Chapter 28

TWENTY-EIGHT

Lexi shows up at my door an hour before I was supposed to pick her up for our date, and I can tell right away something’s not right. I cup her face and stare into her tired eyes swimming with frustration. “What’s wrong?” I glance down, placing my hand protectively on her small baby bump. “Is it the baby?”

She shakes her head, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around my waist, then burying her head in my chest. “Today was really rough,” she mumbles.

It hits me like a ton of bricks that she was planning to tell her principal today. I wrap my arms around her, holding her tight while she seeks comfort in my arms.As much as I hate whatever or whoever made her feel this way, I can’t deny I love that she came running to me for strength and comfort.

“Come on, let’s sit down and you can tell me all about it, okay?”

She nods her head, and I pull her inside, closing the door and guiding her to my couch. Already, my place feels better with her here. It feels like home more than it ever has.

On our way to the couch, she glances over at the kitchen island and her steps falter. “Is that a taco bar?”

“Yeah, you told me last night you were craving tacos with all the fixings, so I thought we’d have some tonight and watch some TV.”

“But you were going to pick me up…”

I shrug. “Yeah, and bring you back here. I figured you’d be tired after a long day back at work and would just want to relax. I would’ve packed it up to bring to your place, but my couch is comfier.”

“It is,” she says absentmindedly, still staring at the taco fixings.

“Here, sit down, put your feet up, and I’ll get you a plate.”

I don’t wait for her response, but instead, head to the island and fix her a couple of tacos with the toppings she said she was craving the most. When I turn around, she’s already sitting on the couch with the soft blanket my mom sent her for Christmas covering her lower body. She’s staring at her hands, and she looks so morose, my whole body hurts just watching her. Who put that look on her face?

I place her plate on the coffee table and sit next to her, pulling her into my lap. She doesn’t hesitate to snuggle up to me, and warmth once again infuses my entire body knowing I’m her safe place.

I really thought I fucked things up after we talked about the paternity test, especially since she’s been a little more guarded the past couple of days. But apparently it wasn’t irreparable damage.

I brush my fingers through her long, silky, black hair. “What happened, Precious?”

“My conversation with my principal didn’t go well,” she starts, and then she tells me all about her day—the meeting with her principal, Blaire’s outrage, then the disaster of a staff meeting. But more than just telling me the events with an air of detachment she usually has when she talks about something bad, this time she shares how she felt, the hurt their judgment caused her.

And my blood fucking boils.

How fucking dare they make her feel anything less than amazing. How fucking dare they suggest her students or their parents won’t respect her.

How. Fucking. Dare. They.

My body is stiff as a board as she finishes telling me everything, and I desperately wish I had a game tonight so I could lay some poor fucker out on the field and take out all the anger coursing through me.

Lexi stiffens in my lap, and when she looks up at me, there’s a hint of fear on her face. “Are you angry at me?”

I frown, some of my anger fading at her question. “Why the hell would I be mad at you ?”

She shoves her hand in her hair and then rubs her forehead like this whole day has given her a headache. “I don’t know. You seem angry.”

“I am. I’m fucking pissed, but not at you . Lexi, you did nothing wrong.” She looks up at me, doubt clear in her eyes. Why the fuck would she think she’s at fault here?

Goddamn motherfuckers messing with my girl’s head.

I rotate her so she’s straddling me because I want to look into her face properly when I tell her this. “Lexi, you are incredible. Beyond incredible. You’re awe-inspiring. The way you love your students, Blaire, me . I’m completely undeserving of you . And clearly so are those damn motherfuckers at your school for making you feel less than. No one gets to do that anymore. Not as long as I’m around. I’ll help you write your statement, and I’ll even do you one better and personally deliver it to your principal, if you want. We can see if she has the balls to say the shit she said to you to me because I can guarantee she won’t get far before I shut that shit down. It doesn’t matter whether this baby was conceived when we didn’t know each other or if we’d been together and married for years. That night was the best damn night of my life because I spent it with the woman of my dreams. This baby,”—I place my hand on her belly—“she’s a miracle. She brought you back to me. I love you, Lexi. Just the way you are. Don’t let these idiots who clearly don’t know a damn thing about you make you question your character. Your students know who you are, and they love you for always being there for them, pushing them, and encouraging them. If their parents feel differently, then fuck them. They don’t deserve you either.”

Tears pour down her face, and my heart aches with every one she sheds. My thumb rubs over her cheeks, wiping away the tears. She leans forward, resting her forehead on mine. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

“Precious, you didn’t have to do anything. You just need to be you, and you’re more than enough. You deserve every good thing in this life. And if you don’t believe me, then I’ll spend the rest of my life proving it to you.”

She stiffens, her blue gaze locking on mine. “The rest of your life?”

I cup her cheeks, wishing just by looking into my eyes she could see into my soul, see how she’s changed my life in every possible way for the better. “As long as you’ll have me, I’m yours.”

Her face crumples as she wraps her arms around my neck and holds me tight, as if she’s afraid I’ll disappear if she’s not holding on to me. And maybe that’s exactly how she feels after losing her parents so young. I know that she was in foster care and has experienced abuse and an obvious lack of love—not the nitty-gritty details, but the basics of her experience. I know it probably wasn’t as simple as she makes it out to have been. You don’t carry the kind of guardedness she does without reason.

“I love you so much,” she cries against my neck, and there’s a hitch in her voice like it cost her something to admit the depth of her love for me, like she’s out on a limb, scared shitless.

My arms wrap around her waist, holding her close. “I love you too.” I’ll say it as many times as she needs me to.I’ll do whatever it takes to prove those aren’t just words to me.

We sit like that for a long time, our arms never loosening their hold until she eventually pulls back, wipes her face with her hand, and then spins around to find the plate of food. Right on cue, her stomach grumbles, and I cover my smile with my hand.

“We should probably eat,” she says.

“Yeah, we should, but there’s one more thing I wanted to discuss with you first.”

“What’s that?” she asks, facing me. Her expression is open, and after the way she showed up at my door, I’ll take that as a huge win.

Leaning forward, I grab her hand and pray she’ll say yes. “Will you move in with me? I want to come home to you every day, no matter what time I get in from away games or if it’s just practice. We can live here, or we can find a house with a backyard, something where our daughter and any future kids we have can run around and play. Whatever you want to do, I’m down, as long as you’re there. We’re practically living together already—I just want to make it official.”

She stares at me for a moment, her face the picture of shock with a gaping mouth and widened eyes. And then it morphs into pure, incandescent happiness. “You want to move in together? You want to buy a house with a backyard?”

“You forgot the part where I come home to you every day,” I remind her, my own smile matching hers.

She throws her arms back around my neck, laughing—my absolute favorite sound in the entire world. “Is that a yes?” I ask, laughing with her.

“Yes,” she says, pulling back only enough to kiss me, and it takes no time at all for that kiss to turn into something more.

I slide my fingers through her hair, holding her head to me as my tongue slides across the seam of her lips until she parts them, granting me entry. My tongue dances with hers as her fingernails slide across the hair at the back of my neck, sending a shiver of need down my spine.

“You might have to eat after,” I murmur against her mouth before kissing her again.

She lets out a soft moan as her hand slides down to my cock which now feels so hard it could cut glass. Yeah, we’ll definitely have to eat after. Because right now, all I want to do is get lost in her body, hoping I can make her feel everything I feel.