I acted.” He made eye contact with her once more.
Her heart thudded against her ribs and she couldn't look away from his stare. When he looked at her like that, like he really saw her, it did things to her insides. When was the last time anyone had taken the time to really see her?
Tahiti. The race track. His apartment.
“Thanks for saying that,” she whispered.
He jerked his fingers through his hair again and finally looked around the room. His chest rose and fell until he finally caught her stare again. “Look, I know we don’t really know each other that well, but…” His eyebrows drew down and his jaw went tight as if he were fighting some inner battle. “Could you not make any permanent decisions until we’ve had a chance to talk about it more?”
The look in his eyes, the distress she saw there, hit her like a sucker punch to the gut. He was scared. Her heart thudded against her ribs. Did he...
“You want to keep it?” Her voice broke and a dull ache started in her chest. She’d only had an hour to digest what he’d told her over the phone, and had all but figured that he’d push her to get rid of it. What single twenty four year old guy wouldn’t? Add in the fact that they were stuck in the middle of the scandal of the year and she never considered that he’d want this. Of all the scenarios that had run through her head, and there had been a lot, none had been of Ethan telling her this was okay.
Fresh tears burned her eyes.
He reached out and laid one hand over hers. “I know it’s your body and it’s a lot to ask...” his voice cracked and her fingers curled around his without any go ahead from her brain. He cleared his throat and she felt the way his hand grasped at hers. “And the shit storm that is all around us isn’t going away anytime soon, but…”
Her heart lodged against her ribs.
When he looked up, his eyes were soft, vulnerable, and a tear slid down over her cheek before she even realized it.
He reached out with his free hand, tentatively and giving her time to push him away, but she didn’t because she knew what he was going to do. He slid his big hand under the bottom of her sweatshirt and pushed it under until it rested against her still flat stomach.
“That’s my kid in there, Harper. Ours.” His voice had turned thick, so low and deep that she could almost feel it. “The how and why aren't important right now, okay? All that matters is this.” He pressed just a little harder where there was now a baby. Their baby growing inside her.
Her shoulders shook. He let go of her hand and brought his to her face. He cupped her jaw, ran his thumb along her chin. His gaze was steady and raw and real.
“So to answer your question? Fuck yes I want to keep it, Harper. More than anything else in the world right now.”
She crumpled. Sobs burst from her chest and she felt him lean in, wrap his arms around her back and pull her against his chest. It wasn't until that moment that she knew her own truth.
She turned her face, pressed it deeper into the groove of his neck and took a ragged breath in. The entire situation was against them, but maybe together...
“Me too,” she whispered against his skin.
His entire body relaxed and he dragged her onto his lap, held her tighter as she listened to the heartbeat thundering in his chest. Right that minute, cradled in his arms, she could really believe that everything would be okay.
That they could do this even with all the horrible things her father was doing to hurt Ethan’s family. She had to believe that there was a chance because the alternative would tear her apart.
“I’m staying with you tonight,” Ethan whispered against her ear. “I’m not leaving you alone after everything that’s happened.”
The warm breath raised goose bumps over her arms. All at once she was aware of his thumb softly stroking the exposed skin along her stomach between her shirt and yoga pants. When he brushed her hair back from her shoulder and pressed his lips there, her breath caught in her chest.
She didn’t want to think about tomorrow or the fact that no matter what they decided, their families were enemies. They might as well be