I reached out and wrapped my fingers around his hand. “I knew why, Blake. You were scared.”
“Psh,” he huffed and turned his head away from me. “A pussy,” he mumbled. “Swear to God, I wish I could take all of it back. All the doubt. All the hurt I caused you. If I hadn’t fucked things up . . .” His voice trailed off as he closed his eyes and swallowed hard.
I continued to rub his hand, silently comforting him. I hated myself for the way I treated him. I always understood why he’d been so hesitant, but that didn’t mean I had to like it, though.
“I could have been more patient . . .” I offered.
“Doesn’t matter much now. I fucked things up with us and now it’s too late.”
I lifted my head in confusion. “Too late?” I repeated.
Blake turned to face me again, his red-rimmed eyes filled with sadness.
“Yeah, I’m going to be an uncle.” He forced a smile that didn’t hide the slight tremble of his bottom lip.
My heart cracked in two. It had been unfair to keep the truth from him. Yet, the hilarity of my stupidity was overwhelming. So much so that I began to giggle intermittently until I was laughing. The entire time Blake was staring at me with wide eyes like I’d lost my mind. Maybe I had, but it felt so good to throw my head back and release all the bottled-up emotion, grateful for once that it wasn’t in the form of tears.
“Oh, Blake,” I gasped between fits of laughter, my free hand resting on my belly.
“Tayia? Are you all right?” He furrowed his brow, concern all over his face.
“I’m . . . I’m . . .” I took a deep breath as I worked to calm my crazy. “I’m pregnant . . .”
“Yes, I know.” He tried to remove his hand from mine. “With Brand—”
“Yours.” I tightened my hold on his hand as he tried to pull away and sit up.
“What?” His movements stilled as he winced at the pain in his ribs.
“Your baby, Blake.” He stared at me for a long time, his mouth slightly agape. Only then did it occur to me that he might not take this as happy news and that I could have chosen a better delivery. “Brando and I are only friends. I was never with him . . . in that way. Ever. I’m sorry I let you believe that there was something going on. I was wrong. So very wrong. It’s only been you, Blake. Always you.”
Silence. The only sign of life I received were sporadic blinks of his eyes.
“Blake?” I said hesitantly. “Say something.” I squeezed his hand gently in hopes of sparking some sort of reaction. “Please.”
Suddenly, he was tugging me toward him, and I allowed my body to move as he wished until I was wrapped gently in his arms.
“Tay,” he breathed against my skin as he buried his face into my neck. “I love you so much. Marry me.”
It was my turn to be shocked. I pulled back to look at his face to see that he was dead serious. I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t seem to remember how to speak. Words formed on my lips, but I couldn’t vocalize them. Thoughts filled my mind, but I couldn’t comprehend them.
“Marry me, Tay,” he repeated. “Be my wife.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Marry you?” I whispered. My mind immediately went back to the day I declared that he would be mine.
“I’m going to marry you one day, Blakey.”
Could this really be happening? The boy I’d loved since I was twelve years old was asking me to marry him. He was all I’d known. The love of my life, my soul mate, and the other half of me. It was everything I’d ever wanted, right? But for some reason, it just didn’t feel the way I thought it would. Had I forced his hand? Had he only given in because of the circumstances? Blake was an honorable man. The type of guy who would marry the girl he’d knocked up, even if that girl was me.
The smile slowly left his face and was replaced with concern, making me aware of how long it had taken me to answer.
“Tay?” He tilted his head to the side and studied me. “You okay?”
“Uh huh.” I nodded, staring into blue eyes that had owned me for as long as I could remember. I wanted to marry Blake. I really did. Just as I started to open my mouth to say something—what, I had no clue—there was a light tapping on the door followed by greetings from the doctor. I quickly pulled back from Blake and moved away from the bed as the doctor did his assessment then approved him for discharge. As soon as the nurse arrived with the necessary paperwork, prescriptions, and instructions for at home care, I excused myself to go and get my car.
Blake and I rode home in silence, his proposal hanging in the air, waiting to be acknowledged. I needed time to sort through my doubts over the reason he proposed. I wasn’t going anywhere, of that I was sure. I decided that I’d talk to him later that evening, after I’d had time to collect my thoughts, except it was nearly impossible to get anywhere near Blake, especially not alone. Maggie was fussing over him day and night, not to mention his medications made him sleep a lot.