Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
SAVANNAH
“You’re such a brat, Savvy. Did you seriously have to go to the school nurse?” Mom mutters as she pushes me into our apartment—or, better said, her boyfriend’s apartment.
“I didn’t go,” I protest and stumble forward, grabbing the table and steadying myself. Barely. “My teacher sent me when I threw up.”
“Noisy little bitch.” Mom’s eyes meet mine, and I can see anger shining in them. “You’re a fucking responsibility I never should have had. I should have gotten rid of you when I had the chance so you wouldn’t drag me down. But did I do it? No. Of course not. I thought you’d be useful and your daddy would take care of us, but what a fucking joke that was. He knew how big of a nuisance you’d be even before you were born, so he left. Go to your room. I don’t want to get whatever stomach bug you have. Rick won’t appreciate it.”
With that, she pushes me into the closet that is dubbed as my room and slams the door, the loud bang making the wall rattle.
I suck in a sharp breath, my eyes flying open. My breathing is ragged as I look around the room, and it takes me a moment to realize where I am.
Grams’ house.
I came to Grams’ house since my cottage was flooded. I was in her guest room, one of the rare rooms I managed to make habitable after everything that happened yesterday, and then I crashed. But apparently, even utter exhaustion couldn’t stop the past from coming back to haunt me.
I run my hand over my face. My shirt clings to my body as I look at the old-fashioned alarm clock and check the time. It was barely after six. I still had a little time before I had to get up.
Sighing, I start to lower back into bed when I hear it.
Bang-bang-bang.
“What in the ever?—”
So it wasn’t just the nightmare that woke me up after all. But who the hell was making so much noise this early in the morning? It’s been a while since I came here, but yesterday, I didn’t see any construction on any of the nearby houses. Unless you count the giant hole currently on my front steps that needs fixing?—
“Fucking hell.”
Pushing the blanket off of me, I slide off the bed and slip my feet into my flip-flops. The moment I open the door to my temporary bedroom, the banging becomes louder.
Much, much louder.
I unlock the door and pull it open to find a crouched figure standing in front of my steps, wide shoulders stretching the material of a dark blue shirt.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I ask, my fingers gripping the door handle as Blake slowly looks up.
Goosebumps rise on my skin at the slow perusal. Time seems to slow down as his eyes take me in from the tips of my dark red toes all the way to my face, the gray of his irises turning darker as his gaze lands on mine.
I feel exposed under his watchful eyes. Naked. His gaze is like a touch.
Just thinking about it has a shiver going through me. My nipples harden, the aching tips pressing against the worn cotton. The shirt seemed oversized when I put it on last night, but right now I realize just how wrong I was. I can feel the edge of it teasing the curve of my ass and leaving my legs bare.
And I’m not the only one who notices just how utterly inappropriate this attire is.
“Good morning, Blondie,” Blake rasps as he straightens to his full height. “Did you sleep well?”
The nightmare I had pops in my mind. You didn’t have to have a PhD in psychology to understand what brought up the old memories from my childhood. But they were the last thing I wanted to think about, so I pushed them back and focused on the man in front of me.
“I would have slept better if the loud banging didn’t wake me up.” I cross my arms over my chest. “What do you think you’re doing, Walker?”
Blake’s gaze falls to my chest, and I realize my mistake. Cheeks reddening, I let my hands drop and snap my fingers. “My eyes are up here.”
Blake lifts his gaze, taking his sweet time. The corner of his mouth tips upward unapologetically. “I just couldn’t help but notice a few more changes that’s all.”
“Can you get your mind out of the gutter?” Yes, my boobs had gotten bigger since I had gotten pregnant, but this wasn’t the time or place to talk about that. Hell, there were zero reasons for us to talk about it at all. “What are you doing here, Blake?”
“I came to secure the steps, so you don’t fall and break your leg. This will have to do until I get the material and fix it.”
“Material for what?”
“To fix your porch, of course.”
To fix my…
“I don’t need you to fix my porch, Blake. Or anything else, for that matter. I’ll figure it out.”
His fingers curl around the railing, and he places his foot on the step, putting some weight on it as he climbs up. “Have you ever fixed a porch?”
“I— Well, no. I can’t say I have, but I’m pretty sure I can figure it out.”
