When I pull into the parking garage across the street from Ryker’s apartment, my hands are shaking and I feel like I’m going to throw up. What am I going to do if he slams the door in my face or tells me to my face to go away and that he never wants to see me again? Even worse, what if he threatens to take the baby away from me?
Logically, I know he wouldn’t do that, but it doesn’t stop me from worrying about the possibility. He was so angry when he left my apartment. I don’t want to make things worse. I also don’t want to keep any more secrets from him.
It seems like it takes forever to get to his floor. Why does he have to live so damn far up? I mean, there’s an elevator, a really nice one, so it’s not like I’m walking up a million flights of stairs, but knowing why I’m here makes it seem like I’m taking more steps backward than forward. In fact, I’m pretty sure the elevator stopped on every single floor on the way up, plus went back down a few times, too, just to give me more time to freak out.
I finally make it to his floor, and when I walk up to his door, I freeze with my hand in the air, ready to knock. Must. Not. Chicken. Out. The shitty pep talk doesn’t help much, but I’m finally able to lower my fist and bang, bang, bang on his door.
There’s no noise. No footsteps coming to look and see who’s at the door, no curse when he sees it’s me…nothing. I knock again, but the result is the same.
Seriously? I spent how much time working up the nerve to come over here, and he’s not even here? Where could he possibly be? It’s after four, and it’s been hours since he left my apartment.
When he still doesn’t answer, I turn so my back is facing the door and slide down until my ass hits the floor. I send a quick message to Gabby and Marie, letting them know he’s not here and that coming here was pointless.
Gabby: It’s NOT pointless, Ava. He has to come back sometime, right? Just chill out for a few and see if he comes in. Go sit in the lobby, or even run to Starbucks and get a snack or something.
Marie: What Gabby said. Don’t puss out now. Grab those lady balls and get your man!
The two of them make me smile, but my smile soon turns to tears when I realize Ryker isn’t even here. I slide down his door and pull my legs up to my chest so I can wrap my arms around them and hide my face from anyone who comes down this hall. I don’t want anyone seeing me cry.
The tears keep coming no matter how much I wipe them away, and slowly I find myself sobbing. Why I’m crying, I don't know. I did this to myself. I hid the truth from him. It’s my fault I’m so miserable right now. If I’d just been honest and explained it all to him, maybe we would be here together right now.
I sniffle, wiping my nose against the sleeve of my shirt. I don’t know how long I’ve been sitting here crying, but the sound of heavy footfalls coming down the hall has me pulling myself into a tighter ball to look invisible to whoever it is that’s coming this way. As they grow closer, my anxiety mounts because Ryker’s apartment is at the end of the hallway along with one other, so there’s not many people this could be. I’m scared to look up just in case it’s him.
When the footsteps cease right in front of me, I force myself to pull out of my ball and look up at the passerby, but it’s not a stranger’s eyes I meet. No, these eyes belong to the man I love, and the stormy blue in them tells me a raging inferno is brewing deep inside him.
Any words I want to say are lodged deep in my throat when he kneels down in front of me, taking my face in his hands. His touch is soft and warms me all over. He wipes my tears away with his thumbs while he stares at me like I’m his entire world.
“I’m sorry,” he says, and I shake my head, wanting to stop him from apologizing. He shuts me up with a “let me talk” look. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, and seeing you cry is tearing me the fuck apart. I need you to stop crying, baby. My emotions are just as close to the surface as yours, and we still need to talk.”
I nod, my chest vibrating as I try and calm myself down. We stay like this for a long moment, me taking in his woodsy scent and letting the warmth of his touch radiate through me, while he tries to comfort me. Then, when he thinks I’m ready, he hauls me up into his arms and unlocks the door, bringing us both inside. I don’t know how to describe the way having him hold me in his arms feels.
“I’m sorry, Ryker.” The words spill from my lips before he’s even shut the door. “I wasn’t hiding our baby. I swear.” I want to apologize again and again, but I know he won’t have any of that. He’s made that clear. Ryker doesn’t say anything, and it makes me nervous, until he wraps me up in his arms and carries me to the couch, still cradling me in his arms. He holds me like this for a long time, so long I almost drift off to sleep. All my tears and all my worrying has exhausted me.
He’s so warm, and his embrace comforts me in ways I never thought a man’s embrace could.
