A knock at his door had Hawk reluctantly leaving his emotional spiral.
“What’s got you in knots today?” Gunner asked as he walked into the room.
“Jessie’s pissed at me.”
Gunner laughed. “Welcome to married life.”
“We’re not married.”
“Yet.You’ve got the ring, don’t you?”
Hawk’s eyes went wide. “How do you know about that?”
“I didn’t until just then,” he chuckled. “Busted.”
“The only person I’m trying to keep it a secret from is Jess.”
“Heard from Lily she’s already turned you down a few times.” Gunner smirked, lowering himself into the seat across from Hawk.
“Don’t even think about laughing at that. How many times did you have to ask Lily before she finally agreed?”
Gunner crossed his arms. “Not many.”
“Sure, Reap.”
“Listen, it’s not me pacing up and down the hallway, aggressively banging into shit. Are you upset about Jessie being too sick to come down to hang out with the girls?”
“She’s not really sick. At least, not how she usually is,” Hawk groaned as he scrubbed his hands over his face. “I fucked up. Bad. I didn’t tell her I was handing The Trident II project over to Nash. She thinks I’m giving up all my dreams for her and the baby, but I don’t know how to make it any clearer to her thatsheis my dream.”
“So, what are you doing down here moping?”
“Huh?”
“Seems like you’ve got an upset girlfriend and instead of clearing the air with her, making sure she’s okay, communicating with each other until everything was sorted, you ran.”
Hawk stood up so fast his desk chair tipped back and rested against the wall.
“Shit. I’m so fucking dumb. Thanks, Reap. I owe you one.”
Hawk clasped his arm down on Gunner’s shoulder for just a second before he took off down the hall and headed up to the apartment.
Standing outside the apartment door, he froze. Shit. There should be something in his hands. A bouquet of flowers to go in that vase she’d brought home from Lach’s shop months ago. No, scratch that. He hadn’t gotten that for her. A new vase… filled with fresh flowers was what he needed. Or a bag of her favorite crispy chocolate chip cookies. A literal olive branch. Some goddamn thing that would say‘I’m sorry for being the biggest dumb ass of all time. I love you and I’m not giving up anything by choosing you.’Where was that greeting card when he needed it?
The door to the apartment swung open and Hawk froze. Fuck. Jessie’s eyes were rimmed with red, her nose and cheeks bright pink.
“Are you okay? Where are you going?” he asked, the realization that she was fully dressed with her purse on her arm zapping him out of his stupor.
“I’m meeting Adrienne downstairs. We’re going out.”
“Jessie…”
“Hawk.”
He held his hand out and waited. Her eyes dropped to his open palm, then back to his face. For a second he thought it wasn’t going to work. That she’d storm past him and a whole dramatic battle would take place right in the hallway.
But Hawk should have known better. Because a second later, her arms were wrapped around his waist and her face was snuggled down against his chest.
“I’m sorry for making it about me,” she whispered as he gently guided her back into the apartment. “You were making the best decision for our family, and I appreciate how thoughtful you always are about what might be best for me and the baby. But you’re a part of the family too, and I want to—nope. I need to—be a part of the decision making process, especially when it comes to turning down things that you are hugely passionate about.”
