Folding Hearts (20 page)

I grabbed her hand and kissed it. “I could have had that months ago?”

She shrugged and smiled. “Yeah, but we are even better friends now and neither of us is on the rebound. It’s just us.”

“I haven’t asked anyone to be my girlfriend since I was fourteen years old, but after the way I felt tonight at the party and now this, I don’t th
ink I can handle it if we
were still just friends.”

She scooted her body over and put her head on my chest. “I don’t think we have ever just been friends. I’ve wanted you to kiss me for so long. I just thought I was just a friend.”

“Have you ever looked in the mirror at yourself? Do you have any idea how gorgeous you are?
Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to tell your family that I didn’t want anything from you besides your friendship, when all I could think about was touching you?”

She ran her tongue over my nipple and then kissed it. “So was I worth the wait?”

I let out a cackle. “And then some.
I’ve have never been with anyone like you before.
You are
fucking
amazing.”

“So are you.”

I leaned down toward her face. “Can I get one more kiss before I close my eyes?”

I was exhausted and with her in my arms, I felt like I could fall right to sleep, but I had to just feel her lips one more time before I did.

It wasn’t a soft peck. Instead, Miranda kissed me with her mouth open and let me skim my tongue across hers before pulling away. “Goodnight Ty.”

I wrapped both of my arms around her back and held her close. “Promise me that when I wake up, you will be right here. I am still thinking this was all the best dream I ever had.”

“I promise.”

After hearing her words
,
I let my eyes close and fell asleep with the most amazing girl sprawled across my chest. I couldn’t remember feeling so satisfied and happy all at the same time.

Chapter 19

Miranda

When I woke up, Ty’s arms were still wrapped around me
. I still couldn’t believe that all of this had happened.
The truth was that
I
had
wanted it for so long. I had to admit that I never thought it was
going to happen. All of the signals were there, but neither of us had the nerve to act on them. If it hadn’t been for Ty’s plan he had concocted
at the party
, it still wouldn’t have happened.

I didn’t know what to think about us hooking up. I had fantas
ized about it for so long, but
had
n’t
thought about what would happen after we did. I had a child to think about, so having random hook-ups was just not an option for me. I had to put her before everything else.

But this was Ty.

He had been a part of her life since the day she was born. He loved her.

He was also one of my best friends and now I was so afraid that somehow we had damaged that friendship. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but at some point I would have to go home and Ty would stay here. How could I imagine a
future for us when it just wasn’
t possible?

I felt Ty’s arms tightening around me and looked up to see him smiling back at me. “Hey.”

“Hi.”

He smiled and started rubbing
my back. “I was afraid to open my eyes, on account of last night just being the best dream ever.”

I giggled. “It wasn’t a dream. Trust me. I was there.”

“Yeah, I remember.” Ty reached down and kissed my head. “You were…..my God you were so hot last night. I couldn’t get enough of you.”

I let my
hands slide down under the sheets and felt his morning girth. “I am right here if you want some more.”

Normally I would have worried about my hair or breath, but Ty was so different. He pulled my body up and planted his lips right on mine. Before he could do anything further, we heard a knock at the door.

“Oh shit! It’s
probably your mom
telling us that Bella is giving her a hard time,
” I suggested.

Ty jumped up and started puttin
g
his boxers on. “Damn, I promised her if she watched Izzy that we would go to church with her and my dad.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

I jumped up and watched as he started putting on a pair of khakis he found in his closet.

“I will stall them, just
get dressed as fast as you can,” h
e stated as he pulled a shirt over his head
, kissed me
and walked out of the room.

I heard him opening the door and talkin
g
to his mom while I ripped clothes out of my bag, looking for something appropriate to wear.
I hadn’t actually had time to plan about places I might have to go or people that I needed to impress. Everything was all so sudden. 
Thank God I found a skirt and a sweater that at least looked presentable. I went over to the dresser a
nd
grabbed a brush. My hair was a mess from getting out of the shower and jumping right into bed. It didn’t help that I was rolling around on pillows
half the night
.
I finally gave up and threw it in a messy bun. After brushing my teeth, I made it outside in less than ten minutes.  Ty winked at me like we had a big secret and I couldn’t help but smile.

He already had Bella and was taking her
back
inside to get changed.  I followed behind him. “Wait! I will get her dressed.”

“Okay, I was just trying to help.”

“Sorry,” I shook my head
. “You know I hate mornings.”

I continued to get Bella changed
while Ty grabbed a couple things to add to her diaper bag. Luckily his parents weren’t ready to leave, they were just giving us time
to get the baby ready. I was ab
le to primp a little more and add some makeup to my tired eyes.

We decided to follow his parents instead of switching car seats and also having to stay after church was over. Ty explained his mother would stay for hours at coffee hour, gabbing with her friends. I still wasn’t awake, but he was kind enough to run in the house and fill a whole travel mug full of coffee. It was the little things like cups of coffee and helping with
Bella that
made me so crazy about him.

