Cal’s precision when he puts something together.
Grant’s quiet protectiveness.
It’s all there woven into the little boy that I’ve let none of them meet until now.
It’s like fate has a twisted sense of humor forcing them back into my lives like this.
I force myself to look at them, each in turn, and it feels like walking barefoot over glass.
I swallow hard, forcing another shaky laugh. “You guys are seriously overthinking this.”
“When is his birthday, Noelle?” Callum asks next.
My chest aches.
If I tell them the truth, everything I’ve built for Eli shatters to pieces. My father, their friendship with him, our fragile littlepeace…it all burns to the ground in an instant because there’s no way these guys will let it go.
They’ll never step back and let me raise our son on my own. Not when they know he could be one of theirs.
Before I can spin another excuse, a loud banging erupts at the door, aggressive and unrelenting like someone’s trying to break it down.
My heart lurches and I freeze, the sound jarring me out of my panic.
Dean’s already moving though, striding toward the door. “Hold tight.”
Callum and Grant shift closer to me, their presence a protective wall from whoever the hell is on the other side of that door, banging like a fire’s broken out.
Callum’s hand hovering near my shoulder, nearly touching me. Grant’s massive form acts as my shield.
I’m caught between gratitude and dread, their instinct to guard me clashing with the chaos of this moment.
Dean cracks the door, and a voice I haven’t heard in over a year slices through the air, livid and venomous. “Where the fuck is she?”
My whole body freezes.
Blood drains from my face and the room narrows to a pinprick of sound, hyper focusing on the man standing right outside the doorway.
Oh god.
Oh no.
Jared. My ex.
The man I broke up with a year ago but won’t let it go.
The sight of him is a physical blow to my chest.
His eyes are wild as they search for me over Dean’s shoulder, his blond hair sticking out at odd angles from the wind outside.
He reeks of whiskey and cigarettes even from where I’m sitting, the stench trailing him like a cloud.
How is he here?
How did he know I was at this hotel with Eli?
My mind races in a dozen directions all at once.
Someone must’ve tipped him off, but who?
