“You do.”
“And then there’s the issue of me being your surgeon.” She lets out a breath. “But I think I want to tell Heidi.”
“Good,” I say. “You should have someone you can trust.”
That earns a soft smile. “What about you?”
“I don’t need to tell anyone yet if you’re not ready to, but if you’re okay with it… I would like to tell a couple of the boys—the ones you’ve already met—that we’re…”
Together? Dating?
“Having a baby?”
I exhale. “Yeah, if that’s okay? They’re trustworthy, they’re like my brothers, and I—”
“I trust you, Reid. So if you trust them, then there’s no problem.”
Warmth fills my bones, followed by a pause. Then I ask the one thing that’s been playing on my mind, trying to sound as casual as possible.
“You wanna come to Sunday brunch next week?”
“Sunday what?”
“Brunch. With the crew. Jake, Chase, Logan, Eli, and their families… I’m hosting.”
“Oh.” She hesitates. “I don’t know…”
“It’s chaos,” I warn her. “Chase will be there, and so will Gremlin, which tells you all you need to know. But at least you’ll get a front row seat to his demise.”
Her hair swishes as she shakes her head with a smile.
“Can I think on it?”
“Of course.”
The screen softens as she shifts onto her side, one arm tucked under her head.
“You look tired, baby.”
“I am.” She yawns. “You should sleep, too.”
“You first,” I murmur.
She smiles, small and sleepy. “Okay.”
The screen stays on even after her eyes drift shut, and I don’t hang up. Just lie there with the soft sound of her breath through the screen and my heart thudding in my chest.
I don’t know what the hell this is turning into, but I know one thing with bone-deep certainty.
I’m already gone.
Gone for this girl in a hoodie with cucumber rice and tired eyes, growing my baby the size of a blueberry, who has cracked my chest wide open.
Chapter twenty
Saw the heartbeat, and now I’m fucked
Carina
