Fight to the Finish (First to Fight #3)(52)

“Hey. C’mere.” He waited for her to sit next to him again and kissed her temple. “You’ll figure it out. Whatever it was.”

“He asked about you,” she said weakly. “About us. It’s the first time he’s ever . . . first time it’s ever been an issue.”

Graham swallowed hard. This could go one of two ways. “Was he worried about me being around so much?”

“Opposite,” she mumbled, as if not pleased with it. “He worried I was pushing you away.”

An ally. Perfect. “Yeah, you should cut that out.”

She poked him in the ribs with a finger.

“This might cheer you up. We’ve got the All Military games next week, and we leave this weekend to get there early for practice and setup. So I’ll be out of town for a while.”

“I know,” she said absently. Her fingers worked and worried at the hem of his T-shirt absently. “Not sure why that would cheer me up, though.”

“Because I wanted to give you and Zach tickets to come see us compete.”

Her head snapped up so fast he nearly took a header in his nose. “What? That’s in Texas. Marianne said it was in Texas. She’s been freaking out for a week about packing so she doesn’t have to pay for an extra bag on the flight.”

“It is in Texas. I meant, I wanted to give you and Zach tickets to fly out and see us. We might not have the home court advantage, but seeing friendly faces in the crowd makes it easier.”

She just stared at him. Her face was horrified, as if he’d just told her he enjoyed slaughtering puppies in his free time instead of offering her a trip to Texas.

“What? Jesus, what, Kara? If it’s the money, don’t—”

“No,” she said quietly. “It’s not. I mean, it is. That’s an extravagant gift, Graham, even for a girlfriend.”

How about the woman I love, and want to marry?

“It’s not, when I want it. It’s a selfish thing, what I’m asking you to do. It’s a gift for myself more than anything. Having you there . . .” He took her hand, held it firmly in his when she tugged. “Having you and Zach there to watch our scrimmage? It was incredible. It made me want it ten times harder. Made me want to make you both proud.”

There was so much in her eyes, he couldn’t read her at all.

“Please.”





CHAPTER


15

“Graham,” she said on a sigh. “Zach adores you. Of course he was proud of you, and not just because you won.”

“Good. So consider coming out to watch me in a bigger match. When the stakes are as high as they’ll get for me. Come watch. It might mean taking Zach out of school for a day,” he went on quickly, “but he’s a bright kid. I can’t see that being an issue for him.”

Academically, no. But he missed so many days due to doctor’s appointments and minor reactions, that she didn’t like to risk taking him out for frivolous days here and there.

Graham competing in the All Military games is not frivolous.

And it didn’t matter, anyway.

“Let me stop you there.” Be firm, Kara. “We can’t come.”

His spirit drooped. There was no other way to put it. It was as if something inside him deflated. “Yeah, okay. It’s last minute anyway.”

“Not because of that. Because of . . . things. The main reason I’ve been pushing back when you’ve been fighting to get closer to us. The reason there’s no future for us.”

His face turned mutinous, just like Zach’s did when he was fighting a battle of wills against her. “That’s bullshit, but fine. Whatever it is, put it on the table, let’s come up with a way to fix it, and move ahead.”

“You’re so sure we can fix it.” It made her smile, the determination in his eyes, in the hardness of his jaw. He would tackle the world to make her happy. She felt it. This was a man a woman would be lucky to have in her life, in her corner, in her everything.

“You’re amazing, and resilient and resourceful and sexy as hell. And I can punch stuff. Together, we’re the Dream Team.”

That made her laugh, which was a gift after all the crying she’d done that evening. And all the crying she might still do yet. “Why do you have to make it difficult to not love you?”

He was quiet at that, as if thinking about the answer. Then finally, quietly, he said, “Because I love you, and sort of want the same thing in return.”

Her heart stopped. Her blood chilled. Her fingers pricked and tingled with the loss of feeling. Somehow, despite her best intentions, she’d screwed up again.

“Let me tell you a story,” she began, sitting across from him now, not touching. If she touched him—or he touched her—she might collapse and they’d accomplish nothing. “I got pregnant when I was eighteen.”

“Young,” he murmured, but with no accusation in his tone.

“Yes. Very. Barely eighteen, but still a child in too many ways. I was several months along when I graduated high school. The first time I felt Zach kick, I was sitting in my cap and gown, listening to our principal drone on about the wonders of our future lives, reaching for our dreams, never giving up, all that cliché stuff you hear at a graduation.” Graham’s eyes slid down her torso to her stomach, and she looked down, realizing she’d cupped her belly as if she could once again feel that tiny life fluttering around inside of her. “It’s a feeling you don’t forget.”