Page 23 of Just Our Secret
“Mom!” he yelled, but it had half the volume of his normal voice and held pure terror.
I stood directly under him. If he could drop down to me, I’d catch him. He was probably five feet above my head, and the branch he clutched with arms and legs definitely wouldn’t hold me.
“Liam, I’m right underneath you. I’m going to catch you. I need you to—”
“You’ll drop me! I don’t want to fall off.”
“No, little man, I won’t drop you. I’m a firefighter, remember? I train for this stuff all the time.”
“Really?”
His small voice made my heart twist in my chest. “Really. And I won’t drop you. You can use me as a cushion if you need to.”
“You’re not very soft.”
I chuckled at his patented honesty, and Andi released a sharp breath. “Please, Liam. Let Wade catch you. Then we’ll go get some ice cream or a treat, okay?”
“Let your legs swing down first, and then—yep, just like that.”
“I can’t hold on!” He clawed at the branch frantically.
“Let go. It’s okay. I promise I won’t drop you.” And then he dropped, limbs wheeling in all directions, elbow knocking me in the cheek, but I had him. I held him to me for a second, then passed him right to Andi who bear-hugged him, and they cried together.
“You can’t do that, Liam. You cannot do that again,” she said, her voice shaky and pleading.
“I won’t. I promise I won’t.”
My heart ached as I watched, wanting nothing more than to wrap them both in my arms. Hold them to me and know they were both safe and whole. God, my protective instincts had sent me into a weird spiral of wanting to declare my love for them both and tear down that fucking tree limb for having scared Liam.
Eventually, we all recovered. Andi held one of Liam’s hands, and I held the other as we walked back to the park. She’d thanked me ten times already, but I didn’t need her thanks. I needed… it was hard to describe, but I felt it in my gut. I needed to have the right to do what I’d just done. To help her and Liam when they needed it. To console themandmyself after by holding them.
“Beautiful family. So glad he’s safe,” one of the moms said as we strolled by.
My heart clutched.Family.
Shit.
That was it. That was what I wanted here, and it was no small thing. Dating in secret like we had been these past few weeks was fine. It was fine, but it wasn’t going to take us where I wanted to go. Where I could only hope Andi wanted to go, too.
I followed them in my car to the ice cream spot, then back to her apartment. Liam seemed to have accepted my presence without question at this point, but I’d stayed fairly quiet. The realization of what I wanted with her—with them—rattled around in my mind along with another truth.
I had to tell Connor. I had to. This had never been a casual thing for me, and every second I spent with Andi and Liam only confirmed that. By the time I tucked Liam in bed, and he whispered, “Love you, Uncle Wade. Thanks for catching me,” my heart was in my throat.
“Love you too, little man. Glad you’re okay.”
When I shut his door, Andi was waiting in the hallway. She grabbed my hand without a word, and we walked into her bedroom in silence. My heart pounded with a thousand unspoken words, but three main ones I couldn’t let fly tonight. Too much had happened today, and we’d just gotten started. But we had to talk about Connor—I had to make sure she knew my plan for that, at least.
She shut her door, then practically dove for me and held me to her in a long hug. Nothing sensual about it. We breathed together, feeling the relief that Liam was safe in bed, and relaxed our bodies enough so we could finally speak to one another.
“You were amazing today,” she said, pulling back to give me her gorgeous green eyes.
“You were, too. I know it’s nothing compared to what you were feeling, but I about lost my mind.”
“I don’t think he’ll do it again any time soon. I hope.”
“I think you’re right.”
She reached up and traced my cheekbone, then threaded her fingers into my hair at the back of my neck. “You’re going to have a bruise. I’m sorry.”