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  I put my arms around her and sobbed. “I’m just so sorry for everything. You’ve always been there for me. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  She relaxed in my arms and we held each other for several moments before movement in my peripheral made me turn my head. My dad was standing in the doorway of the kitchen with his arms crossed and a small smile on his face.

  “For the record, I always knew,” he said as he stepped forward. “Dads sense these things about their daughters. It’s hard to miss when the adoration in their eyes shifts to someone else.” I untangled myself from Maggie and went to him, relieved that he instantly wrapped his arms around me and kissed the top of my head. “I love you, doll. I just want to see you happy.”

  “I am, Dad.” I sniffled as tears worked their way down my cheeks and through his blue cotton T-shirt.

  “Good, that’s all that matters to me.” Then he gave me a tight squeeze. “Now, where’s my shotgun? We got a wedding to plan.”

  My eyes went wide at his words while Maggie giggled softly behind me.

  “Relax, doll, I’m kidding.” My dad had no clue just how much his joke had touched a nerve. It was so not how I envisioned my life with Blake would begin. A shotgun wedding, me waddling down the aisle trying not to pretend like the only reason we were getting married was because of the baby.

  I couldn’t complain, I guess. It was exactly what I wanted, wasn’t it? To be with Blake, anyway I could have him.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. While the conversation with my dad and Maggie had eased some of my worries, I still hadn’t resolved anything as far as Blake and I were concerned. The clock said that it was one in the morning as I tiptoed downstairs. The house was quiet, except for the muffled sounds coming from Blake’s television. I padded my way across the living room to his door and peered through the opening. The faint blue haze flickering with the movement on the TV screen was all I could see.

  Blake’s head turned in my direction and he spoke my name. “Tay? Is that you?”

  I pushed the door open wider and stepped inside. “Hey, how are you feeling?”

  “Well, the meds are kicking in, so not too bad.” He chuckled and gently patted his tightly wrapped ribs. The bruising around his eyes had faded to yellow. The cut on his forehead had healed to the point it didn’t need a bandage. Every day he started to look more and more like himself.

  “Good.” I settled next to him on the bed.

  “How are you?” he asked as he shifted slightly to face me.

  “I’m okay.” My gaze went to the old black and white movie he’d been watching. He’d always been in to the classics. When he grabbed my hand, a shiver went through me. How could a touch that small affect me in such a big way?

  “I talked to my mom and Chris.”

  “I know. I talked to them, too.”

  “You were right this whole time. I was acting like a coward and for no reason.”

  “When you value something so much, you don’t want to take any chances.” I shrugged.

  “I do. I value you so much. You mean everything to me. It just took nearly dying to figure that out.” Blake chuckled dryly. “The worst part is, when I finally get it and want to make things right, you turn me down.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Tayia, I asked you to marry me and you didn’t respond. Not only that, you’ve been avoiding me. I’ve been home three days and this is the first time I’ve seen you.”

  “You needed your rest . . .”

  “Bullshit.”

  He was right. I couldn’t face him. I wasn’t ready to accept that he was settling for me or that our circumstances were driving our future, not our hearts.

  “Look at me.” Blake placed his hands on the sides of my face, forcing me to meet his gaze. “Do you love me?”

  “Yes,” I replied without hesitation. His eyes were like truth detectors. I couldn’t deny it even if I wanted to.

  “Then marry me.”

  “Blake . . .”

  “I don’t get it!” Exasperated, he released my face and leaned back. “You said you wanted to be in the open. Well, here we are!” He stretched his arms out to his sides. “Our parents know, our friends know. Shit, the entire island probably knows by now. There are no burning torches outside or townspeople carrying pitchforks. Nobody cares. And even if they did, so what? Now, what’s holding you back?”

  “You,” I blurted, deciding to give him the truth.

  “Me?” His face twisted with confusion. “Me? Tayia, I love you.” He sat forward and reached for my stomach. “I love our baby.”

  I blocked his hand with my own. “That’s the problem. Would any of this be happening right now if there were no baby?” Blake stared at me for several seconds, like I’d somehow grown an extra eyeball.

  “You have no idea how much it hurt to know that I’d lost you. That I let my own stupidity get in the way of being with you. When I thought you were having Brando’s baby, it crushed me. If he were the type of guy to run away from his responsibilities, maybe it would have been different, but he isn’t. He’s a standup guy. Just knowing that he was going to have the life with you that I wanted made me want to leave and never come back, but I couldn’t do it. Any part of you was better than no part at all.” The words I knew were tattooed on his ribs suddenly made sense,

  “Be with me always. Take any form. Drive me mad.”

  He shifted so that he could swing his legs over the side of the bed. Once he was seated next to me, he grabbed my hand. “The day you told me the baby was mine, it was the happiest day of my life. It meant that I got a second chance to do what I should have done all along. Make you mine. Forever.”

  His words were penetrating the wall of protection I’d built around my heart. It was the reassurance I’d needed, even though deep down I’d always known how he felt. I just didn’t trust myself to believe it. Slowly, he scooted to the floor, his face growing tight with pain.

  “Blake, don’t—” I reached for his arm and tried to pull him up.