“I am so sorry about this morning. After everything that happened last night, it must have slipped my mind.” He grabbed my thigh and gave it a squeeze.

I gave him a smile and grabbed his hand into mine. “You look really happy.”

“You’re the reason.”

I felt my cheeks flush, but I didn’t know what to say.

I realize that thinking
about sex in a church was probably a horrible sin, but as the reverend discussed his lesson on unanswered prayers, l
asts nights actions kept running
through my min
d.  The lesson discussed
praying
for something
to happen
for so long and being
so upset when God
didn’t
answer them. He explained about a man who was involved with a woman all throughout high school. That woman went off to college and left him behind. He prayed and prayed to have her return so that
they could have a life and a
future
together.
After years of
hoping
he ended up meeting someone and falling in love.
They were married and had three great children. After being married for twenty years, the woman from his past came back into town and tried to rekindle their relationship, even though the man was married. Despite her attempts the man realized that because of his unanswered prayers he was already with his real true love.

I thought about
all of the times I prayed for T
ucker to change and want us to be a family and how those prayers were never goin
g
to
be answered
.  Then I looked over to Ty, with Bella on his lap, and my hand in his.
My heart felt so full of love.  Last night wasn’t a one night stand and Ty wasn’t using me for sex while I was here. This was much more than that to him.
Him protecting me and feelin
g
jealous when other people looked at me, he obviously wanted me to be just his.

Bella was
exceptionally
well behaved during service and even more so when a bunch of nosey people notice
d
that Ty and I were there together and I had a child. I had
no clue what they were thinking or saying
about me, but Ty never let go of Bella, or my hand, even after we got outside of the church.

“So we have exactly five ho
urs before dinner will be ready,
” Ty said as we headed out of the church parking lot.

“What are we
havin
’
for dinner?”

“Mom always makes something big on Sunday’s. It’s a family tradition.”

“I don’t want to keep imposin’ Ty.”

He pulled the car over slowly and put it in park. After taking my hand and kissing it, he looked me right in the eyes. “You know we should have been a couple for months now. If it
wasn’t
for your cock block brother, it would have happened
sooner
. Now
,
I can’t change the past Miranda, and maybe waiting all these months gave us the time to get our heads on right, but now tha
t the cat is out of the
bag, I’
m not holding back. I am crazy about you and I want you to be a part of my life. I don’t want this to be temporary. I am sorry if you think I am rus
hing, but
damm
it
, I have never felt so happy before and I’m not about to let it go.”

I honestly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I just sat there, staring at him.

“Please say something baby, you’re making me nervous.”

I looked down at our intertwined hands and started to tear up. I was far from sad, but after everything that I thought I wanted for
so
long, I realized  it was finally happening. “This is usually the time where I tell you that I have a baby and if you can’t handle that, then we probably shouldn’t see each other anymore, but since you love my child almost as much as I do, I think we can skip that conversation
,
” I joked. It was the best I could do. I think I was still in shock.

“Does this mean I don’t have to sleep at my parents anymore?” He teased.

“I guess it does.”

He leaned over and kissed me full on the lips.
“Then don’t fight me about family dinners.”

“I wasn’t fightin’ you. I just don’t want to be needy.”

He started
pulling
back on the road. “You can need me all you want. I’m not kidding Miranda, I am tired of being alone. Spending the past few days with my two favorite girls has made me the happiest I have been in
over a
year.  Waking up next to you this morning was fantastic, even with your wild hair.”

I rolled my eyes. “Should I cut it?”

“Hell no! Sometimes I need to be able to grab it.”

We both started laughing
.

Sunday dinner tu
rned into late night cards. Ty
and his parents entertained me with stories of Ty when he was younger and things that Bella had done while they were babysitting.  Before we got ready to head back over to the carriage house, I headed into the kitchen
to help his mother with getting
everything cleaned up.

S
he smiled when she saw me coming
in the room. “My son is smitten over you.”

I smiled and grabbed the dish towel to start drying.
“If I can be honest, I am pretty crazy about him too.”

She turned the water off and looked directly at me. I actually felt scared. “Ty has been through Hell this past year and one thing that has always put a smile on his face is when he talks about you and that little girl. I know that you are only supposed to be here for a short time, but I have to ask that you will consider his feelings in all of this. I’d hate to see him heartbroken again.”

“Mrs. Mitchell…”

“It’s June or Mom, not Mrs. Mitchell when it’s family dear.”

“Sorry, June, I …well Ty and I just started whatever this is between us, but I can promise you that I have no plans of hurtin’ him. I really care about him. I have for a long time.”

She shook her head. “I can tell. I just know my son and I have never seen him look at anyone like he does you, not even Van.”  She reached over and touched my chin. “Do you hear what I am saying?”

No! Say what you mean in English…..