“I don’t need you to apologize, Ava. You didn’t do anything wrong. I should’ve been more understanding. I should’ve stayed and listened to what you were trying to say, but I didn’t.” I can see regret reflecting back at me in his eyes, and I open my mouth to say something, but he stops me by placing a finger against my lips.
“I’m not done just yet, baby. I let my emotions get the best of me, and that’s not okay. I never want to make you feel like you and our baby mean nothing to me, or that I would abandon you. I promise, I never will.” He soothes my worries with his words, his hands cupping my cheeks and bringing my lips to his.
Until this moment, I never understood the meaning of kissing someone because words can’t explain the way you feel. Ryker’s kiss steals my breath. It makes my heart break, and it pieces me back together again with pieces of himself inside me.
His lips are gentle, and I’ve never experienced a kiss so pure. I can’t stop the tears from slipping from my eyes, and when he realizes I’m crying, he pulls away slightly, his gaze roaming my face.
“I love you,” I croak.
Something strange happens in that second. Ryker doesn’t look shocked, or even surprised in the least. He simply presses a kiss against my nose and says, “I love you, too.” I blink, shocked at his response. He said he loves me. He fucking loves me. Our relationship isn’t over before it had a chance to begin.
I’m so happy, but I also know I have to tell him about Marie. “I have to tell you something.” Ryker looks down at me questioningly, and I try to force the words out. “I found out Marie is your half-sister today. She told Gabby and me earlier, and as soon as she did, I knew I had to tell you. The last thing I want is for you to think I’m hiding something else from you.”
A smile pulls at his lips. “I already know, sweetheart. Reed told me earlier that Dad left us each a letter that explains everything.” He maneuvers me so he can take something out of his back pocket, and when he pulls it out, he puts it in my hands. It’s just a single sheet of paper with handwriting on it. My gaze drops down to the paper and then back up to him.
“Read it,” he urges, so I do. I unfold the paper and read every single word. The letter gives a much clearer picture of Marie’s story. I read the letter once, and then a second time, absorbing the words and what they truly mean.
Marie and Ryker are half-siblings. Meaning Ryker and I coming together literally brought all of them together. That’s so crazy. It’s almost like we were destined to meet.
“My dad made a lot of shitty choices in his life…” He trails off, his hands moving down to my flat stomach. “But the best choice he ever made was bringing you to me.” He nuzzles my belly, laying me out flat against the couch, before sliding onto the floor so he can rest his head against my belly. He pushes my shirt up and presses kisses against the nonexistent bump where his child is nestled.
“Meeting you that night in the bar was because of him. I know it. I lost him, and that grief led me to you. When I read that letter, I wanted to hate him, but there was no way I could hate a man that gave me something as precious as you and our baby.”
Tears slip down my cheeks unchecked, and I don’t bother to wipe them away. I refuse to miss this moment with him.
“It was fate that I met the woman I would fall in love with, and that she is best friends with my half-sister. You saved us so much time, and you gave me something no one ever has before. I have all the money a man could want… I’ve had houses, cars, more women than I should have, but I’ve never had the love of someone like you. I’ve never had love that creates something, and for that I am forever grateful. I am so sorry for hurting you, Ava, and I will spend every fucking day for the rest of my life making it up to you.”
I can’t breathe or see, and a sob escapes me as Ryker cradles my belly, whispering sweet nothings against my skin. I’ve never felt so protected, so loved by a man like I do when I’m in his arms.
“I love you. I love you so much,” I cry, pushing up from the couch, taking his handsome-as-hell face into my hands and kissing the life back into him. It takes him a moment to kiss me back, but when he does, his hands are all over me.
I unbutton his pants and push them down, while he rips my clothing off me with little effort. In seconds, we’re both naked, and he’s entering me so painstakingly slowly it literally makes my body ache. I can feel every single inch of him moving inside of me, and as he moves in and out, he gazes into my eyes, promising me a thousand different things with nothing but his stormy gaze and sculpted-from-stone body.
I grip his biceps and beg him to take me harder and deeper, but he refuses, a boyish grin gracing his lips.
“I’ll fuck you like a man that’s obsessed later, but right now, I’m going to make slow love to you, exploring every single inch of this gorgeous body while claiming it with my own heart.” I almost weep once more as he follows through with his promise, making love to me in a way that seals our hearts and bodies together forever.