  “No, please let me do this.” He shook my hand away and pulled open the drawer in the nightstand. “Tayia Christine Jones, I have loved you since I was fourteen. I didn’t know then what the ache in my chest meant, and by the time I figured it out, I knew I couldn’t act on it. I was willing to settle for having you smile at me the way you do whenever I walk into the room. Being with you feels like home, where I belong.” He grabbed my left hand and I felt something cool slide up my ring finger.

  “Marry me and be mine, always.” I looked down to see his grandmother’s diamond ring. It hadn’t been worn for years because she claimed to have no use for frivolities in her old age, but man, it was a gorgeous piece of jewelry. It was a round diamond set in a floral design with tiny stones forming the accompanying leaves on either side of the white gold band.

  “Isn’t my love enough?” His uncertain eyes held mine, and I could see so much hope and passion there. It made me wonder how I could have ever doubted him.

  My beautiful boy. My soul mate. The other half of me.

  “Oh, Blake. Your love is the only thing I need. Yes, I will marry you.” Tears were streaming down my cheeks as I pulled his face to mine and kissed him hard.

  Our entire story had just been rewritten. We had somehow managed to let go of all the secrets and move past the uncertainties that had kept us apart. Through it all, we became stronger and more in love than ever before.

  “So, is now a good time to say I told you so?” I said. His face crinkled with confusion. “I told you I would marry you one day, Blakey.” I smiled triumphantly while he threw his head back and laughed.

  *****

  My fingers gripped the edge of the bed and held steady through each thrust. I loved the feel of him, and from this angle, he could set every nerve ending on fire. Blake’s hand traced the curve of my spine, causing me to arch my back.

  “You feel amazing, you know that? Always so good.” B
lake groaned as he slid in and out of my slick channel. When his movements changed to slow and deliberate thrusts, I had to bite down on my bottom lip to keep from crying out.

  “No, don’t keep quiet. It’s just us here.” He was right. Sometimes, especially in moments of passion, I forgot that we had the house all to ourselves. No roommates and no guests. And we were no longer a dirty secret. Well, at least not the secret part. Dirty was another thing entirely . . .

  I could never get enough of the feel of his hands on my body and the way he touched my insides. No longer able to hold it in, I threw my head back and moaned. This encouraged Blake to move faster, his thrusts carrying me all the way to the edge, and then suddenly he was gone. I opened my eyes and turned my head to see him smiling behind me with a wicked grin before he was turning me over to lay on my back.

  “I want to see your beautiful face when you come,” he said against my lips. I pulled back to stare into those ocean blue eyes I loved with all my heart. Sometimes I couldn’t believe that we were together . . . and happy.

  I wrapped my arms around him as he parted my thighs. As soon as he found my wetness, he slipped inside, filling me completely in one swift motion.

  “God, Tay. I love you so much.”

  “I love you, Blake.” I pulled his face down to mine and he covered my mouth with his. Our tongues entwined as we rocked together, working to find the right rhythm until we were ready to find release. He rested one arm on the bed and used the other hand to bring my leg up and over his hip. His timing was perfect. Just that slight switch at the right moment had me gasping and clutching him to me. He pressed kisses along my neck as I lightly raked my nails down his back.

  “You ready, baby? I need you there with me,” he groaned, his breathing heavy. He was close, but I was even closer.

  “Yes, now. I’m ready now.”

  He concentrated on working the spot he knew would set me off and we gave into our release together, our hands joined and moaning into each other’s mouths.

  Once we finally returned to earth, Blake became aware of his position on top of me and quickly moved away.

  “Pretty soon, this whole thing is going to get tricky.” He chuckled while rubbing a hand over my little, round belly. Peanut was now the size of a papaya, which put me at twenty-two weeks. We decided to not find out the sex of the baby because there were only so many good surprises in life.

  Our entire story came as a complete surprise to everyone, including us. It took the possibility of losing each other to realize that no matter the risk, we would face the future together.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “I can’t watch.” Jonna hid her face behind my shoulder. “Just tell me when it’s over.”

  “No way. If we’ve all had to endure it, so can you,” Harley replied, not feeling the least bit sympathetic.

  The sound of engines revving filled the air. It had been a few months since Blake’s accident, and Knight was relentless on setting up another race night. He had been itching to get at King and prove he was the rightful King of the Carolinas. Fox, Neil, and Blake were also on the hook. Something about reputation, and all that. I was dead set against it, but I knew it was something Blake needed to get out of his system if he was ever going to feel confident behind the wheel of a racecar again.

  So, during the weeks prior to the race, he worked on the Camaro that technically wasn’t street race ready, but it was all he had. King and Fox came over to help get the car to a place where he was comfortable using it to compete.

  On race night, I watched as the crew prepped the Camaro and brought it to the starting line while my heart felt like it was going to sink into the pit of my stomach. I knew how important it was to him to do this, and I hoped it was worth it. When the race master, Jungle Jim, took his place in front of Blake and the white Pontiac Le Mans, he waved both cars forward. With engines rumbling and smoke flying, the race master took three steps back and clicked on the flashlight. Both cars took off simultaneously with the Le Mans pulling slightly ahead. With each passing second, my disappointment for Blake grew. While he was on the tail of the white car, he didn’t seem to be able to pull in front. Then, as if things couldn’t get worse, the Le Mans started to wobble from side to side, causing Blake to steer away in an attempt to avoid a collision. Both cars kept speeding forward on unsteady tires as I heard myself begin to scream.

