CHAPTER 31
RYAN

“Do you think you’ll like D.C.?” Jason asked.

“I don’t know. I’m sure it’ll go better than Tell City, though,” I said.

I grinned over at my brother as we began to pack up our things. I still had a couple of weeks before I had to report, but I was ready to get out of Indiana. Thinking about everything I had risked hurt too fucking much. I had ruined my chances at a life I was so close to having, but with the opportunity presented to me to avoid prison and start over on the right side of the law, I could ill afford to dwell on the past. I couldn’t afford to stay in love with Grace when I couldn’t be with her. And, I couldn't afford to stay in a town where I had planned and implemented an armed bank robbery.

It was time I made a fresh start and tried to do life the right way.

“Jason?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you ok with all of this?” I asked him.

He smiled at me and nodded. “Yeah, I’m good. As long as we’re together, bro, I’m good.”

I ruffled his hair and continued to pack the things I wanted to take with us.

“Have you talked with Grace at all?”

I sighed and closed my eyes before I nodded my head.

“How did it go?” Jason asked.

“The answer to that question would require a very strong drink,” I said.

“Well, I can’t drink. But we’ve got sodas?”

“I could go for a soda,” I said, with a grin.

Jason walked out of the room and I listened as he shuffled down the hallway. I had a couple of places lined up for me to talk to once we got on the road. Hopefully, by the time we crossed the country and landed in D.C., I would have a home for Jason and I secured. I had enough money to get us by until I got my first paycheck, and it would give Jason time with me to figure out what his next move was.

But I could sense he would be starting college earlier than expected.

A knock came at the door and I groaned. Who the hell was here? Probably kids selling something. I folded up the last of my clothes and put them into my suitcase and heard a familiar voice down the hallway.

“Hey, Jason. Is Ryan here?”

“Yeah. He’s packing. You wanna come in, Grace?”

I furrowed my brow as I started out of the room.

“Grace?” I asked.

Rounding the corner, I saw her standing there, as beautiful as ever. Her hair was brushing against her shoulders and her body was clad in a beautiful little dress. I held my breath, scared that if I breathed or blinked, she would be gone.

“I’ll just—step out for a while,” Jason said.

Then the front door closed and we were left alone in the silence.

Grace looked around the room, surveying a few of the boxes we had already packed. We weren’t taking much with us, just whatever we could shove into my car. The rest would be dropped at the nearest donation center.

“So, you’re really leaving?” she asked.

“I have to,” I said.

“But what if I—?”

I furrowed my brow as Grace drew in a deep breath.

“What is it?” I asked. “Is something wrong?”

“Yes,” she said. “Something’s very wrong.”

I felt my heart stop in my chest. A million thoughts were running through my head and I was so distracted I didn’t feel her slip her arms around my neck. Or press her warm body into mine. Or even lean her forehead against my skin.

It wasn’t until our lips met that I was pulled from my trance.

My hands fell to her hips, gripping her tightly. Willing her to stay in her spot as our tongues connected. My eyes closed and my head exploded with fireworks, as electricity shot throughout my system. I wrapped my arms around her back and pulled her close, committing every dip, curve and taste of her to memory.

She pulled back and I already missed her. Missed the feeling of her lips against my skin.

“I want our child to have a father, Ryan.”

Our foreheads connected and I let out a heavy sigh. My hands pressed into the small of her back, angling her hips into mine. I massaged her skin, breathed her air. I was trying to push the reality of our situation out of the way and enjoy her while she was in my arms.

But I couldn’t.

“It’s not possible,” I said. “I have to go to D.C.”

“But I want you to be a part of Harper’s life, too. She’s been asking about you for—for days.”

“I’m a criminal, Grace. She’ll eventually figure that out.”

“She’ll also know you’re a good man,” she said. “A man worth having in her life.”

“Do you believe that?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said, her eyes connecting with mine. “I do.”

“How?” I asked.

“Because, despite everything that happened, I get it.”

“You get what?”

“I get why you fell into that lifestyle. Why it was so easy for you. You didn’t do it because you were greedy or selfish. You did it because you had a brother to provide for and you needed to do it immediately. That doesn’t excuse the road you took, but your intentions behind it are just as important to me.”

“You can’t possibly believe that. I don’t even believe that.”

“Well, I do,” she said. “And I want you to be a part of our life. I want you to be a physical part of our child’s life.”

“I can’t stay, Grace. The job’s in D.C. If I turn it down, I go to prison.”

“I’m not asking you to turn it down.”

I furrowed my brow as I lifted my gaze to meet hers.

“Then what are you asking?”

“If you can promise me that you’re done with that life forever, then I want you back. In whatever capacity that means,” Grace said.

“Even if that were possible, that would mean you’d have to come to D.C. with me. That would be the only way we could be together.”

“Then it’s a good thing I already quit my job,” she said, with a grin.

“You what?” I asked.

“I quit my job. I figure I’ve got more options in Washington than I do in Tell City. If you’ll have me. Us.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. Grace wanted to come with us? To D.C.? I picked her up in my arms and swung her around, burying my face into the crook of her neck. She was clinging to me. Like she had these past few weeks. Like she had in high school.

Like she had the day I first told her I loved her.

“I love you so much,” I said, into her skin.

“I love you, too. You’re going to be a wonderful father, Ryan.”

Setting her down on her feet I mashed my lips into hers. I was holding the universe in my arms. I was holding my future. My family. The woman I had always loved. As our lips undulated and our teeth clattered together, I thought about our life in D.C. How I would go to work and come home and she would be there, smiling and waiting for me. Our children running around and dinner only halfway cooked as I brushed the hair from her face.

A life I thought I would never have, and it was wrapped up in my arms.

“Are you guys done yet?”

Jason opened the front door and stood there, leaning against the doorway with a grin on his cheeks.

“Because I’m hungry for lunch.”

“Oh, you’re hungry,” I said. “Well, how does pizza sound?”

“I’m down with it,” Jason said.

“Believe it or not, that sounds pretty good right about now,” Grace said.

“Then the pizza’s on me,” I said.