Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27555 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 138(@200wpm)___ 110(@250wpm)___ 92(@300wpm)
I sank back against the sofa with a half-sigh, half-grunt noise that would’ve scared any pets if I’d gotten around to getting one yet. With nothing else to do, I slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep. I didn’t know how long it lasted, but the next thing I knew, a loud pounding interrupted my peace.
I gasped and sat up immediately—too fast, it turned out—and I was instantly dizzy. The knocking continued, and I reached for the glass of water on the table, feeling just how dehydrated I was as soon as the liquid hit my tongue. “Hang on!” I shouted, hoping whoever it was had heard me and stopped the damn knocking.
It stopped, and my whole body relaxed enough that I could sit up. I took my time as I planted my feet on the floor and pushed until I stood. “Okay, feeling good,” I said to encourage myself. With each step, I felt better, and I walked a little faster. Too fast, and I slowed just as I reached the door.
“Rob, are you okay?” Levi’s voice sounded on the other side of the door, heavy with worry.
I opened the door quickly and sucked in a breath at the sight of him. His red hair looked as if he’d run his fingers through it a hundred times. He looked like he hadn’t slept well, and his skin was paler than usual. “Levi? What are you doing here?”
He let out a harsh sound that might have been a laugh but could’ve been a scoff.
Right. “Oh, last night’s shift, of course!” I stepped back and waved him inside just as another wave of nausea hit. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply until it passed. “Sorry. I should’ve called, but I hadn’t planned on sleeping through the night. I’ve just been…not good.”
“I don’t give a shit about that, Rob,” he growled. “Hailey covered last night and said she would tonight too. You haven’t been answering your damn phone.”
I leaned against the wall and let out a heavy sigh. “I, uh, I don’t know where I left it, and I just didn’t have the energy to go back upstairs.”
His brows furrowed angrily, and then he walked away—but not through the front door. Oh no, he stalked straight through my living room and up the stairs.
I tried to follow him, but I only got as far as the living room, where I reclaimed my spot on the sofa, wondering if he was really so upset that I’d missed a shift at the bar. The minute he came back downstairs, I began to talk. “Look, I really am sorry about leaving you short last night. That’s not how I operate.”
“I don’t care about the damn shift, Rob!” He handed me the phone with one hand and the charger in the other. “You weren’t answering my calls, and I thought…” He sighed and dropped down beside me on the sofa. “I thought something happened to you.”
The tension I didn’t realize had been holding my shoulders back snapped, and I was able to relax a little. “I’m sorry, Levi. It was just…really bad, and I couldn’t do anything but curl up on the sofa. I slept on and off, hardly moving just to keep from getting sick.” I shuddered just thinking about how awful I felt over the past twenty-four hours.
“Are you feeling better now?”
I shrugged. “Better than that? Yeah, but that’s not saying much.” We stared at each other for a long time, both of us seeming unsure what to say. I hated this. Just days ago, things were wonderful between us. We spent our time together laughing and getting to know each other, having amazing sex, and just enjoying connecting with another person. “What’s going on, Levi?” I couldn’t live like this, constantly questioning if he was here because he actually cared about me or because I was carrying his child.
“Fuck if I know,” he admitted with a dry laugh. Levi sat back against the sofa and took my legs, placing them in his lap. His hands absently stroked my legs, his gaze on some spot just beyond my coffee table. “I have no fucking clue, Rob. I thought taking a few days to think about it would give me some clarity, but it hasn’t. At all.”
My heart sank. I knew what that meant, even if he wasn’t ready to say it yet. “Oh. Okay.”
“The only thing I know,” he went on as if he hadn’t heard my quiet words, “is that I needed to see you. I needed to make sure you were all right. I just—fuck—I needed to be here with you, Rob.”
My heart pounded in my chest, and I actually heard the blood rushing through my veins. His words were unintentionally sweet, sweeter than anything any man had ever said to me. “I don’t know what I’m doing either, but I know what I want.” You, I wanted to say. Instead, I said, “I want this baby.”