“Everything’s fine,” Liam answered a bit too quickly. “We’re totally…fine.”
There it was. That tiny pause revealed a world of trepidation. His friend was hiding something, all right. And he intended to find out what that something was.
“Spill it, Cutler.” Jagger waited for the other man to look his way.
When he did, Liam’s rugged face had twisted, and his eyes had widened with obvious surprise. “Spill what?”
“Whatever it is you’re tryin’ like hell not to say.”
The unexpected comment left the man blinking. “I-I don’t know what you’re?—”
“Spare us both the bullshit, would you?” Jagger cut his friend’s lie short. “You know how this is going to play out. I’m gonna keep asking and you’ll keep denying until you finally get sick of my shit and give in. So just skip to the good part and tell me what it is so we have more time to talk about it before we get to where we’re going.”
The enclosed space grew silent as Liam stared back at him with a guarded expression. A beat later, one corner of his lips curved into a grin, and the man started to shake his head.
“You’re so annoying, you know that?”
“And yet, you still love me.”
Liam laughed. “Unfortunately for me, yeah,” he teased. “I do.”
“Seriously, man. Talk to me. What’s going on with you and Al?”
“It’s nothing bad, it’s just…” His friend’s focus returned to the D.C. traffic up ahead. “And we haven’t told anyone yet, so you can’t go blabbing your mouth.”
“Just tell me, Liam,” he prodded.
His friend’s gaze slid his way once more before he finally revealed, “Allison’s pregnant.”
It took a few seconds for the news to fully sink in because he’d expected Liam to say something about how he’d royally fucked things up. When the realization of his friend’s news finally hit, Jagger’s mouth spread into a wide, toothy grin.
“Seriously?” His fingers curled around Liam’s bicep with a friendly shake. “Congrats, dude! That’s awesome!”
“Yeah?”
Jagger frowned. “Well, yeah. I mean…unless it’s not?”
Liam loved Allison more than his very own life, and her little girl was already the apple of the man’s eye. So thinking he’d be over the moon at the exciting news was a natural assumption to make.
Or so I thought.
“No, of course it’s great news.” Liam’s chuckle was thick with nervous tension. “It’s just…”
“Scary as hell?” Jagger assumed.
“I’m fucking terrified, Jag,” the other man finally admitted. “What if I’m a shitty dad?”
“That’s what you’re worried about?” He couldn’t help but snort at his friend’s insecurities. “Brother, I’ve seen the way you are with Maddie, remember? That little girl absolutely worships you.”
“Yeah, but that’s only because her bio dad was a piece of shit.”
“You know that’s not the only reason.”
“I don’t know, maybe.”
“There’s no maybe to it,” Jagger countered. “I know it. Allison knows it. And I’m pretty sure, deep down, you know it, too.”
A moment of thick silence passed before Liam finally spoke up again. “You’d better be right, you know? ’Cause you’re my best friend, which means if I screw this up, you’re also gonna fucked where she’s concerned.”
