Seconds later, the bubbles appeared again.
Jax: I appreciate you sharing that with me. Are you okay?
I narrowed my eyes at his response before typing back.
Sophie: I’ll see you tomorrow, Jax.
I leaned my head against his headboard, dreading tomorrow for all sorts of different reasons. For the next hour, Ben didn’t talk about anything other than Jax. He wanted to know everything. The only way I could get him to go to bed was by telling him that the sooner he went to sleep, the faster he would get to meet him in the morning.
The asshole had suddenly become Santa Claus.
By the time I laid down to go to sleep, it was well past three in the morning when another text came through. I didn’t have to wonder who it was, I just knew. This was always our favorite time to talk in his bed. The world was sleeping, and we were the only two wide awake.
Jax: Do you hate me, Soph?
Taking a deep breath, I texted back.
Sophie: I wish I did.
Seconds later, another text came through.
Jax: I’m going to make you love me again.
And the truth was…
* * *
I was terrified he could.
TWELVE
JAX
I didn’t sleep worth shit last night. Sophie didn’t reply to my last text, not that I expected her to. I was on top of the world, ready to meet my boy for the first time. You’d think I’d be nervous, but I wasn’t. I never had a problem with the possibility of being a father one day.
However, I wasn’t willingly trying to knock up any of the women I was casually sleeping with either. It was nothing more than fucking, but with Sophie, it had always been different. From the first time I was inside of her to the last. I couldn’t get enough of her, and the feeling was mutual.
I was out on the field by five AM, needing the distraction of what laid ahead. Four and a half hours later, I watched as Sophie walked down the stands, holding Ben’s hand.
My heart soared with emotions I’d never felt before. Seeing him in person for the first time was a feeling I could never put into words. I loved him immediately.
He waved as they reached the last step, and I waved back. Once they were on the field, he let go of Sophie’s hand and hauled ass toward me. My boy could run, making me feel so damn proud of him being able to move fast.
“Ben!” Sophie chased after him, and for a minute it felt like my family was running to me.
My whole world.
Sophie Hayes had always been such a huge part of who I was, the man I wanted to be.
For her.
I crouched to his level, and he didn’t hesitate to jump into my arms. It was such a surreal, overwhelming feeling to have him be in my embrace. This little man we’d made. Where he was suddenly the most important person in my life.
From that moment forward, nothing else mattered but him.
I didn’t know how long I held him against my chest, lost in the feel of his skin, the scent of his hair, and all the sentiments he pulled out of my entire body. I’d forever remember this day as one of the happiest times of my life.
When I looked up, Sophie was hovering above us with big, huge tears streaming down her gorgeous face. One right after the other. I kissed the top of Ben’s head, letting my lips linger on his soft hair. I didn’t want this moment to end, not for one second.