After Us (Next Generation #6) - J.M. Walker Page 0,35
gave birth to your kid, Jaron.” I could feel the rage burning through me and I waited for it to blow, but luckily for us both, his next words stopped that from happening.
“No, I’m not jealous.” Jaron leaned down until he was eye level with me. “You want to know why? Because you gave birth to my baby. I’m the only man you’ve let fuck you without a condom and I went to Paris for you.”
“I never asked you to do that.” He couldn’t possibly be blaming me for something I never suggested.
“I know that,” he said, his voice rough. “Fuck, Piper.” He pulled away from me and leaned against the wall opposite me. “Listen, I went to Paris because I needed to know that what I felt for you wasn’t just one-sided.”
“Really?”
“I did. When I told Cyrus and Sammy why we were going to Paris, they jumped on the idea. I only told them that I was going after you and they never asked any more questions. Even Sammy, and he hates the idea of a relationship. Or he did at the time anyway.” Jaron ran a hand through his hair, blowing out a huff. “What I’m saying is that,” he took a step toward me, “it’s you and me against the world, baby. I knew this would be hard, but I didn’t realize just how hard.” And that was the most honest thing he had said since he had been home.
“Do you think we’d still be here if you never went to Paris?”
He tilted his head, thinking a moment. “I’m not sure,” he finally said. “I’d like to say that if it was meant to be, which I know it was, then we would be here whether I went to Paris or not but maybe we’d have a harder time of it. Or you would be with someone else and so would I. But I’d like to take you back to Paris one day.”
“Since it started it all,” I finished for him.
“Exactly.” He closed the distance between us and placed a soft peck on my mouth. “It started everything.”
I cupped the back of his neck when he went to pull away and tugged him down harder, needing to feel him against me.
“Listen, I’ll go to the grocery store and grab some new formula,” Jaron murmured against my lips. “Anything else you need? What did you want for supper?”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask if we could go out for dinner, but I hadn’t been out in so long, just the idea of being around people, sent a nervous flutter racing through me. Maybe over time that could happen.
“What is it?” he asked, tilting his head.
“I just…I want to go on that date.” My face burned at my confession.
He gave me a small smile.
Much to my surprise, he wrapped his arms around me, pushing his face into the crook of my neck like he always did.
“I want to go on that date too, baby,” he whispered.
My heart stuttered. Returning the embrace, I pulled him tighter. “You do?”
“Yes.” His mouth found the side of my throat, placing a soft peck there.
I sighed, wishing we could stay like this forever. Just him, Brynn, and I but I knew we would have to face reality sooner than later.
Jaron leaned back, cupping my face and placing a soft kiss on my forehead.
My eyes fluttered closed.
“We’ll get through this.” His voice was soft. “I promise we will.”
I believed him. I had to. We had to take this one day at a time. While we needed to talk some more, for the moment, I just wanted to give Brynn a bath and snuggle with her while watching some mindless show on TV for the day.
While I got Brynn ready for her bath, I made it a mission to find out everything I could about Jaron. What his hobbies were. Did he have a job? His mom had told me that he worked for his Aunt Zillah at her auto repair shop but that was all I knew. His hands weren’t stained with grease from a car. Not like Shade’s hands.
“Hey, baby girl. Are you ready for a bath?” I lifted Brynn out of her highchair, getting a babble of baby chatter. I laughed at whatever it was she was trying to tell me.
Before I could bring Brynn to the bathroom, Jaron kissed my cheek and placed a peck on her head.
He kissed me one last time before leaving the house.