The Goal (Off-Campus Book 4)

Sabrina looks like she wants to crawl under a rock. Or maybe jump out one of the many windows in our apartment. I know she doesn’t like being put on the spot, and I probably wouldn’t even blame her if she decided to flee.

But whatever my mother said to her before I came home—and I intend on finding out every last word that was spoken—has clearly given Sabrina a dose of courage. She frowns briefly at my mom, then turns to me and meets my gaze straight on.

“I love you,” she confirms.

I take a step closer. “Since when?”

“Since fucking always.” When my mom winces, Sabrina gives her a sheepish look. “Sorry. Tuck and I are still going through a language transition. We don’t always remember to say ‘fudge’ and ‘sugar,’ okay?” She lifts an eyebrow. “Are you going to lecture me about that too?”

Mom’s lips twitch as if she’s trying not to laugh. “No,” she says faintly. “I’m not. In fact…” She makes a big show of slipping into her winter boots and coat. “I think I’ll take a walk around the block. I love looking at all the snow.”

“Bullshit,” I cough into my hands. My mom despises winter and we both know it.

She glares at me on her way to the door. “Please speed up this language transition, John.” And then she’s gone, and Sabrina and I exchange grins.

The humor doesn’t last long, though.

“I’m sorry,” Sabrina tells me.

“For what?” I bridge the distance between us and plant both hands on her slender hips.

“I didn’t mean to be rude to your mother. It’s just…she said some…hurtful things.” She holds up her hand when she sees my dark expression. “They’re not worth repeating, and I have a feeling she won’t say that kind of stuff anymore.”

I nod slowly. “You mean now that she knows you love me?”

“Yeah.”

I search her beautiful face for a moment before smiling again. “Since fucking always, huh?”

“Well, maybe not always,” she concedes. “I won’t lie, Tuck. That connection you talked about when we first met? About our eyes meeting across the room and how you felt something in that moment?” Sabrina sighs. “All I felt was lust that night.”

“I know.”

“But it’s not just lust anymore. It hasn’t been about that for a long time.”

“When?” I can’t help but tease. “When did you figure out you’re madly in love with me?”

“I don’t know. Maybe on that ridiculous double date? Maybe when you took care of me when I thought I was sick? When you got me the briefcase? When you punched out Ray in my honor?” Each word is lined with wonder. “I don’t know exactly when, Tuck, but I know I love you.”

A lump rises in my throat. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

“Because I was scared. And because I wasn’t sure if you actually loved me back—”

“Are you kidding me? I lost my head for you the second we met. You know that.”

She stubbornly sticks out her chin. “I figured you were thinking with your dick. Guys do that.”

I’ll give her that. But I’ve never been one of those guys.

“And then I got pregnant, and I was worried you were confusing your feelings for the baby with your feelings for me.” She rakes a hand through her silky dark hair. “But the biggest thing is…was…that I…I…”

I stroke her hips. “You what?”

Tears cling to her long eyelashes. “I can’t be the person who ruins your life. I already turned you into a father earlier than you wanted to be one. I didn’t want love to complicate everything. I didn’t want…” She blinks rapidly. “I didn’t want you to wake up one day and hate me.”

I growl. “Hate you? Jesus, woman.” Hauling her tight against me, I bury my face in her neck. “You still don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what?” she asks in a small voice.

“You. Me. Us. This.” I spit out words as they pop into my head. “You’re the one, Sabrina. There’s no one else for me in this world, nobody but you. If I was driving and saw you on the side of the road? You better believe I’d rip out a spark plug or two if it meant getting to spend even five seconds in your presence. You’re the fucking one.”

Her breath hitches.

“Even if you didn’t give me Jamie—which is the greatest goddamn gift in the world, by the way—I’d still want to be with you. Even if you hadn’t said you loved me back, I’d take whatever scraps you were willing to give me as long as I could be with you. I don’t give a shit if that makes me pathetic—”

“You’re not pathetic.” Her expression is fierce now. “You could never be pathetic.”

“I wouldn’t care if you thought I was.” I cup her face in my hands and wipe away her tears with my thumbs. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Sabrina James.”

“No.” She smiles. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Before I can lean down to kiss her, a hearty cry wails through the apartment.

“And that,” I murmur, “is the best thing that’s ever happened to either one of us.”

A tear breaks free from her lashes and slides down her cheek. “Yes. It is.”

Jamie lets out another bloodcurdling shriek, and we both hurry toward the corridor that leads to the bedrooms. Right outside the nursery door, though, I stop Sabrina by taking her hand.

“She can cry for five more seconds,” I decide. “We’re trying out that self-soothing thing anyway, remember?”

Her lips quiver with humor. “I thought you were against it.” She deepens her voice and gives it a drawl to mimic me. “‘I ain’t gonna let my princess suffer, darlin’. What kind of father does that?’”

My jaw drops in outrage. “I did not say ain’t.”

“You may as well have.”

Rolling my eyes, I tug her toward me and capture her bottom lip between my teeth. Sabrina moans in response, which wakes up my cock.

“I wanted a kiss,” I grumble against her mouth. “Not sex noises.”

“Too bad. You’re getting both.” She proceeds to stick her tongue in my mouth and kiss the shit out of me until we’re both making sex noises.

When we break apart, we’re both laughing and breathing hard, and Jamie is still screaming her displeasure to anyone who’ll listen.

“C’mon, let’s go wait on the princess,” Sabrina says with a smile.

She gives my ass a playful smack, and then we walk into the nursery, hand-in-hand, to see our daughter.