Dakota’s hand landed on her arm. What the hell was he doing? There was already enough tension in the room, Jessie didn’t want to trigger an argument, so she patted his hand before pushing it off her arm.
“Did we order food? Drinks? Isn’t this supposed to be brothers’ bonding with boyfriend time?”
“Yup.” Hawk leaned forward. “Which has me wondering what you’re doing here.”
“Lachlan invited me. Since I’ve been out of town for a while, and I’m an honorary Ford after all,” he chuckled. “Besides, I’ll be someone watching after Jess sometimes at the shop.”
“No offense, Dakota, but if one of her brothers isn’t with her, one of mine will be.” Hawk crossed his arms as he drank his water. Jessie had told him there was no harm in having a beer with her brothers, but Hawk wouldn’t hear of it. Something about how he’d never have a drink knowing Jessie and the baby would be riding with him behind the wheel. The lengths that man would go to to keep her and their daughter safe was sexy as hell.
Bee decided to roll at that moment, a foot landing in her ribs as the baby’s head pressed down on her bladder. Jessie jolted, her knees pressing together so she didn’t pee her pants. God, that would just be the icing on the awkward cake.
“You okay?” Hawk’s worried eyes bounced around her face.
“Fine,” she smiled as she pressed up from her chair. “Your daughter thinks my bladder is the perfect pillow and is head-butting me so much I need to pee. I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“Hawk. Stay with my brothers. Please try to break this tension up. I don’t think I’m going to last much longer if I come back and they’re still being stupid.”
His hand slipped over hers. “Are you sure?”
“You can see the restroom from right there. I’ll be fine.”
“Did you see the way she was looking at him? God, it’s bad enough you trapped him by getting pregnant, but honestly, does she really think he sees anything in her? I swear Hawk was about to ask me out just after New Years. I didn’t get why he just dropped off the face of the planet, but it makes sense that’s when she would have told him about the baby.”
Jessie was mid-wrestle, trying to get her maternity leggings back up over her belly when the cackling voices came into the bathroom. She cringed the second Hawk’s name hit her ears.
“We don’t even know if it’s really his, Bianca. Maybe he’s just stepping up because she was with someone else. You know Jess didn’t sleep around in school, but since we graduated? I mean, come on. We’ve all heard the rumors.”
“Can you imagine. How fucking horrific for him—trapped in Silver Springs with a kid that’s not even his and a girlfriend who’s never done anything more than say ‘can I take your order.’”
Jessie forced her hands to relax, took a deep breath and marched with her head held high out of the bathroom stall. She didn’t look over at the women, who had gone deathly still. She simply washed her hands and left. In the hall, Jessie stopped, the sting of tears blurring her vision. No. Those women hadn’t said anything she hadn’t thought in the past. And Hawk had always made it crystal clear that thosethoughts were wrong. She wasn’t about to make a mountain out of a moron hill.
Still, hearing all that hadn’t helped her nerves any, or the way her emotions were simmering beneath the surface of her skin as she walked back to the table.
Beau and Hayes stood with their arms crossed over their chests, pretending to shoot pool. Not saying a word to her. Not saying a word to Hawk. She fiddled with the band of her anti-nausea device as she sat back down at the table.
“I’m heading up to grab another one.” Colt held up his empty bottle. “Can I get you anything, Hawk?”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll just take a coke. Ginger ale. Whatever they have.”
Colt nodded. “Jess?”
“Ginger ale, thanks.” Jessie smiled at her oldest brother.
“Sure thing.”
“You okay?” Hawk leaned over, his hand rubbing over her wrist.
“Fine. Just wish my brothers would chill with the death stares.”
“Did something happen in the bathroom? Your eyes were red when you came out.”
“Just some mean girls. We don’t have to get into it here.”
Hawk’s thumb lifted her chin.
“Fine. We don’t need to talk about it here. But wewillbe talking about it. Because whatever they said hurt you, and I don’t fucking like that.”
