“How you doing?” he asks as he helps his wife out of the vehicle and into the waiting chair.
“Did you call Ophelia?” Her response to him stops me cold. I had planned on leaving, taking Jesse home until the squirt arrived, but now, I’m rethinking that and fully intend to capitalize on her love for Laken by staying here. She won’t run from her best friend while she’s in labor. Which means she can’t run from me either.
Jesse and I follow along, up to labor and delivery, before we’re told to chill out in the waiting room. I grab a coffee for me and a hot chocolate for the kid, and we sit down. My eyes never leave the elevator as I wait for Ophelia to arrive. Every ding sends my heart rate spiking and then crashing when I realize it’s not her.
“She misses you too, you know,” Jesse says from next to me.
I swivel to stare at him. “How do you figure?”
His shoulder lifts as he takes a drink, his own eyes watching the entrance to the delivery rooms. “She came over last weekend, and she was really sad. Told Mom how much she loves you but doesn’t know how to get you to forgive her.”
“Forgive her?” What the hell does she need to be forgiven for? She didn’t do anything wrong.
I blink at him, and he responds, “What you said in the hospital.” I don’t even remember when she was there with me, only that Hale said she was. He stares at me like I’m an idiot, and maybe I am. “You told her to leave, Uncle T.”
Sitting back in my chair, I’m stunned. Never in my life have I wanted that woman to leave my side, and I told her to? It had to have been the drugs I was on. They were heavy-duty.
“Fuck,” I grunt, scrubbing a hand down my face as the elevator sounds. The air shifts, and I know she’s there. “Ophelia.” Standing, I want nothing more than to reach for her, but her body language is guarded. Hurt.
She looks so fucking tired as she watches me. Wary, she doesn’t come too close. “How is she?” Her question is directed at my nephew.
“Good. Cursing up a storm,” I answer before he can. I need to see her eyes.
Briefly, she glances at me, but it flits away so quickly I hardly feel it. “Okay, well…I’ll, uh, I’ll just go check on her.” Her gaze darts between us before she takes off beyond the doors of the maternity suite.
Losing her presence is like losing a limb, so I need to get her back. Without Ophelia, there is no me. A life without my Philly is no life at all. Not as far as I’m concerned.
A plan.
I need one. Spinning around, I’m confronted with Jesse’s quizzical look as he waits for me to make a move. “You want to wait around here or help me win my girl back?”
The kid pretends to ponder my question before cocking his head. “What’s your plan?”
“Not a clue, little man, not a clue.” But he’s the first to come up with one that just might work.
Ophelia
Before I got a chance to get comfortable at Laken’s bedside, Hale’s parents showed up, and because of how slow the labor was progressing, Hale asked us to go do a bunch of baby shopping. I knew my friend had been having difficulty believing she was getting the life she always wanted, but I didn’t realize she refused to buy anything. So when we step into the baby store and I see Jesse and Torque loading up on furniture, I’m not the least bit surprised.
The pain that crowds my chest when I look at Torque’s handsome face nearly brings me to my knees. More than anything else in this world, I wanted him to be my forever, but he doesn’t want that anymore. Because I ruined us, and it’s as agonizing as a blow to the gut.
I watch as Jesse greets his grandparents, and I lead my way to the baby care aisle after grabbing a cart. Loading up on diapers, wipes, creams, and swaddling blankets, I slowly wander over to the clothes and stop short when I find Torque there, and my lungs seize in my chest when I see what’s around him.
There, in the middle of the store, the racks of clothes have been moved aside, and Torque is surrounded by a heart made from red flower petals. So while I’m examining the cutest little outfits, Torque drops to his knees and pulls out a tiny box from his pocket before I feel little hands on my back, pushing me forward.
Skimming my eyes over my shoulder, I notice Jesse with a massive grin on his face. “Hear him out,” he whispers before backing off and hanging onto the cart I had, watching us.
Blowing out the breath I’ve been holding, our eyes meet, and I drown in his inky pools filled with love and desire. It’s hard to remember why we’ve been apart when his earnest expression shows me nothing but affection.
Stepping forward, I enter the heart of petals and don’t pull away when he reaches for my hand. “I love you, Philly. Have for what feels like forever.”
Biting my tongue so I don’t cry, I stare down at our twined hands. I love this man so much it hurts. But I don’t deserve him.
“I don’t remember what happened in the hospital, Philly. Jesse says I was a dick, and I believe him because I’ve been without you for too damn long, but I can’t go another day without you in my arms, so I’m begging not for your love, because I know you love me, even when you hate me, but I need your forgiveness. More than anything else, I need that so I can ask you to marry me.”
Against my best efforts, the tears I’ve been holding back spill over, and a sob so heart-wrenching breaks free, and it drops me to my knees in front of him.
“But I ruined us,” I stammer, blinking through the tears that block my vision.
Torque’s hands cup my cheeks, and he draws my entire body flush to his. “No, Philly, my sweet girl, you did not. You reacted to a horrid situation in a way that would protect you, and I’d want it no other way.” His lips capture mine, and I can’t resist anymore as I wrap my arms around him. “You forgive me?”
He grunts as he shifts back a little. “Yes,” I answer, pressing my forehead to his.
“Marry me, Philly. Make me the happiest man on this planet, and just say you’ll be mine.”
Wiping my eyes, I press my lips to his and whisper, “Oh, Torque, don’t you know? I’ve always been yours.”
Our mouths collide again as he slips the ring on my finger. Pushing one hand into my hair, he angles my head and takes control, holding me tightly to his chest as I hear cheers erupt behind us.
Pulling back, I’m breathless, teardrops strain my cheeks, and I finally look down at my ring. It’s simple but elegant, with a beautiful princess-cut diamond on a white gold band.
“It’s perfect, Torque.” We still have so much to talk about, but we’re on our way to our own happily ever after, and I couldn’t be more ecstatic. I only hope I can make him as happy as he does me.
CHAPTER 10
Ophelia
EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED.
The ring on my finger creates a kaleidoscope of color as the sun bounces off the diamond, making my heart squeeze in my chest. Torque hasn’t let go of my hand since I said yes, and now that we’re back at his house, waiting on news of Laken and the baby and with plenty of time to talk, I grow more trepidatious by the second.