That one word tells me enough. She’s upset. “Why didn’t you call me?” I ask. She raises her brows. I stop and turn to her. “You don’t owe him anything.” I shake my head, heart thudding. “How did it go?”
She exhales slowly. “About as badly as you’d expect.”
That tracks.
“I’m sorry,” I say. It feels inadequate.
She shrugs, but the movement is brittle. “Thank you. But you don’t get off that easy. And… and I needed time to take in what he said, how I feel. It’s his baby.”
She looks up at me with a film of water over her eyes, searching my face like she’s afraid to hope. Something in my chest gives.
“I’m here for you,” I say. “Whatever you need.”
Her shoulders drop, and she steps into me, not answering with words.
Words aren’t enough.
The kiss is soft at first, but the second her handscurl into my jacket, restraint shatters. I kiss her back, deeper now, forgetting where I’m at and who might see. My hand comes up to cradle the back of her head as muscle memory takes over.
For a moment, everything else disappears. The baby she’s having. The medical issues. It’s just us.
From behind us, I hear, “You have got to be kidding me!”
We jerk apart, heat replaced by panic.
Greyson and Sutton stand a few feet away, having just stepped outside. Greyson looks stunned, eyes flicking between us as if he’s trying to make sense of what he’s seeing.
Sutton claps once, grinning. “This is almost as sweet as having a baby.”
Greyson doesn’t laugh.
Instead, he steps closer and grips my arm—right where the skin is still tender, where the port sits beneath the surface. The pressure is light but deliberate.
“I thought this fake dating thing was over,” he says. It sounds more like a question than a statement.
I don’t pull away. “This is between Noelle and me,” I say evenly.
Greyson’s jaw tightens. “The hell it is.” His voice drops. “I thought I could trust you.”
The words land heavy.
Noelle stiffens beside me, but I don’t let go of her hand. She opens her mouth, but instead of saying she gets to decide who she dates, she blurts out, “I’m pregnant.”
Time slows down as I feel Greyson’s fist connect with my jaw. Soon the whole family gathers to witness the commotion. J.D. pulls Greyson away from me. “G, G! Stop! What’s going on?”
“My best friend is fucking our sister. That’s what’s going on,” he says.
A collective gasp comes from the O’Ryan crew. “And she’s pregnant,” he adds. An even louder gasp.
Then silence.
Not even a late-summer cricket chirps.
TWENTY-EIGHT
NOELLE
My pulse races.
