accept, to believe that you’re worthy of it. But, Tristan Applegate, you are worthy of love, do you hear me?”

He sniffed but didn’t say anything.

I pulled back so I could see him better. “Tristan, I need you to say it.”

His eyes flickered to mine, and I saw the questions in them.

“Repeat after me: I am Tristan Applegate, and I am worthy of love.”

His eyes held mine as his bottom lip started trembling.

“Say it, baby. I need to hear you say it, but I think you need to hear yourself say it more.”

For a few moments that stretched impossibly long, I was worried he wasn’t going to acquiesce. But then, in the softest whisper, I heard “I am Tristan Applegate, and I am worthy of love.”

“Louder.”

He shifted on my lap, straightening just a little. “I am Tristan Applegate, and I am worthy of love.”

“Again.”

His back straightened fully then, and a smile teased at his lips as he repeated it. “I am Tristan Applegate, and I am worthy of love!”

“One more time, baby!”

He leapt to his feet, throwing his arms in the air as he shouted, “I am Tristan Motherfucking Applegate, and I am worthy of love!”

He started laughing. I jumped to my feet and joined in, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him to me as the truth of his words rang out in my kitchen.

When our laughter settled, I pulled back to find a giant smile on his face. He seemed lighter somehow, like a weight had been lifted. I hoped it had.

“Daddy?”

“Yes, baby?”

His expression smoothed. “I want to talk about telling people soon. I’m still worried, though. So what if, when all this bullshit blows over, we start with one person, maybe Cameron? He hasn’t said anything, but I suspect he’s figured it out.”

I smiled softly, my heart twinging. “We can do that. I don’t mean to pressure you, baby; I just don’t want to keep hiding this. I want to share this incredible news—the best ever, actually—with the world.”

Tris’s grin was back, and it warmed away the gloom inside me. “When this is all over and things settle down, let’s start.”