39. Ray

My body shook as Wade's fist fell to his side. I didn't know what to do, what to say. I knew I had to tell him, I was planning to tell him, but not like this. Never like this.

"When I came to," I started, pulling my sleeves down over my palms, "the first thing I thought about was the baby, okay? I was saying ‘the baby'. I wasn't sure if it had been hurt in the accident."

"It's true," Hunter said. "She didn't want you to find out like that so I kept it to myself."

Wade's shoulders rose and fell with every breath. He didn't look at me. I wasn't even sure if he could hear me past the waves of anger.

"Wade," I said softly. "Can we please talk about this in private?"

He didn't move.

Mandy kicked into high gear within a second. She grabbed Zane by the elbow, hauling him toward the entrance with a surprising amount of strength. Zane didn't fight her, he simply turned his back on us and allowed her to escort him away. Jack and Hunter followed behind them, giving us the privacy we desperately needed.

Wade still didn't move.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," I croaked. I didn't even realize until then that a lump had formed in my throat, that the backs of my eyes were on fire. "I wanted to. But I didn't find out until after we fell apart, and then you came to my house and told me you loved me. Although that might have been the perfect time to tell you, I couldn't bring myself to say it and then everything blew up?—"

"How?" Wade asked, his head turning painfully slowly toward me. "How did this happen? I thought you were on the pill."

"To be fair, you never asked," I replied. "I stopped taking it after what happened with my old boss. And then forgot I'd stopped taking it."

"How far along are you?"

"Eleven weeks. It's healthy."

He pushed his fingers through his hair as his eyes locked with mine. "When are you due?"

"November," I said. "It's yours, if you were at all concerned about that."

"I was, a little," he admitted.

I watched as he crumpled. His rear met the first step of the stairs, his arms falling over his knees. Every ounce of adrenaline he had in his system was crashing.

"I'm… I'm keeping it, Wade," I whispered. I sat down beside him, not giving a shit if I ruined the far too expensive dress.

He nodded, eyes turned upward to the star covered sky above us. They glistened happily, a stark contrast to what was happening below them.

"Good," he said, his voice thick like gravel. "If that's what you want, then I'll support you every step of the way."

"You're not angry?"

"Not about that," he said. He blinked a few times, drying his eyes, before turning to me. "You should have known I'd have said anything to get Zane out of my hair. The shit I spewed in the parking garage was because he had threatened to tell Alec about our little deal. I didn't know what he was capable of if I told him I was truly in love with you. He'd use it against me somehow."

A sinking part of me, the part that recalled the old version of Wade, fought against his words. But the more he talked, the more I was able to see who he truly was despite all of that, the more I wanted to believe him.

"It was real for me," he added. "I've never experienced anything more real than what I feel with you."

"It was real for me, too," I sighed. My stomach churned at the admission, at the idea that I was walking back into a situation where I could be hurt again. "It should have been obvious that I was in love with you. None of this had anything to do with Hunter. It was purely coincidental."

"I know that now. Do you love me?"

My chest tightened, aching. "Of course I do."

————

I let Wade drive me home. I'd taken a taxi out to the winery since I hadn't gotten around to sorting out a new car for myself yet. Everywhere I needed to go had been costing me an arm and a leg.

"Mom's home," I said softly as we pulled into my neighborhood. "You can meet her if you want. She's having a good day today."

Wade blew out a long breath. It had taken him a long time to calm down entirely, and even then, I wasn't sure if he was fully back to normal. "Are you sure you want that?"

"Only if you want to."

He parked the Aventador in the driveway and pulled the handbrake up. He didn't say a word as he pushed his door open and exited the car, coming around to my side to help me out.

We walked up to the front door in silence. The light of the television flickered in the living room window and the kitchen light was still on, signs she was still awake. I twisted my key in the lock.

"Mom?" I called.

"In the kitchen!"

I waved Wade inside, watched him kick the little bit of ice from the bottom of his shoes before he stepped across the threshold. "I brought someone for you to meet," I said, letting the little grin I'd been holding back surface as Mom stepped around the corner.

"Hi, Mrs. Harleson," Wade smiled. "Hope you don't mind the intrusion."

"Of course not," Mom chirped.

"Mom, this is Wade. My…" I looked up at him, lost for a word to describe what he was to me. We hadn't decided on anything as far as I was aware.

"Boyfriend," Wade answered with a chuckle.

"I think I've heard your name once or twice," Mom joked, giving me a wink. "I was just finishing up the brownies I made. You guys want some?"

"You're not supposed to be cooking when no one's home," I groaned. I set my bag on the little table by the door and stepped through the living room into the kitchen, Wade following me.

"It's not cooking, sweetheart, it's baking."

"She's right, you know," Wade said, every ounce of charm coming out for my mom. Bastard. "It is baking."

Mom pulled the tray of brownies from the oven, filling the room with the scent of delicious chocolate. "I like this one, Stingray."

Wade went to the oven, closing the door behind her and helped her set them on the cooling rack. He went back and turned it off and my heart smiled. "To be fair, Mrs. Harleson, I'm acting on my best behavior right now."

"Oh, you can call me Jane," Mom grinned. "No need for formalities in my house. Where have you two been this evening?"

"Actually we were at a charity event for Alzheimer's and dementia," I replied, giving her a small smile.

"We left early," Wade added.

"Adam and I used to do that," Mom laughed. "We'd get invited to events and go just to show our faces, making up some excuse to get the hell out."

————

Somehow, Mom convinced Wade to stay and watch an episode of Family Feud while the brownies cooled enough to be able to eat. I'd bickered with him, insisting that he didn't have to wait around, but his ever-charming ways had snaked their way into Mom's heart. She didn't want him to leave.

"Your elbow is digging into my ribs, you probably re-injured them," I grumbled, pushing away from where he leaned on me.

"You're so dramatic," Wade teased.

"It's not dramatic when it's true."

He lifted his arm and turned his head in my direction before placing a soft, quick kiss against my temple. "I'm sorry."

I blinked with confusion. We were back together, right? But he hadn't gone so far as to kiss me yet. At least not on the mouth.

I gently pressed my lips to his, just for a moment, solidifying him as real in my mind.

Mom chuckled from the other side of the sofa. "You guys remind me of your father and me at your age."

My eyes fluttered open as I pulled back from him, those words tugging at every soft spot in my heart. That was always my goal—to find someone that would love me the way my father loved my mother, that gave me the same feeling I got when I looked at the two of them. And as I met Wade's gaze, his goofy little smile warming every inch of me, realization slinked down my spine.

I'd done that. I'd found him.

He'd been there all along.

"Come on, lovebirds," Mom teased. "The brownies should have cooled by now."