  Oh no, not again!

  Blake was the first to recover, and a split second later, he was crossing the finish line, beating the Le Mans by half a car length. My shrieks of terror turned into howls of excitement.

  “He did it! He did it!” I was running to the Camaro just as Blake was returning to the starting line. As soon as he saw me, he threw the car in park and jumped out, meeting me halfway.

  “Oh my God, you did it!” I threw my arms around his neck as he picked me up and swung me in circles. I could feel his heart beating rapidly against his chest as he squeezed me tightly to him. He had been scared to death and riding on an adrenaline high at the same time. “You won, Blakey. You did it and you won!” He nodded but didn’t speak as he continued to hold me.

  “Well, ain’t that some cute shit,” Knight said from behind us. “I hate to break up this fuckin’ weird brother-sister moment, but we’ve got more races and I need you to get your car off the line.”

  Blake released me and narrowed his eyes at Knight. If only they’d been able to race each other.

  Maybe someday.

  Following Blake’s race, Fox successfully dragged his opponent. The gap between the Viper and the other car was so far it was really quite embarrassing.

  “Too easy!” Fox shouted as he got out of the car and Harley threw herself into his waiting arms. His win put him at number two on Knight’s list.

  The final race of the night was the event everyone had been waiting for. Adam King, the former King of the Carolinas, and the new self-proclaimed King, Hunter Knight. Months back, Knight had sneakily used King’s rules against him to steal the title away and take over his list.

  It was redemption time.

  King confidently strode up to Knight and stared him down as the rules were discussed. Knight would be racing in the right lane and King would take the left. The red Mustang was ready and roaring in no time as Knight pulled his Corvette to the starting line with his usual sneer.

  “I can’t look,” Jonna said again as she continued to hide behind me. I knew how she felt. Street racing was a dangerous sport, and when the man you love was the one doing the driving, it was like watching your heart fly down the road at one hundred and fifty miles an hour.

  Blake and Fox were gathered around King’s car, helping with last minute preparations.

  “It’s all going to be fine.” I patted Jonna’s hand while Harley gave a reassuring smile.

  “King’s the best. Have faith.”

  Jonna tried to return the smile, but I knew it was hard. So much was riding on this win. Was King really the fastest? What if Knight out raced him?

  We wouldn’t have to wait long to find out because Jungle Jim had taken his place in front of the red Mustang and the black Corvette. The sound of engines revving was the indicator that the race was about to start. Both cars were at the starting line, shaking and growling like two ugly beasts being held back by chains. When Jungle Jim clicked the light on, the metaphoric chains snapped. The roar was so loud and angry that I had to put hands to my ears as my teeth rattled. We all held our breath as both cars disappeared down the road. From where we were standing, it was hard to tell who was in the lead.

  “Go, baby. Go, baby,” Jonna whispered behind me, her eyes glued on the red Mustang. “You got it,” she said a little louder. “You got it!” she shouted and started jumping up and down. “You got it!” I craned my neck to the side in time to see King cross the line just barely ahead of Knight.

  Everyone was cheering and roaring in victory. The King had reclaimed the throne.

  When King drove back to the line, Jonna ran to me
et him. I looked to Knight’s car to see that there was no one running in his direction. Hell, even during times when Fox had lost a race, he still had Harley all over him, his own personal cheerleader regardless of the outcome.

  I looked at what Knight had compared to King, Fox, and Blake. He didn’t have much. Sure, he came from money, and some girls might think he was attractive, but he didn’t have the things that really mattered. Underneath it all, he was envious. It was probably the reason he talked so much shit and caused so much trouble. Part of me felt sorry for him while the other part knew he’d made his own bed. Maybe one day he’d have a chance to turn it all around. Maybe.

  But for now . . .

  “Hear ye, hear ye, the King has returned!” someone shouted as King took his place standing in the black truck bed he was famous for using to make his announcements.

  “I want it to be said right here and now that I earned my title rightfully, and anyone who disputes that and wants to challenge me, speak right fuckin’ now or forever hold your peace.”

  When nobody said anything, he directed his gaze at Knight.

  “Still think you’ve got the best line up? Wanna challenge me and my crew? We got nothin’ but time.”

  “Psh.” Knight threw a dismissive wave in King’s direction, looking extremely pissed that King had addressed him like that in front of the crowd. “You and your crew ain’t shit. Fuck your list.”

  “All right, as soon as we race your ass off my list, you’re done.”

  “It’s sweet you think it’s that easy. See you fucks next week.” Then he got into the Corvette and roared off.

  “From now on,” King announced to the crowd still gathered around, “anyone who runs with Knight ain’t got a chance in hell of finding a place on my list.” Then he hopped down from the truck and collected his wife, who was looking at him with pride. The crowd parted in respect as the two walked away together, hand in hand.