“Hey. Oh. Um.” Hastily, she wipes her cheeks, but the attempt is futile. “I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
She laughs and shifts on the sofa to hide from me. “I just finished a really sad movie.”
“With the TV off?”
She glances up at the black screen and emits another humorless, shaky laugh. “I turned it off after.”
I take the chair kitty-corner to where she is on the sofa and lean forward so I’m almost in her space, unable to stop myself as fury pulses through my veins. “Was it your date? Did he hurt you?”
She keeps her head tucked down, but she shakes it. “No. It wasn’t that, and it wasn’t a date. He was my realtor.”
Oh. Relief I have no right to hits me straight in the gut. Then I think about how I behaved, how jealous I acted. I clear my throat. “Then what is this?”
She goes to stand. “It’s nothing. Just a bad night. I’m going to bed.”
I stand too, intercepting her and taking her by the wrist so I can gently sit her back down. I take the seat directly beside her and box her in a little, even though she won’t meet my eyes. “Bullshit. Tell me.”
“What do you care?” she snaps, but that won’t work with me.
“I care. Now tell me who hurt you.”
“No one hurt me. Like I said, it’s just a bad night.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Nothing happened,” she grits out, growing aggravated.
“Again, bullshit. Talk to me,” I demand, my voice climbing in frustration.
Fresh tears well in her eyes. Instinct and worry take over, and I cup her face with one hand while putting the other around her and drawing her head to my shoulder.
“Shh. It’s okay. I’ve got you. You’re safe. I promise.” I kiss the top of her head, and she hiccups out a whimper that breaks my fucking heart. “Please tell me what happened. You’re scaring the shit out of me, and my mind is going wild. Do I need to kill someone?”
I get a watery laugh, but I’m actually not kidding. I will murder the motherfucker.
“Was it Josh?”
She sobs, and her face digs into my shirt while her hands grip it. For a moment, all she does is cry, and I don’t know what to do other than hold her and console her and promise her that whatever it is, I’ll fix it. Fuck, I have to fix this. I can’t handle her tears. They’re ripping me apart.
Skylar is a ballbuster and tough as nails and sweet as pie. She should never know this kind of sadness or pain or whatever this is.
“Little Swan, tell me. Whatever it is, I’ll make it better for you.”
“You can’t,” she whispers, her voice drenched in agony.
I draw her chin up until her eyes meet mine. “Tell me,” I implore.
“You’ll tell Micha or someone else, and I can’t…” She trails off with a shake of her head.
“You and I already have secrets I haven’t told Micha or anyone else.” Then I nearly choke since I did tell Bennett about the kiss tonight. But he’s not going to say anything. Bennett isn’t like that. “I swear. Whatever it is, I won’t tell anyone.”
Her eyes search mine, and finally she whispers, “I’m pregnant,” and my world shuts down completely.
14
SKYLAR
