"Then I should want a sister because boys are jerks?"
"Definitely not.What Maverick is trying to say, but he's being an idiot about, is that you're going to be a better sibling than we ever were.You'll have an amazing relationship with your little brother or sister."
She smiled."Babies are so cute.I just want to squeeze them."
That sounded a bit violent."You have to be gentle with them at first."
She nodded seriously."I can be gentle."
I sighed, crisis averted.If we convinced Ayla to hate her future sibling, Hudson would have kicked my ass.
Morgan organized the marbles by color."What color do you want to be?"
This I could handle.Rules and instructions for a child's game.No one should ask me for advice on siblings or love.I wasn't a good example for any of that.I'd never had a true long-term relationship.I pushed everyone away, assuming that I wasn't the guy for them.
I was fine for a good time, but for anything long-term, I wasn't the one.I didn't need to wait for a woman to tell me that.It was something I already knew about myself.I was destined to disappoint them.
Look at what I'd done to Belle.I'd stood her up.I'd hurt her.That was unforgivable, even though I'd apologized.No matter how good my reasons were, it was unforgiveable.
Ayla snapped her fingers in front of my face."You have to set up your marbles."
They'd already arranged their marbles on the board, so I quickly followed suit.I needed to focus on Ayla and not whatever was going on with Belle.
I'd go back to being a jerk.I didn't need a rule book for that.Hopefully, she'd avoid me, the project would be over soon, and then I could go back to not seeing her.
I tried not to think about the compression in my chest at the idea of not watching her through the windows.
Everything would go back to the way it was before.It was what I always wanted, to be far away from Belle.
