A softer version of Tucker’s voice pulls my attention back to him.
“About what?”
He casts his eyes out the kitchen window, bracing his elbows on the counter in front of him. “About a lot of things that went down, but specifically about you and me.”
In the blink of an eye, the confidence I was previously feeling fades, replaced with total uncertainty. Of all the potential reasons he had to show up here, I never expected our former relationship to be one of them. That day I called him about the scan told me everything I needed to know about his feelings and how much Tucker truly cared about us.
Or at least I thought it did.
With his pointer finger, Tucker absentmindedly draws patterns on my kitchen island, lips twisting to the side. “I know that I’ve been a jerk, so you can spare me the reminder.”
My brows shoot to my hairline. “Who’s to say that was what I was thinking?”
Beneath hooded eyelids, he flashes me a look I can’t decipher. “Why wouldn’t you be thinking that? I know I would.”
This is Tucker’s version of an apology, and while I really didn’t need one, my daughter definitely does.
“If you’re trying to tell me that you want to be a part of Blake’s life, then just know that I would never stop you.”
His pointer finger pauses in place, although he still doesn’t look at his baby girl. “I want to be a part of both of your lives.”
If I wasn’t holding Blake, I’d probably fall off my stool. I heard what he said just fine, but disbelief has me asking to repeat his last statement.
This whole situation is clearly killing him, but not in the way I’ve witnessed in Emmett. Tucker’s persona is protective andguarded, whereas Emmett’s has always been a battle of will, a pure display of vulnerability. And that realization sends my mind reeling, wondering what the fuck must be going through Emmett’s head as he pounds the Brooklyn streets, rain now beating against the sidewalks.
My arms hold Blake a little tighter.
Dropping his head into his hands, Tucker releases an exasperated groan. “Say something, Billie. For fuck’s sake, please say something.”
I open my mouth to give him something. In the end, only silence materializes.
He pulls at the roots of his dark hair; meanwhile, I’m still fighting to believe that this is all really happening.
“Did you meet someone else?” he asks, cocking his head at my front door.
“Nope,” I simply respond. My dating life is really none of Tucker’s business.
He puffs out a breath. “Huh, okay.”
As Blake finishes up her feed, I refasten my top and climb down from the stool, heading for the bedroom so I can set her down for a nap.
To do that, I need to pass Tucker, and just as I feared, he catches my elbow, stopping me in my tracks.
“Do you want to hold her?” I ask again, perfectly aware that’s not why he stopped me.
Heavy heartbeats thump against my rib cage as I let my eyes wander to Tucker’s.
The confession as it leaves him is one I longed to hear back in Austin, but I feel absolutely nothing as he admits, “I came here for you, Billie. To make it right between us and to be a father to our child.”
Gaze locked ahead on my bedroom door, I stand stock-still. “And I already told you that I would never stand in the way of any healthy relationship you wanted to have with Blake.”
His fingers squeeze my elbow tighter. “Why are you ignoring what I said about us?”
Stepping forward, I break from his grasp, quickly entering my bedroom and setting a sleeping Blake in her bassinet.
Tucker’s in the doorway to my room when I stand back up, his eyes studying my unmade double bed. He’d be wrong to assume that I’ve had anyone else in there with me.
Pushing past him, I head straight for the coffee maker. “Do you want a drink?”
