Ryley's Revenge (Gloves Off #2)(35)

“Good, because I’m not going anywhere, Ryley. I’m always going to be right here.”





Friday had finally come, which meant Colin was going to be back from New York. The fairytale life I’d had with Ryley the past couple of days was going to disappear. I couldn’t sleep, even though it was still dark outside. Instead, I sat on the floor surrounded by a horde of seashells in the empty bedroom that would soon be my son or daughter’s. For the past two hours, I’d made small crafts and hung them up on the walls—even making seashell candles to decorate the dressers. At least an ocean theme is something that would go great for a girl or a boy.

“What are you doing?” Ryley asked, shielding his eyes from the light. Wearing only his boxers, he sat down on the floor with me and handed me a couple of seashells so I could slide them down the wire. “How long have you been up? It looks like you’ve been busy.”

I shrugged, scrutinizing the project in my hands. It was going to be beautiful once I finished. “I couldn’t sleep,” I confessed. “There’s too much going on in my mind.”

“Like what, angel?” he asked, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

“Like Colin, for instance. He comes back today and he has no clue that I live with you now. I just don’t want to hurt him. Not to mention, he’s not going to leave me alone until we find out everything from the doctor.”

“Well, there’s nothing he can do about it. Does he think if the child is his that you’ll choose him?”

Sighing, I set my shells down and looked up at him. “He knows I want to do what’s right for the baby. But what he doesn’t realize is that I have to do what’s right for me as well. I would never be with someone just because we share a child. That was my fear with you and why I didn’t tell you at the beginning. I didn’t want you thinking I was using the baby as leverage to get you back.”

“I never would’ve thought that, angel,” he murmured softly. “You’re not the kind of person to do something so devious. That’s why I fell in love with you. You saw through all of my faults and loved me for who I was. I’ve never had that before.” He smiled and then looked down at my last project. “So what is that exactly?”

Grinning from ear to ear, I held it up by the top and let the seashells dangle down, all sparkly from the glitter I spread across them. “It’s a mobile to hang over the crib so the baby can look up at it,” I said, gently rocking it so the seashells clattered together. “I figured we could also get something that plays music too. I know babies like music.”

“Do you think I’ll be a good father?” he asked in all seriousness.

Furrowing my brows, I glanced up at him. “Do you not think you will be?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, shrugging his shoulders. “I want to be, but I don’t know the first thing about taking care of a baby.”

What he didn’t know was, I had the same fear. I didn’t know the first thing about how to change diapers, or what the baby was going to want each time it cried. “Ryley, listen. You have nothing to worry about. You’re going to be a great daddy. Your child is going to love you for just being there for him. I have a lot to learn too. We can do this together.”

Ryley got to his feet and helped me up. “Yes we can, and right now we need to go to bed. Stop worrying about Colin or the things we can’t change. He’s not going to come between us.”

“Usually, it’s me who looks on the bright side. Since when did the roles switch?”

Lifting me in his arms, he chuckled and carried me to our bedroom, setting me down on the bed. “It’s probably the baby hormones making you crazy. Don’t worry, you’ll be back to normal in a few months.”

“I highly doubt that,” I laughed. “We’re going to have a miniature Ryley running around. There is nothing normal about that.”

But I was going to love him . . . or her. Whichever one I was blessed to have.





Later in the day, Colin called to tell me his plane had been delayed, but he would meet us all at the restaurant. It sucked because now I couldn’t tell him beforehand. The place Gabriella reserved for us was one of my favorites. It was just a normal pub that had the best grilled salmon I ever tasted, along with a killer black bean cake. Thank God my nausea wasn’t bad today.

When we got to the restaurant, everyone was there except Colin. Gabriella ran up to me and flung her arms around my neck. “You are absolutely glowing,” she squealed. Then she leaned into my ear. “I bet that’s because you have Ryley tucking you in every night, huh?”

“I do more than tucking,” Ryley teased, walking past with a wink and a slap to my rear.

Gabriella giggled and rolled her eyes before turning back to me. “So have you talked to Colin? Bradley just told me he’s on his way.”

“Great,” I murmured sarcastically. “Nothing like a brawl in a pub.” I looked over at the table and everyone sitting there. Ryley took a seat beside Matt, while Megan sat across from them. Bradley was the only one who looked uncomfortable and that was because he hated Ryley.

Gabriella glanced over her shoulder and sighed. “Well, let’s just hope nothing like that happens. Because I know Bradley would be more than happy to jump in and help Colin out.”