Page 48 of Trying Not to Need You

I hug her tightly to my chest, my face buried in her neck, and I just breathe her in. She’s here. She’s in my arms. She’s mine.

Baylor Moran is mine.

“This changes things,” I tell her.

“I know. I just… need you to be patient with me. My head and my heart have been at war lately.”

“I’m not going anywhere, baby,” I tell her, and I mean it. This is all I’ve ever wanted, and I don’t care if things get tough. If I have to remind her every single day that I’m still right where I want to be, I’ll do it. “Bay?”

“Yeah?” she asks, and I lift my head so that I can see those baby blues.

“This is where you stop trying not to need me.” I wink at her.

“You might regret those words,” she teases.

“Never, Baylor. I’ll never have a single regret where you’re concerned.”

She smiles, and I feel that smile in my chest as it wraps itself around my heart. I know she’s still struggling, but she’s giving me a chance, letting me in, and the rest is up to me.

I’m gonna make her love me as much as I love her.

Thirteen

Baylor

My knee is bouncing, and it’s annoying me, so I know it has to be annoying everyone else. However, when I glance around the hospital waiting room, no one seems to be paying me any attention.

The room is packed with me, my two younger sisters, Copeland’s mom, Mary, his brother, Chandler, his wife, Macie, and Kinzie, Macklin, Bowen, and Dixon. We’re all awaiting the arrival of my niece… well, our niece. The guys might not be related to any of us by blood, but Bowen, Dixon, and Macklin are going to love that little girl just as if it were their blood in her veins.

Our grandparents aren’t here, but they’re sitting by the phone, waiting for a call. Gramps wasn’t feeling well, and Ellison insisted that they stay home. Besides, they’re getting up there in age, and these hospital chairs are not comfortable at all. They don’t need to sit in them for hours, as we have been.

It’s Thursday, early morning, a little after 4:00 a.m. We’ve been here since about ten last night, and none of us are willing to leave, not until we know Ellison and baby girl are okay.

“Here.” Macklin hands me a cup of coffee from the vending machine, then takes the seat next to me with his own cup.

“Is that as bad as I imagine it to be?” Dixon asks, covering a yawn.

“Pretty much,” Macklin and I reply at the same time. I turn to glance at him, and he smiles, as if he knows what I’m thinking. How are we already finishing each other’s sentences?

It’s been nine days since we slept together, and we haven’t talked about it. There has been no more sex, unfortunately, but he did kiss me two days ago in the stables. I was brushing the horses when he got there, and he stalked over to me, kissed me hello, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, as if he did it every day, and went on about his day. He’s asked me to dinner twice since that day I begged him to ravish me in the stables, and I’ve been too busy making sure I know where Ellison is with everything to take over while she’s on leave.

While I can just call her and ask, I want her to enjoy these few weeks off with the baby and not have to worry about the inn or the estate at all. She deserves this bonding time with her daughter.

“That’s going to take some getting used to,” Bowen says, pointing at us.

“What? Seeing me with my girl?” Macklin asks, and I don’t have to look at him to hear the smirk in his voice.

“Oh, is she yours now?” Dixon asks him.

“Working on it,” Macklin tells him.

“What can we do to help?” Courtlynn asks.

“Stay out of it, brat,” Bowen tells her. His voice is calm, and there’s no heat behind his words. It’s just their normal sparring.

Before Courtlynn can bite back, Copeland steps into the waiting room. His smile could light up the entire county, and the tears coating his cheeks warm my heart. Immediately, emotion clogs my throat.

“She’s here,” he says, clearing his throat. “Momma and baby girl are both perfect,” he says, as his mom rushes him, pulling him into a hug. Mary battled breast cancer last year and beat it like the warrior she is.