Chapter 41

WILLOW

It’s getting laterin the afternoon now, flirting with nighttime.

I’m exhausted from the emotional stuff…

I also realize just how close Knox and I lived to one another our entire lives.

Weird… right?

Only about forty minutes apart.

Yet we never met each other until college.

It has that odd vibe of some romantic story you tell people.

Like twenty years from now, Knox and I are together, and someone asks how we met and all that.

Twenty years from now? Your baby will be in college!

My stomach instantly flips and I feel sick.

I stop walking.

Knox touches my lower back.

“Hey, are you okay?”

I look up at him.

It’s really simple right now.

I can burst into tears and let all the emotion out. Cry uncontrollably and blubber and have Knox hold me and get tears and snot all over his shirt…

Or?

I grab the front of his shirt and I launch myself up to my toes and pull him down.

Our lips collide in a kiss that feels just way too comfortable.

It’s not exactly a soft, sweet kiss but it’s not a total make-out session either.

It’s in between.

I drop my feet down to the ground.

Knox comes after me, not wanting the kiss to end.

I finally have to push him away.

I’m tired. I’m hungry. And I really don’t want my panties to be soaked.

“Long day, baby,” Knox whispers.

“It’s been something,” I whisper. “I’m…”

“Real quick,” Knox cuts in. “I have a surprise.”

“I don’t think I can handle something else. I’m sorry. I hope that’s not mean.”

“Not at all. That’s why I’m telling you.”

Knox takes my hand and hands me what looks like a credit card.

Or a gift card.

It takes me a second to realize…

“Knox?”

“Hear me out,” he says. “We spend the night.”

“This is a hotel keycard.”

“A fancy one too,” Knox says. “My father has a deal with the one hotel near his city office. It’s all paid for. They mostly know me there from other times I went there. Never with someone though. Usually by myself.”

“Why would you go to a hotel by yourself, Knox?”

“To think. To be alone. To hide. Sometimes before a big game. Or a tournament. Last season when we lost in the playoffs, I spent two nights there. It’s all good. My father knows. He gets it.”

“So you and me…”

“Hotel, Willow. Everything is paid for. Room. Food. Everything.”

“Did you say food?” I ask.

Knox touches my face. “Ten minutes away.”

“I can’t tell what’s happening here, Knox. With everything.”

“Well, you just met my father. He’s dryer than a desert in a drought. If I take his point of view, you look at what’s in front of you. We’re both standing here. I told you I’d be by your side. And you’re right by mine. The way I see it today was insanely stressful. And I know stress is not good for the body to begin with. You’re pregnant. Stress has to be ten times worse. I don’t like that. So we can get into a car and go back to campus. Deal with all the stuff going on there right now. Or we get into the car and go to the hotel. Paid for. Great view. Great food. The fanciest water you’ll taste. They even have the sparkling water that’s flavored.”

“Black cherry?” I smile.

“Damn, baby, that’s my favorite.”

“Mine too,” I say, almost swooning.

Now I feel like the girl that’s so desperate for the boy’s attention she gets excited over every little thing possible.

“What about streaming services?” I ask.

Now I’m just trying to act spoiled.

“What exactly do you want to stream?” Knox asks.

His mind goes right to the gutter and I start to blush.

“Are you sure about this?” I ask. “Spending the night…”

“Which we’ve done before,” he says. “And this is your decision, Willow. I’m just letting you know what’s out there. We can go right back to campus.”

“I don’t want to do that. I want to be with you. Alone. In a hotel. That sounds like heaven right now. After everything going on…?”

“Are you convincing yourself?”

“I’m more than convinced, Knox. I’m just worried about other things.”

“What can you possibly be worried about?”

“Just… plans…”

“We have a plan, baby. Nobody is saying it’s perfect. We’ll adjust as we need to. You know that, right? But the bottom line of it all… you never have to worry about me.”

God, he’s the sexiest and sweetest human I’ve ever met.

Nobody should look like Knox and act like Knox and be single.

Which is the part that keeps irking me.

Is it something with motherhood…?

I don’t want to be single.

I want Knox.

I want him to want me in the way where we end up with that forever story…

But that has to be the hormones talking, right?

I take a deep breath, look up at Knox and smile.

“Take me to a fancy hotel…”