Page 9 of Trusting You

“I can’t…” He blacks out the screen and gives it back to me, but is still bemused. “This is a lot to take in, you understand. I need time to figure this out. You have to give me the decency of a minute.”

I release a breath, sails billowing closed. “You’re right. Of course. Coming at you like this, throwing a baby in your face.” I rub my face, tangle my fingers in my hair as I hold it at the back of my neck and look at the ceiling for answers. “I’m scared, Locke. That’s why I’m here, why I’m yelling at you. I’m so scared for that baby.”

“Hey.” Locke reaches out, strokes my arm. Then, as if afraid I’d bite it off, quickly draws it back. “It’s a lot for both of us. But…you said Gainesville. Florida. So how long are you here?” He audibly gulps. “How long do I have? To decide?”

“I’m here for another twenty-four hours.” I throw my hands out. “But I can be a tourist in New York City for a few days while you figure stuff out.”

“Okay. Good.” He pulls out his phone from his shorts. “Give me your number. I’ll call you.”

I do as he asks, but my stomach plummets over the idea that Lily’s life will be decided when this guy calls me. A man who probably says those exact words to a hundred women, less than a third of whom he follows through with. A booty call. A sext. A sorry-not-sorry excuse.

“As soon as you can,” I say to Locke, and make sure he’s looking into my eyes, that I’m drilling in the consequences of his decision into Lily’s mirror blues.

“Yep,” he replies.

I’m ushered out the door, his large palm hovering near my back. He’s tall, tanned, with a full head of sand-brown hair that would appear mussed with sex even if he were a virgin. True masculine beauty, but he’s not enough for my Lil.

I pray he can be enough.