“Do you want kids at all?”
She breathes heavily, avoiding eye contact, which is unusual.
“What’s going on?” I ask, confused.
The silence surrounding us is pregnant with tension. Clearly, I led us here but I don’t know how or why. Gianna bites her lip as her breathing grows strained. If I’ve ever seen her in discomfort or saw her anxious, it’s now.
It takes her a full minute of fighting herself over whatever is bothering her before she makes a decision. I hold my breath, curious but also on edge. I don’t like the look on her face. Not at all.
She gasps a shaky breath and shrugs. “We probably need to have this conversation now and get it over with.”
“Um, what conversation?”
She shifts in her seat, gripping the edge of the sofa like she might take off running at any minute. “When we started this whole fake real dating, it was supposed to be fun for six weeks?—”
“Gianna.”
“—and it has been fun. It’s been amazing.You’re amazing. But you said it best on our first date.” She drags her eyes to mine as if she’s about to take a bullet. “Under normal circumstances, we’d never be together.”
I flinch.What the fuck is going on?“What are you talking about?”
“Drake—”
“I said that weeks ago when we were first getting to know each other,” I say, panic rising in my throat. “Hell, I probably said it so that you didn’t bolt.” I narrow my gaze, so utterly confused. “Where are you going with this?”
She stands up and moves across the room. Her eyes are wild, her chest rising and falling like she’s struggling for air. She doesn’t want to say this—she doesn’t go wherever she’s headed. But I don’t know where that is and I can’t stop her.
“We have fun together,” she says, her lips quivering. “But we aren’t supposedto betogether.”
I snort. “I absolutely disagree.”
Her head whips to mine, and for the briefest moment, I see a flash of hope in her eyes.
“Did I do something wrong? Did I hurt you or offend you somehow?” I ask.
“No.” She licks her lips. “But you did tell me that you loved me in your sleep last night.”
Oh. The air stops moving around us.That’s what’s going on.
My heart pounds as the blanket is jerked off the baby. It all makes sense.
I might’ve been sleeping, but for Gianna, love is a choice. And I added to the pressure, essentially making her feel like I took her choice away.
Her eyes fill with unshed tears. But like the fighter she is, she holds them back. I want to grab her, hold her, and kiss this ridiculous fear out of her. But if I do that, she’ll push back. She’ll feel more cornered than she already does.
Still, I do love her, and it’s not wrong that she knows it. She’s just going to need time to accept it.
“I didn’t mean to tell you that way,” I say gently. “I didn’t plan on telling you anytime soon because I knew you’d do this. So, I’m sorry I said it how I said it, but I’m not sorry that you know the truth—something you probably knew anyway.”
Gianna ignores this. “You and I are such different people. Sure, we can fuck and have a good time. But this isn’t something that goes on forever.” She draws in a shaky breath. “You’re from this big, wonderful family, and you’ll naturally want one of your own. And I just … I don’t fit in that world.”
“According to who? Don’t I get a say in who fits into my world?”
“Sure, you do. But you’ve already told me who that is, and that profileisn’t me.”
She laughs sadly, and the sound is clogged with emotion. It smashes my heart into a million pieces. Each shard slices as it hits, and I feel the burn in my chest.
“You aren’t seeing this for what it is. It’s been almost five weeks, Drake. You haven’t had time to think about what this would mean in the long term. I will disappoint you. I promise.”
