“Fuck off, Devon. I would hope you know me better than that.” I turn and walk to the stairs. I sure hope he doesn’t think that I would do that to Denise. As if I would just mess around with her. Even before I knew she was having a baby, that’s not something I would have done.
“Goodnight, Ryder.” He singsongs to my back as I climb the stairs. “Take care of that woman up there. I’ll keep an eye out for that fuckface, Andrew.”
“Get some sleep, asshole.” I shout down the stairs. “I can’t deal with you when you’re like this.”
As I open the door to Denise’s room, I can hear Devon’s laughter drifting up the stairs. He’s a dick sometimes, but I’m glad he’s here. Andrew may have proven useless to Denise, but even without him she’s going to have more support than she can handle. Everyone in the band is going to be behind her completely. And me too, if she’ll let me.
I strip down to my boxers and crawl into bed beside Denise. She automatically rolls over in her sleep, turning to face me, and lays her head on my chest. A plan forms in my head as I lay there stroking Denise’s hair. I know I told her I wouldn’t mention the pregnancy to anyone else but after tonight I think most everyone in the band will know, anyway. She needs to know that we won’t let her go through this alone.
I grab my phone from the nightstand and write a quick text to Alex and Aiden. I’ll need their help if I want to pull this off on such short notice. I suppose I should feel bad for bothering Alex tonight when she’s celebrating her engagement, but I waxed my entire body for her entertainment. She can deal with this one minor interruption.
Finally ready to sleep, I bend and kiss Denise’s hair, smelling that coconut scent again. It reminds me of summers at the beach when I was a kid. Gran would take us out during our visits and she’d slather us in coconut scented sunscreen every hour, it seemed. My brother and I would play in the water or sand all day, taking breaks only to eat, or get our sunscreen reapplied. The smell of Denise’s hair reminds of those days, days that were both too short and endless all at the same time.
It’s memories of the beach that invade my mind as I fall asleep tonight. I feel Denise stir on my chest, but my dreams pull me under before I fully wake.
