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He drives down Main Street, maintaining the speed limit, taking each turn to my house with ease. I never thought I d feel so safe on a motorcycle. He pulls into the driveway and turns off the bike. He removes his helmet and helps me get off first. When I pull off my helmet he starts laughing and shaking his head. What the hell is your problem? I ask as I start patting down my hair. This just proves why I should never wear a helmet. Nothing, I ve just imagined you a million times sitting behind me, but never did I imagine you d flip your hair back and forth when you took off the helmet. You ve imagined me on your bike? I ask my voice barely above a whisper. He nods and puts the kickstand down so he can get off. You re the first girl I ve ever let ride with me. He steps closer, his fingers move a strand of hair way from my face, curling it behind my ear. The only one, Jojo. He steps away, giving me some much needed space. I need to understand what just happened. He follows me into the house, through the door leading to the kitchen and dining room. He looks around, taking in my small home. Nick says we can move after we re married, but Noah and I have lived here since I left school. Not sure I want to move just yet. Noah comes running out of his room and hugs Liam. I leave them to have their moment and move into the kitchen and start preparing dinner. I made most of it last night so Liam could spend as much time as possible with Noah. Noah, did you finish your homework? No, can I finish it after Liam leaves? Can I see your homework? Maybe I can help. Noah runs up to his room, his footsteps heavy and solid. Hey, Noah? I yell. Yeah? Why don t you play a game or something for a few minutes, I need to talk to Liam. Okay, he yells back. The TV turns on instantly, loud with some auto racing game. Thank you for this, Josie. I smile and nod, not sure how to respond. I m supposed to leave tomorrow, but Noah says he has a game on Friday and I really don t want to miss it. I turn on the oven and place dinner inside to heat up. I motion for Liam to sit at the table. He pulls out my chair for me, something Nick has never done. I sit down, clasping my hands in front of me. Did you really not know? I ask. I hate asking, but I need to know. Liam shakes his head, his eyes focusing on something& anything but me. When he meets my eyes, I can see the pain, he s telling the truth. I found your agent or whatever and called, I start, hating that I have to relive this time of my life. A time when I felt so desperate to reach him, when I needed him the most and he wasn t there. I left message after message until someone finally called back and said that you told them that you didn t know me. Liam reaches for my hand. He pulls it to his forehead. I didn t know. I would ve come home and done things the right way. Noah doesn t know. He knows that Nick isn t his dad, but sometimes it s just easier for him to tell people that he is. I don t want him hurt, Liam and I m afraid that if I let this happen you ll disappear tomorrow. I won t. I know my word is shit to you, but I ll do anything to prove it. I want to be his dad. He s supposed to be ours, Jojo, and I fucked that up. I can t keep the tears at bay when he says things like this. No wonder he s a freaking song writer and makes millions of women fall in love with his music. We can tell him tonight, if you want I want to, but No, Liam, no buts. I just told you I don t want him hurt. It s not like that. I have to go back to L.A. and I was going to leave tomorrow, but he asked me to come to his game so I cleared my schedule for the week so I can stay and see him play. I'll have to go back for work, but once he knows, I can come back once a month to see him. We can figure out the rest from there. I knew his lifestyle would dictate how much of a dad he was going to be. I m not sure if I thought he d move back here or not. I know, I say softly. I want to say what about me, but I have Nick and he s been really great to me and Noah. I ll go get Noah so he can start hating me. Liam reaches for my hand, pulling me back down. He won t hate you; I won t allow it. I nod and release his hand. I take a moment to compose myself before calling for Noah. He comes thundering down with a smile on his face. He looks just like Liam when he smiles. Liam looks up when we walk into the room. If I didn t know better I d think that he d been crying. We sit down, Noah in between us. He looks at Liam, then me, smiling. We ve got something to tell you. CHAPTER 19 LIAM Okay, Noah says. I can feel his leg start to swing under the table. Reaching down, I set my hand on his knee, calming his jitters. Josie shifts in the chair, leaning closer to Noah. I do the same thing, although I m not sure why. I look at her and raise my eyebrow. We didn t discuss who was going to tell him. I think it should be her. I can t see myself blurting out that I m his dad. My luck it would come out like Darth Vader minus the respiratory issues. Josie clears her throat and smiles at Noah. Remember when you asked me if Liam was my [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
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