“You really believe that?” he murmured as he looked at me with his ocean blue eyes.

I nodded my head and said, “I do.”

He swallowed and licked his lips. “Hearing that... it means everything.”

“Bad things happen to good people every day, Kane,” I assured him. “You just got caught up in somethin’ you had no control over.”

He wrapped his arms around me. “I love you so much, Aideen. I’m sorry for anything I’ve ever said or done that has hurt you.”

That admission caused the tears in my eyes to fall.

“Do you really love me?”

“More than anything in this world,” Kane instantly replied. “You’re everything to me.”

My lower lip trembled. “I’m nothin’ to fuss over, Kane.”

“You haven’t seen yourself through my eyes. You’re definitely something to fuss over, babydoll. Trust me.”

I did.

I trusted Kane.

“I do,” I whispered, “with me life.”

He closed his eyes. “I need to tell you everything inside my head so you get a clear picture of how much I need you in my life. By my side.”

He didn’t have to, I had already known.

“Kane-”

“When we don’t speak, I don’t sleep. I’m a mess without you, and I’m not afraid of admitting it. I am afraid that if you don’t come back to me that I’ll exist just always feeling this empty inside.”

“Kane.”

His grip on me tightened. “I’ll do whatever you want, I swear it.”

I knew he would.

“I still believe in us, babydoll, and I hope you do too.”

His words hit me harder than I’ll ever admit.

“I know damn well that you can do a million times better than me, and you deserve that, Aideen. You deserve everything the world has to offer you, but I’m a selfish bastard who wants you for nothing more than his own happiness.”

“Babe,” I whispered as my heart pounded against my chest.

He lifted his hand to my face and brushed his thumb over my lips. “I’ll spend every day showing you how much I love and adore you, babydoll. You can trust me with your heart. I can’t give you a lot of things, but I’ll be damned if I can’t give you your happily ever after.”

Oh, my God.

“What we have, babydoll... it’s better than words.”

He was my undoing.

“I love you, too,” I breathed.

Kane froze. “I didn’t say all that to make you feel like you had to say it back-”

“I’m sayin’ it because love is exactly what I feel for you. It’s been growing for like weeks and weeks now. I was just afraid to admit it to myself. I want to be with you. I swear I do.”

Kane blinked a couple of times then showcased his perfect smile. “A relationship without a title, like before?”

“No,” I replied, happily.

Kane raised an eyebrow so I said, “Skull... he was me Mr. Almost, but you? You’re what I like to call me Mr. Pain In The Arse and that translates to me Mr. Right.”

He blinked his eyes. “So... we’re really dating?”

Men.

“Yes,” I giggled, “we’re really datin’. We’re officially boyfriend and girlfriend.”

Kane smiled. “Yay.”

I felt my mouth drop open. “You should never say ‘yay’. You’re big, scary, and manly to the core. Big scary men do not say ‘yay’.”

Kane’s eyes gleamed and he leaned into me and whispered, “This one does.”

Okay, so big, scary, and manly men to the core could say ‘yay’ and make it work, or at least my man could.

“Miss Collins?”

I closed my eyes as I wrote up homework for my class on the blackboard. School was out in five minutes, and hearing ‘Miss Collins’ was something I could have desperately done without. I was tired, cranky, and hungry. I just wanted to go home and be with Kane.

Who knew admitting you love someone could make you want to be around them twenty-four-fucking-seven?

Not me, that’s for sure. My sudden clinginess to Kane was embarrassing, but I couldn’t help it. We said those three important words just one week ago and I felt like I needed to be with him all the time because my heart hurt when I wasn’t. I didn’t know if this was love in general or if my hormones multiplied it by infinity. Whatever it was, it turned me into a complete lovesick puppy.

“Yes?” I replied sweetly to the darling who called out my name.

“Your belly is rubbin’ off the writin’ on the bottom of the blackboard.”

The giggles that followed that statement caused my eye to twitch.

I looked down and groaned when I saw my pregnant belly did, in fact, rub off the writing on the lower half of the chalkboard. It made me a little teary because I had to bend down when I fucking wrote it!

“I’m not rewritin’ it,” I announced. “No homework tonight. Consider yourselves lucky.”

The cheers that filled my classroom made me laugh. I turned to face my class and smiled at them. They were a good group of kids, and I loved teaching them.

“You can all pack up, and line up by the door. The bell will ring in a few minutes.”

The talking that quickly ensued was so loud it gave me an instant headache.

“Pack up quietly, please,” I said loudly, a stern look in place on my face.

This hushed everyone up, and my head was grateful for it.

“Miss Collins?”

I looked at Niamh, a blonde girl who sat in the front row of my class, when she spoke. “Yeah, darlin’?” I asked, smiling at her.

She was so cute that I wanted to squeeze her cheeks.

She nodded to my stomach. “Are you excited to have your baby?”

Some of my male students groaned and it caused me to giggle. The girls in my class loved talking about my baby and asking all kinds of questions about pregnancy. A few weeks ago the boys got fed up with it and zoned out whenever the girls asked me about being pregnant. They used the time to close their eyes or stare off into space.

I found it hilarious.

“I’m very excited.”

Niamh smiled at me. “I bet. Me ma is havin’ a baby too and I’m super excited.”

I beamed. “That is brilliant, you’re goin’ to be a great big sister.”

“Thanks,” Niamh blushed. “I can’t wait to help me ma take care of the baby. She said I have a huge job to help her because me daddy got a new job and he has to work hard so we can buy new things for the baby.”

At that moment, my love for Kane grew even more. He took away my worries about money—he also gave me precious time that could be spent as a family. If I had to worry about money, or a babysitter so I could work, I didn’t know how I would I have coped.

“You’re a very good girl for helpin’ your ma, and you’re goin’ to have so much fun with your new brother or sister. You’ll be the one to teach him or her all the fun things.” I winked.

Niamh giggled, and so did her friends.

I could only imagine what ‘fun things’ they thought of.

A few seconds later the bell indicating school was over rang loud. It did nothing for my sore head, but it did relieve me knowing I could go home and stay there for the day.

I loved Fridays.

I walked out behind my students as they filed out of the classroom, and headed out to the yard where they each lined up until their parents made themselves known. Luckily it only took ten minutes for me to say goodbye to my students and their parents. I went back to my classroom and began to pack up my things.

I grabbed my phone and its charger and put them in my bag along with my lip balm and mints. I clipped my bag shut, hooked the strap over my shoulder and walked out of the classroom, locking the door with my keys behind me.

The hallways were clearing fast of older students as they always did on a Friday because it was a half-day. I made my way down the hallway and headed for the staffroom so I could hang the keys to my room up on the key rack. When I entered the room, it was just as scarce as the hallway. Staff members wanted to get out of the school just as much as the students did.