Play Me (Take a Chance #3)(17)
Author: Diane Alberts

His brows lowered. “I’m not him. I was just playing ball.”

“Well next time, keep your phone on you,” she said. “I need to know I can count on you.”

Even as she demanded this of him, she knew she was being unreasonable. He didn’t owe her a damn thing, least of all his complete attention. If he wanted to unplug after work, she had no reason to yell at him. None at all.

Yet her mouth just blurted the words out.

He eyed her. “I will. And you can count on me, Kiersten.”

“I hope so,” she said, her voice wooden.

But deep down, she knew he spoke the truth. Knew she could count on him not to be the jerk Pete had been. She’d flipped out at him for daring to set his phone down to play a game of basketball with her brother. She had known where he was, yet she still came here expecting to find him missing.

Expecting him to let her down like Pete had. Like life had.

She had to pull herself together.

He scrubbed his hands down his face. “I’ll be more careful with my phone from now on. It might have been an emergency. I’m not used to other people needing me 24/7 yet.”

Was he already feeling the weight of it on his shoulders? Was he already regretting moving in with her? Wanting to be with her? She went back to gripping the steering wheel, her heart twisting. “Do you want to back out? It’s not too late.”

His eyes narrowed on her. “No. I. Do. Not.”

A strange surge of relief shot through her. Though she hadn’t been counting on having him around in the beginning, she couldn’t picture doing this alone anymore. She…needed him. How odd it felt to admit that to herself. “Okay. I just wanted to make sure.”

“I’m going to say this again and again until you believe me. I am not leaving you.” He leaned in, his nose touching hers, and laid his hand on her stomach. “No matter how much we fight, or how many times I forget my phone in my bag, or how tough things get—and they will get tough, believe me—I’ll be here by your side. I’m not pretending it will be easy, but I’m not leaving or running. Got it?”

She swallowed her doubts and fears. He made her want to believe him. Maybe, in time, she could. If she tried really hard to stop comparing him to Pete…maybe she could learn to start over. God, she hoped so. “Okay.”

He looked at her for another second, the hard line of his jaw relaxing a little bit. “I’ll follow you back to your place in my truck.”

She licked her lips. “Not my place. Our place.”

“Right.” He blinked at her. “Our place,” he said softly, his voice washing over her like a gentle tide.

He pulled back out of her car, his hand brushing her breast as he did so. She shivered and pressed her legs together. Why were they not touching each other again? Oh. Right. Rules.

She waved at Mike as he pulled out of the parking lot, and he held his hand up to his blond head in the “call me” signal. She shook her head and pointed to her watch. Yeah. Maybe later. That was a conversation she wasn’t exactly looking forward to. Instead, she picked up her phone and dialed Brianna. She might as well tell her before Mike could.

“Hello?” Brianna said.

“Hi, sis.”

Brianna laughed. “A visit one day, and a call the next? What’s the occasion?”

Kiersten flinched. There shouldn’t have to be an occasion for two days of contact in a row. “Well, I have some news.”

“Okay.”

“I…uh…” Kiersten tried to think of a good way to say it. A way to spin it in a good light that didn’t look like she’d messed up—but she came up dry. Like, Sahara Desert dry.

Brianna cleared her throat. “You’ve been quiet for a while. I’m getting nervous. What’s wrong? You’re not…sick or something, are you?”

“No. God, no.” She took a shaky breath. Time to just spit it out before Brianna thought she had cancer like Michael had. “Or at least, not for long. For about nine months.”

Dead silence. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

More silence. “Garrett?”

“Yep.” Kiersten held her breath. Now came the moment of truth. Would Brianna cry, yell, or be happy? “Say something.”

“Do you love him?”

Of course she would have to ask that. “We’re not together. We’re just going to live together and raise the baby as partners. That’s all.”

Brianna snorted. “You didn’t answer my question.”

Kiersten hesitated, turning left down her road. “All I know is we had one night together, and now I’m pregnant. And he’s ready to be here for me. For us.”

“He has feelings for you.” Brianna fidgeted with something that sounded like a chip bag. “You know that, right? Real feelings.”

Kiersten bit her lip. “He says he doesn’t anymore.”

“He can say it all he wants. But he cares about you. Just make sure…”

When Brianna didn’t finish, Kiersten prompted, “Yeah?”

“Don’t break his heart.”

Kiersten flinched. Even Brianna knew that they were doomed. Kiersten was no good for Garrett. Look what happened the last time she opened her heart to a man. Her fiancé slept with his secretary. No, Chris—and now her baby—were the only ones she could focus on. “I won’t. We’re keeping it platonic. No feelings involved.”

“That’s not possible.”

“It will be.”

Kiersten could practically hear Brianna rolling her eyes. “If you say so. But he likes you. And you don’t like him the same way.”

“I care about him,” she said, shifting in her seat.

“Those are two completely different things.”

Brianna said something to Thomas, something that sounded a lot like bed and ten minutes, and she heard Thomas’s responding chuckle. A small ping of jealousy shot through Kiersten. She wished that she could have that.

“How do you do it?”

Brianna didn’t even ask her what she meant. “Believe it or not, there are happy romantic relationships in this world. I’ve had two.” She sighed. “Thomas doesn’t just keep me satisfied in life. He makes me smile when I’m sad. He makes me laugh when I want to scream. And he’s there for me no matter what. I mean, I broke his nose the night he proposed to me—and he still wanted to marry me. That’s love.”