Sawyer (Carolina Reapers 2)

“I’ve been a little busy,” I snapped.

“You’re about to miss the fucking plane,” Axel growled. “So if your woman is okay, then kiss her goodbye and get in the goddamned car so we can get to the airport before they leave us here.”

I blinked. Holy shit. I’d forgotten that we were leaving for Vegas.

My eyes flew to Echo, and I saw my panic reflected in her smile.

“It’s okay. Go.”

“I can’t leave you. Not like this.” I shook my head.

“You can, and you will.” She reached for me with her good hand, and I took it. “This is where you prioritize you. Well, you and the other Reapers.”

My heart and my brain warred with each other. I couldn’t leave her, especially not without her CT results back yet. But I also couldn’t let my team down.

“Go,” she urged.

“Echo…”

“You can wait for me in Vegas just as easily as you can moping around here.” Her smile was shaky, but it was there.

“Three minutes,” Axel warned, then hauled Lukas out of the room.

“I don’t want to lose you. I’m terrified that if I get on that plane, I’ll lose any chance I have of keeping you—getting you back, whatever.” I rose, only to sit on the side of her bed.

“We’re not going to fix what’s wrong with us in the next three minutes,” she said softly. “I love you. That won’t change. So you go. We’ll talk after you win the Finals.”

“It’s only game three!” My voice broke like a teenager. “We’ll talk when I get back in two days.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “You focus on you. I’ll focus on me. This is one of the biggest moments in your life, and I refuse to be a stress. So just know that I’ll be around, loving you.”

“Sawyer!” Lukas barked.

“And I’ll be playing the games of my life. Loving you.”

She smiled. “Something like that.”

“I meant what I said. I’ll wait as long as you need me to.”

Her eyes drooped with a sadness that made me almost change my mind.

“Well, the fucking plane waits for no one!” Lukas yelled through the door.

“Go. I’ll never forgive myself if I ruin this for you, too,” she begged.

I brushed my lips across her forehead. “I love you.”

“I know. Now go. And I expect you to kick some ass.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I replied with another soft kiss on her brow.

It killed me to leave her, but I did it.

She wasn’t the only one depending on me.

20

Echo

I watched Sawyer walk out the hospital door, and my broken heart sighed a little at the balm he’d offered it.

I’ll wait for you.

Sawyer didn’t do anything lightly, and saying he’d wait for me? For the first time in my life, it felt like I might be someone worth waiting for.

If I could sort out my demons first.

“Great news!” My nurse from earlier came through the door, a massive smile on her face.

“CT results show I’m sane?” I tried to joke, but it fell flat.

“Still waiting on those results,” she said, rolling in a mobile computer and locking it next to my bed. She clicked on a few things, then faced me. “Your blood work came back, and we believe the baby is okay.”

I blinked.

And blinked again.

“Excuse me?” I whispered, certain I’d misunderstood her.

She tilted her head as she grabbed a small blue tube with one hand and an intense-looking wand thing with the other. “Can you lift your gown please?” She eyed my abdominal area, the insistence in her eyes assuring me this wasn’t some terrible joke. “We need to ensure the heartbeat is strong.”

I lifted my gown on autopilot, my mind spinning in disbelief.

She slathered some goo across my lower stomach before she pressed the end of the wand there. A few hard passes, and then she paused. With her free hand, she clicked some keys, and then…

A whirring sound stopped my breath.

Stopped my heart.

Stopped my mind.

Everything narrowed to that steady sound.

Tears filled my eyes as I gasped for breath.

“It’s strong,” she said, smiling as she focused on her screen. “Looks like you’re around eight weeks.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat, my mind racing backward in time.

Sawyer. A bathtub. The feel of him bare inside me.

That was about eight weeks ago…

“But I’m on birth control,” I said, my voice frantic. “I’ve been taking it. I took it this morning! Did that hurt our baby?”

My soul shifted with the deepest terror I’d ever known—the idea that I’d hurt the baby or the realization that the car wreck could’ve taken another loved one from me.

Love.

I was overwhelmed by it within the span of a few heartbeats.

An uncompromising love I’d never known.

“It’s okay,” the nurse assured me. “This happens. Stop taking the medication now, and we’ll go over any others you’re taking and discuss whether they’re safe.”

The nurse continued to speak about precautions and what to expect as she wiped the goo off my stomach and packed up the rolling computer cart. My entire world flipped as she spoke, as every heartbeat solidified my love for this person I’d never met.