Linx met it with his own.
“Heads up, Courtney’s here too.” Linx slid a glance to Bax.
Courtney. He gulped.
Yeah, he needed to see her. To set things right with her. They needed that to move forward with Dimefront. And he was willing to do it.
“Go easy on her. She’s having a rough time,” Linx said.
“What’s up with Courtney?” Hans asked, a little too innocently.
Bax sat up straighter. What the hell was wrong with Courtney, and why was he just finding out?
“Keep it on the down low. She’s not telling anyone yet.” He leaned in, talking low even though it was just them in the room. “She’s pregnant. Keeping the baby. Living with me in Denver for now.”
Time stood still for Bax. There was no rotation of the Earth. No breath in his lungs. No blood to pump through his body.
“Fuck,” Hans said, kicking off from the wall.
“She’swhat?” Bax asked, the words not sounding like they came from his lips.
Could she be? Well, yeah. They’d not exactly been proactive with prevention. Or active at all. But she hadn’t reached out. That was the code, right? If a guy knocked a girl up, she let him know.
Bax couldn’t sit. Couldn’t stay still. He stood. His chair clattered to the ground. He moved to set it upright. He needed to see her. Needed her to tell him this herself. But deep down? Deep down, he knew.
And he knew why she didn’t tell him.
“Where is she?” he asked.
“You wanna tell me what’s going on?” Linx asked, eyes darting between the rest of them in the room.
But Bax only had one thought.Courtney.
“Is this the part where you tell Linx that you banged his sister?” Knox asked with more than a little resignation. “Or should I?”
Fuck. Fuck. He needed to see her. “This cannot be happening.”
“Tell me you didn’t sleep with Courtney,” Linx said, stalking forward like he was going to kick Bax’s ass.
Bax deserved it, but he wanted to live long enough to tell Courtney that he was sorry. To make things as right as he could. He held up his hands. “It’s not what you think.”
“Linx, take a breather,” Hans said in the periphery, but Bax’s world was still upside down and backward.
“Is that why Em left?” Linx asked, the question punching a hole through Bax’s chest.
No. He shook his head. No. He’d never done that to her. Never would’ve done that to her.
“Courtney and I hooked up after Em left,” he said, running his hands through his hair. “I didn’t fuck around on her.”
“Em did.” Knox stood, moving between Bax and Linx like he could actually stop Linx from killing Bax.
“It’s true.” Hans moved next to Knox. “She was the one with a side gig while she planned her wedding to Bax.”
Now that, that fuckin’ stung.
“That’s not what this is about now,” Bax said. Clarity cutting through the chaos of the room. “This is about Courtney. She’s pregnant? I need to see her.”
“No.” Linx shoved his hands on his hips, spread his stance, and met Bax’s eyes. “She comes to you. When and if she’s ready, she makes the move. You leave her the hell alone.”
