Beneath Your Beautiful: A Neighbors to Lovers Romance [COMPLETED]

31 - Just give me a reason

He put his phone aside. "Look at me, Jaya. I'm trying to be patient and understanding, but I'm this close to losing it," he said with a gesture as he got up to pace. "Your first call should've been to me."

Nodding, she met his gaze. He looked tormented, and she wanted to hug him so tightly they'd melt into one.

Picking up her broken phone, she showed it to him. Dirt and debris impaled the cracked screen. "I made zero calls. I dropped it—by accident," she clarified because he looked at her as if she'd smashed it on purpose.

After a moment, he asked, "Did you mean what you said earlier in the parking lot?"

And there it was, the elephant in the room.

Jaya stared at Noah's thin cashmere sweater because it was safer territory than his eyes. "I don't know," she answered honestly. "I meant it when I said it... but now..." Thinking she'd lost the baby had been the worst feeling.

Noah squared his shoulders and stretched his neck as if he was gearing up for a fight. "I don't want to raise our child without you. It deserves to grow up with both of us. And giving me the baby to raise by myself means you're leaving me too." He pressed his lips together. "I'm sorry, but I love you too much to let you go just because you're scared. You haven't even given us a real shot like you said you would. I'm serious. I'll chain myself to you if necessary, but I'm not leaving here until you understand we're in this together. We're going to be a family, even if it's a dysfunctional one."

Jaya tried to shoot back, but no words came out. The way he stood, his facial expression, she knew he wasn't going to give in. Strength and perseverance were what had made her survive all these years—seeing it in him shifted something in her.

She reached a hand out to him.

Hesitantly, he came over and sat on the bed.

She took his hand in both of hers. "Okay."

There was a flicker of relief in his eyes before he once again regarded her with wariness. "Okay?" He laid his other hand on top of hers, mindful of the cannula. She wasn't hooked up to the IV, but they wanted to keep it in there 'just in case.'

She shifted to link each of his hands with one of hers. "We're in this together," she agreed.

He blew out a long breath and smiled, his gaze dropping to her lips.

"Do it," she encouraged him.

"You sure?"

Leaning closer, she kissed him. It was meant to be a peck, but when their lips met, it didn't seem enough. She clenched her hand in his sweater, drawing him closer. His hand slid into her hair as she burrowed into him. Kissing was never the problem—it was where she told him what she couldn't put into words, and he understood.

A few minutes later, they lay next to each other on the bed, their hands intertwined. Jaya realized then that no matter how messed up this situation was, at least she was having the baby with her best friend—how was that for a silver lining.

"How long do you have to stay here?" he asked, stroking her hand with his thumb.

"They're keeping me overnight."

"And what happens after that?

Sadly it wasn't an option to stay at her house by herself. And she couldn't stay with her parents either because that meant revealing what was going on. But she wasn't ready to admit failure. After all, she was Ms. Independence, solver of her own problems. "I don't know. I don't want to be a burden on anyone." She let go of Noah's hand and cuddled up to him, so she could nestle her face in his neck.

"Would you consider staying with me?" When she hesitated, he said, "It can be as friends. I have a guest room."

"When I said I don't want to be a burden on anyone—that included you. This can go on for months. I won't be able to do any physical activity for the next four weeks. I'm not allowed to lift anything, or walk, or stand for long. God this sucks," she said with a huff. "Oh, and no sex on bed rest." Going into assisted living would be the smartest decision.

Noah smoothed her hair back. "You're carrying my baby. It's the least I can do."

"Don't you have work?"

"We can hire a nurse. I don't have that much going on this month. After that, I can cut down on jobs if needed, which I planned on doing anyway once the baby is born."

They were spending most of their free time together anyway. How much of a difference would it make if she slept in a room at his house instead of hers? It could be a trial run to see how well they worked together.

Noah leaned back so he could look at her. "So, roomies?"

"Separate bedrooms. We can treat it as a team-building exercise. To be completely honest, I'm worried you'll smother me."

"You drive me nuts sometimes, but never enough to want to kill you."

She pinched him. "That's not funny. And it's not what I meant."

"I'll try my best to give you space," he promised.

She took a deep breath, then asked the one question that would make her sound like a jealous girlfriend. "Do I need to worry about Brigitte? Gus kind of made it sound like the two of you are getting close."

He stretched his neck. "I met Bri when we were teenagers. We're old friends."

"Like you and I are friends?"

He chuckled. "Don't worry, babe, you're my special friend. There's no one like you."

She smacked his arm, wincing when the movement stubbed the cannula in the back of her hand.

Now he took a deep breath. "Do you think you'll keep dating Trevor?"

"You know we're only pretend-dating."

"Could've fooled me."

Leaving his embrace, she sat up straighter. "I'm not denying I'm having fun pretending, but that's all there is to it. Trev and I go way back too." She scrunched up her nose. "Besides, he might not want to hang out with me once he hears I'm living with you. He isn't your biggest fan at the moment."

Noah squeezed her hand. "If I could go back in time and undo it all, I would."

She nuzzled his cheek. "At least now we're even."

"How so?"

"I once likened our baby to a tumor, and you just called it a mistake."

He smiled ruefully. "Fortunately, we still have a couple of months to get our act together."

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