Percy nibbled his lip. "I'll tell him I'm not well. It's not a lie. I’ve been sick all week, and Briggs has been side-eyeing me.”
“And if he asks what's wrong?”
“I’ll tell him I haven’t seen a doctor.”
We were really stretching the truth, but it would have to do.
“Okay. But if you have a problem or you’re really sick, you tell me. Not Briggs and not your captain. Just me, your mate.”
“You’re kinda bossy.”
I smirked. “And you like it.”
“What? Moi? Never.” Percy’s innocent look didn’t fool me. He yawned andnestled closer. “I’m going to fall asleep again. Growing a baby is exhausting.”
“Pretty sure what’s inside you is an egg.”
“Same thing.”
I pulled a blanket off the back of the sofa and tucked it around him while he grumbled about eggs. Within minutes, his breathing slowed and his body slumped against mine. I closed my eyes and allowed waves of terror, joy, and my love for this man to crash over me.
Percy had tumbled into my life wearing the wrong team’s colors and had rearranged my priorities.I’d never have imagined that was possible, and yet look at me now.
FOURTEEN
LARKIN
Percy called at seven in the morning, and I knew from his first breath that something was wrong.
“Briggs saw my truck.” He spoke in a monotone. I knew my mate well enough to understand he was just keeping it together. “As he was driving home from his sister’s, he said it was parked outside your building.”
I sat on the edge of my bed and closed my eyes. “When?”
“Last night. He texted, and I tried to brush it off, but he told Hallie, and by this morning they'd put it together.” I cringed as I imagined their reaction. “I told them everything, Larkin. That we’re in a relationship and I’m pregnant.”
Oh, this wasn’t good, though we were done hiding.
“How bad is it?”
“Briggs won't look at me, and Hallie asked how she's supposed to trust anything I've said. The captain benched me and sent me home.” His voice cracked on the last word. “And that was fair, I suppose.” His voice wobbling suggested Percy was having a hard time with that decision. “But the others, ummm, their reaction hurt, and I walked out with no one saying anything.”
When Percy walked into a room, all eyes turned to him. He was the guy who made everyone laugh, and yet when he left the station, he was so alone. No one clapped him on the back or told him they’d get over it eventually.
“I’m telling my crew today.”
“Larkin, the gossip might beat you there.”
Damn, I’d better move fast.
I convinced myself that the knot in my stomach would vanish once I’d let everyone know. I'd walked into burning buildings, so telling my crew I'd lied to them… oh gods, I’d lied, and now I had to take what was coming.
But gossip had a head start.
Janice was leaning against the engine with her arms folded, and the expression on her face had me considering how I’d ever make this right.
“So, a guy from Station 9. The one who beat us in the hose drag and the ladder climb. That's who you've been sneaking off with.”
Colin was sitting on the bumper, studying his boots, while Ken was in the driver's seat with the door open, pretending to check something on the dashboard. Neither of them looked at me.