His lips press in a tight line. “That’s the thing, you don’t have to figure it out.”
“Yes, I do. Because if I don’t, nobody else will do it for me.”
“Savannah,” he growls, clearly irritated. Good, that made two of us.
“I have to get ready for work.”
Not giving him time to protest, I turn around and slip back inside, shutting the door behind me.
I can hear Blake curse from the other side of the door.
Why was he being so stubborn? Couldn’t he just leave me alone and continue with his life? Apparently not.
“Stubborn, infuriating man,” I mutter to myself as I go to the bathroom.
After a quick shower, I make my way to my room to put on some clothes. The whole ordeal was starting to become a bigger challenge every morning. Now that my bump was visible and growing bigger, most of my old clothes didn’t fit, and since I refuse to spend any money on maternity clothes that I won’t need later on, I’ve been sticking to wearing my maxi dresses. I’m just finishing putting on some makeup to cover the bags under my eyes when I can hear a knock on the door.
Huffing in annoyance, I march to the door and pull it open. “What the hell do you—” The words die on my lips when I spot the redhead on my doorstep. “Becky?”
My best friend raises her brows. “Were you expecting somebody else?”
“I—” I glance over her shoulder, but the front porch is empty, a floorboard covering the broken step. “No.” Shaking my head, I shift my attention to her. “But what are you doing here? How did you know where to find me?”
Becky glares at me and pushes into my house, her big belly leading the way. In the last few weeks, she’s grown double in size, but while most women looked all swollen and tired at this stage of pregnancy, Becky was still glowing.
“Apparently I have to find out that you moved from your neighbor because you don’t have the audacity to answer your damn phone!” She turns around and crosses her arms over her chest. “What the hell, Sav?”
I wince softly at the accusation. “I’m sorry. I forgot and left my phone in my car yesterday when I got here.”
More like I refused to leave the house in case Blake was lurking around and waiting for me.
“We have to talk.” Becky lets out a sigh and drops her hands. “About what happened yesterday.”
“I know, and I wasn’t avoiding you. I genuinely left my phone in the car. A lot has been going on, and I just…” I run my fingers through my hair, feeling that familiar anxiety rising inside my chest and making it hard to breathe. “I don’t know what the hell to do, Becky. I was finally getting to a good place, and now my cottage is flooded, and now he’s here. Not just that, he has a kid.” Blake’s comment from last night rings in my mind. “ Kids . He has two kids, and he’s aggravating and headstrong, and apparently since my luck is so bad, he lives just across this fucking street, and now that he knows about Munchkin, he sees us as some fucking responsibility that he has to take care of, and I?—”
“What?”
“Yes, if I remember correctly, his exact words were, ‘I don’t know about what kind of men you’ve dealt with in the past, but I’m not some asshole that walks away from his responsibilities,’” I mock in Blake’s deep baritone. “Oh, and that was after he dropped the bomb that we should get married.”
“He did what?!” Becky’s mouth falls open. “Fucking Blake Walker.”
“Tell me abou—” My shoulders go rigid as her words register in my mind. “What?”
I go back over our conversation, but I don’t remember saying his name.
Becky gives me a knowing look. “I’m right, aren’t I? Blake is the father of your baby?”
I shake my head, my mouth going dry. “How do you?—”
“Yesterday, you said that he brought his kid to your class. Levi is in first grade, and, well, there aren’t that many new people moving to Bluebonnet to begin with.”
“I don’t understand,” I whisper; my words are barely audible over the buzzing in my ears.
Becky knew him—all this time. Becky knew the father of my child.
How is that even possible?
“Blake used to play for the Lonestars with Miguel,” Becky explains, her hands landing on my shoulders. “Say something, Sav.”
“How is this possible?”
Of all the people in this world, and I hook up with one of Miguel’s teammates? Somebody must be playing a trick on me. There isn’t another explanation.
“I keep saying that this town is too damn small, but this is on a whole other level.” Becky snorts, her face turning serious. “What are you going to do?”
Wasn’t that a million-dollar question?
There were a lot of unknowns surrounding Blake, except one.
“I know what I’m not going to do.”
“Oh?” Becky quirks her brow.
“I’m not marrying him, that’s for damn sure.”