“I can,” I exhale.
Eli’s eyes don’t shift from mine. He is staring at me in a way that I can’t even attempt to describe. I don’t try. Instead, I stare at him and wait for him to say something else. I know that he has something swimming around in his mind.
“Move back here—with me.”
ELI
I blurted that shit out, probably at the wrong fucking moment. I watch as Wrenly stares at me, her eyes wide as she presses her lips together. I don’t know what the fuck I said, but I do know that I meant it.
Every fucking word.
“Do what?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Move in with me. You and Ryan.”
I repeat my words, and I’m still not sure why they have come out. Maybe out of desperation, maybe out of panic.
It doesn’t matter.
I said what I said, and I fucking meant it.
I want Wrenly and Ryan with me. I don’t think I can just let them go back to Texas. I can’t watch them walk away from me, not knowing what could be. But at the same time, I can’t help but wonder if she would really stay.
Is she going to run off the way her mom and my dad did?
We stare at one another in silence, Wrenly no doubt letting my words sink in. Instead of pushing her for a response, I start to clean up dinner. Ryan is babbling in her lap, wiggling around, completely finished with the whole idea of dinner and ready to do something else.
Wrenly stays in a daze until Ryan breaks free from her grasp and slides down her leg to the floor. I watch as he begins to toddle around. My house isn’t babyproof, although I doubt there is much sitting around he could really get into. And if he broke something, I wouldn’t give a shit.
“Let me clean up. You did all that cooking.”
“I couldn’t,” I mutter.
She looks up at me from her chair, her gaze searching mine, still not having responded to my demand to have them come and live here, but then she gives me a smile. I wish I knew what she was thinking.
“Go spend some time with him. You made this amazing dinner for us and everything.”
I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with a baby who can’t have a conversation with me. I don’t really spend much time playing with or getting to know Luke’s baby. I’ve held her a few times and went to her first birthday party, but past that, I haven’t interacted with her much.
Leaving Wrenly to do the dishes, at her insistence, I make my way into the living room, where Ryan is standing at the coffee table, slapping his palm against the top and giggling. It’s cute as fuck.
I watch him walk around the room, or at least try. He falls down a few times, and each time he does, I make a move to go to him, but he just stands up and starts again. He doesn’t pull anything off any shelves, he doesn’t open any doors, he just moves as if he’s observing the place around him, then he turns to face me.
We stare at one another for a long moment in silence. Then he moves toward me. He’s got a look of pure determination on his face as he moves. Then he reaches the side of the sofa and climbs onto the cushion before he crawls over to me.
He makes his way into my lap. Wordlessly, without making so much as even a peep, he rests his head against my chest and lets out a heavy sigh. I wrap my arms around him, and for the first time in my life, I feel something warm fill me. I don’t know what it is, but my chest almost aches as my heart squeezes.
He’s mine.
And I’m never leaving him—and he’s never leaving me.
ELEVEN
WRENLY
Walkinginto the living room after having cleaned up the dishes, I pause at the sight in front of me. I try to keep from making any noises, but I fail, and my breath hitches.
If they hear me, neither of them says a word or makes a move. Neither do I. Watching them, taking them in, is something I never thought I would see.
