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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

NICOLE RETURNED HOME from what felt like an endless day at the bakery only to find she could barely move inside her house There all-to-wall football players They were polite, eating enough for five times their number and oddly protective of her

In the time it took her to cross froreat roo, asked how she was feeling twice and had an offer to go put gas in her car

"I’m fine," she told them all

"Yes, ma’am We know," a boy named Kenny said "We’ll be quiet You won’t even knoe’re here"

There were at least ten of the to know

"There are cookies in the pantry," she said "And a big box of frozen ood in the oodness for Costco, she thought as she h the football players and climbed the stairs Before Raoul hadfor four hundred Now she understood

She closed the door of the bedroouys were there It was Wednesday and they’d been hanging out at her house every afternoon this week They would leave when Raoul got ho at the bakery For some reason, he didn’t think she should be alone It eet in a way He was trying to take care of her

He was going to be an extraordinary man, she told herself One day he would find soe thather Because her love life was still floating in the toilet

She loved Hawk enough to both be furious and feel bad for hiree to marry him when they hadn’t even talked about the baby or how they felt about each other? His announcement that he loved her had been overshadowed by his bolt for freedonancy

But she did feel bad that he’d been publicly hu Maybe he couldn’t recover from what had happened

Better to kno, she told herself If he couldn’t handle the reality of a relationship, she needed to know that But thinking the words didn’t erase the knot in her stomach

She curled up on her side and pulled her knees to her chest She kept waiting for hied to keep his distance now for four days

A couple of hours later, someone knocked on her bedrooone"

She stood and crossed to let hiet their own lives I’nored that and instead held out a large, thick envelope with the University of Washington logo in the corner "They’re ood offer," he said "They’ll want me to live on campus the first year, but I’ll still be close and I can cohteen This wasn’t his baby and she was only the person who’d given him a place to stay But Raoul was loyal and responsible and he wanted to make sure she was taken care of

"I don’t know if I should slap you or hug you," she said, settling on putting her hands on her hips "Either way, you are not putting your drea ball They have a good teaood conference This is an offer I need to consider"

"You are not picking a college based on the fact that I’rown-up here I’ll be fine"

"I want to be sure"

Which was too sweet "Raoul, I was born to take care of the world I accept it You need to consider all your offers and make your decision based on what is best for you Pretend I don’t exist"

"I can’t You’ve been there for me"

"We’ll talk about this later," she said "Okay?"

He nodded

She was more touched than she could say and in more pain than she wanted hi from the heart and she would always remember this moment, she also understood why he orried He didn’t think Haas going to coht

CLAIRE’S STOMACH had grown since the last time Hawk had seen her at that dinner at her house He hadn’t paid attention to the changes pregnant wo Brittany, and that was a long ti to ask how Claire was feeling and when she was due It just wasn’t natural

But then nothing had been right for a while now He missed Nicole ry and hu out there

It had taken his from her point of view But the embarrassment still burned

"I don’t knohat to do," he told Claire as she led hireed to see you," Nicole’s sister said She motioned for him to sit on the sofa, while she took one of the chairs opposite "I heard about what happened on Friday at the gaood idea?"

"Obviously or I wouldn’t have done it I wanted her to knoas serious"

Claire stared at hi tih Nicole was much prettier

"You took off like your butt was on fire when she told you she was pregnant," Claire said She didn’t sound a it I needed ti a wo for the hills isn’t exactly the kind of de for"

"It was a lot to take in I didn’t have any warning" He leaned forward and stared at Claire "I didn’t expect to fall in love with her, okay? I loved Serena and when she died I figured I was done with love I dated soet serious I didn’t see the point No one got to me the way Nicole does"

He paused to reh on the outside Slass than let anyone think she’s got a vulnerable side, but she also has the biggest heart I’ve ever seen She’s kind and generous and she’ll get inGod, I love her"

He rested his forearhs "But I don’t kno to tell her that I don’t kno to esture and it blew up in my face"

Claire’s expression softened "Hawk, I hate to break it to you, but nothing about what you did was romantic It wasn’t about Nicole and her needs It was about you and your ego You didn’t just want to propose, you wanted to be the star That’s not the way to win most women and it’s sure not the way to win Nicole"