“Can I pet him?”
“He’d like that,” Kroupa said. He issued an order two seconds before a wet snout nudged my shoulder. “Now you can reach him.”
“Thank you, Havoc.” I sniffled. “I’m sorry you got hurt trying to save me.”
“No one blames you, but if you need to hear it. He forgives you,” Kroupa said.
I needed to hear it. Not just from Havoc, but from AJ, Jay, John, and Nathan. And from Jamie and Jack because their dad got stabbed. And from Cate because her fiancé got shot.
I needed to hear it from everyone because the guilt was piling up.
If only I’d been stronger and hadn’t needed time to process the negative pregnancy result.
If only I’d stayed inside at the clinic.
If only I’d screamed, alerting Nathan that something was wrong.
If only I wasn’t the reason my friends had gotten hurt.
“Ashley,” AJ yelled my name.
“What?”
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“No, I’m not. This is all my fault.” I finally admitted.
“No, it’s not,” AJ said.
“Not even a little,” Kroup added. “Perpura was a sick bastard.”
Havoc nudged my hand, which had stilled while I confessed, so I rubbed his head again. The other hand was alternating between rubbing Nathan’s head and caressing his cheeks.
After a particularly jarring bump, I heard my name whispered with a gravelly voice and looked down to see Nathan’s eyes fluttering.
“Nathan!”
Chapter 57
Nathan
My head felt woozy, and my leg hurt like hell from the tourniquet, but the pain meant I was alive. And more importantly, so was Ashley.
It wasn’t easy, but I raised one hand to hold hers. “You okay?”
“I’m not the one who got shot,” she answered, her grip crushing my hand.
“What about the baby?”
“What?” AJ asked, whipping around in the front seat.
Ignoring him, I waited for Ashley’s answer.
“Fucknut nabbed me before I could tell you. The test was negative. I’m not pregnant.” Her fingers tracing my scar went mostly unnoticed as relief flooded my system.
“You’re not—”
“No.” She laughed. “I’m sorry. I should’ve told you sooner.”
