“Good,” Quinn says fiercely. “He doesn’t deserve to know. And if he tries anything?—”
“I’ll kill him,” Roman states bluntly.
“I believe that, which is why I’ll handle it.”
“Or Aston will,” Braelyn quips. “That’s part of the deal.”
Forest turns, his eyebrows at his hairline. “Part of the deal? So, Aston’s your personal bodyguard now? I thought you hated him. Just how close are the two of you?”
I hitch a shoulder and find my knotted fingers on my lap. “I wouldn’t call us close. We can barely stand each other.”
“Skylar Fritz Davenport!” Quinn demands. “You little slut.” She nudges my arm. “Your voice squeaked, which means you’re lying. Did you fuck your new husband?”
“What? No!” Except my face flames, and yeah, I squeaked again. I clear my throat and work to even my tone. “Nothing like that. He just… he’s helping me out.”
“Oh yeah? I bet he is. How much is he helping out?” Crew quirks an eyebrow at me.
“You’re totally fucking him.” Hayes sighs. “You have yourI did something scandalousface.”
“I don’t have a scandalous face. What even is that?”
He points at me. “That. That face. Ninety-nine percent of the time you’re this sweet, good girl. But that one percent…” He trails off.
“You can lie all you want, but you forget I saw the kiss,” Braelyn reminds me.
“Oh, the kiss!” Quinn is all over that. “Wait! Did he make you come?”
The room falls silent.
“Yes,” I say in a low voice. “But before you all start getting excited or freaking out on me, he was a jerk after. He knew no one had ever… done that to me before, and he made it his mission, and he said things. He filled my head with bullshit, and I fell for it because I was stupid and vulnerable and I’m freaking pregnant! It’s likely pregnancy hormones that did that to me and not him.”
“Shit. I don’t know whether to thank him or kick his ass.” Hayes wraps his arm around me, and I sink into him. Into these people and this circle of friends and family.
“We’re getting off track,” I say, trying to steer us away from this. I don’t want to talk about it. “It was a one-time thing and won’t happen again. We’ve already agreed to that. So, let’s move past it. I have a complicated enough life right now without adding screwing my fake husband to the list.”
“Fair,” Roman agrees.
“Yes, but orgasms.” Braelyn simpers. “Right? I mean, you finally had one. That’s pretty big, Sky.”
“Woohoo. Go me.” I twirl my finger around in the air. “I’m a real girl,” I cry, doing a horrible impression of Pinocchio’s voice.
She rolls her eyes at me and tosses the throw pillow she was resting against at me, and I throw it right back at her.
“All joking aside,” Quinn says, her voice gentle, “we’re here for you. Whatever you need, whenever you need it. If thisarrangement with Aston is what works for you both, then we support it.”
“And if Josh gives you any trouble,” Crew adds, his expression hardening, “you’ll tell us.”
“And we’ll take care of him,” Roman follows up.
“The same goes for the pregnancy,” Hayes throws in. “We’ve got you. Always. You’re not alone. You’ve got us, and we’re your family.”
“Thank you. That means the world to me.” Let’s just hope I don’t need it.
23
ASTON
Iroll my head around on my neck until it makes a satisfying crack. I nearly groan at how good that feels after that surgery. My foot presses down on the pedal, and water splashes out of the faucet into the large basin. I scrub out, washing off the last three hours of grueling work. I peer up and watch as the nurses wheel the patient out toward the ICU, too critical for the PACU. He’s got a long road ahead of him, but he survived this round of surgery, so I’m hopeful.
