Holding her temples, she heaved a deep breath. “Okay, yeah, this is just a lot. I want to go back, but…” her voice cracked. She took a second to compose herself. “I’m just nervous.”
I intertwined my fingers with hers. “To tell your parents? Or because of Rossi?”
Her body went rigid when I said his name. I knew she avoided saying it, but that wasn’t necessary.
“I’m not scared of him, and you shouldn’t be either,” I told her. “I'll never leave your side. I’ll never let him near you ever again. Take him off your list right now, okay?”
She closed her eyes and nodded, like she was trying hard to believe me.
“And for what it’s worth, I think your parents will be happy about the babies.” My hand went down to her stomach and a rush of emotions swelled up inside of me. Two babies. Our babies. I couldn’t help but smile. Her family was definitely going to be happy. Who wouldn’t be?
Ali snorted, making me come back down to reality.
I blinked at her. “Why wouldn’t they be happy?” I fished. I tried to read her face. I could only think of one possibility. “Because we’re not married? We could get married?” I offered. “Would that make it better?”
She regarded me with a frown. “JP,” she warned.
Okay. Bad idea.
“Sorry, forget I said that,” I backtracked, trying to fix the situation. “I just don’t know any other reason why they’d be upset? I mean, they’re gonna have grandkids. I’m sure they’ll be really—”
“Woah, you two look way too serious,” Kappy announced, slapping my left shoulder, making pain shoot through my entire upper body again.
“Kappy!” Ali whirled on him. “Next time you hit him, I’ll hit you,” she threatened.
Watching her defend me against Kappy had me stifling a laugh. It was like watching a teeny chihuahua go after a big golden retriever.
“Sorry, sorry. I forgot, I swear.” Kappy lifted his hands in innocence.
Ali rolled her eyes.
“Everything okay?” Piper asked, walking in behind him. She squeezed Ali’s arm and gave her a sympathetic smile. When she turned to me, her smile dropped. She pointed at her eyes, then stabbed her fingers in my direction, telling me she was still watching me.
“We’re good,” Ali said with a forced smile.
“Okay, before the rest of the people get here—” Kappy started.
“Wait, who else is coming?” I interrupted.
“We invited the new kids,” Colt said, walking into the room to take a pan of biscuits out of the oven. “Niko, Nilly, and Zukes,”
“What?” My forehead scrunched as my eyes darted between my best friends. “Why?” I didn’t really have a problem with the rookies anymore, but Niko loved to remind me that he went on a date with Ali every chance he got. He knew it irritated the fuck out of me,which was why he kept doing it.
“Because they’re my new best buds.” Kappy shrugged.
“You barely know them,” I argued.
Colt chuckled. “They’re young and I’m trying to keep them out of trouble. Is that a problem?” he arched an eyebrow. “We invited the whole team over for actual Thanksgiving on Thursday.”
Mer walked into the room and patted her husband’s chest. “Everyone should have a place to go. You guys are coming, right?”
I looked down at Ali. “Actually, I think we might—”
“Guys,” Kappy said, cutting me off, “before everyone else gets here, I really have to say something.” His hands went to his hips. “The guilt’s really been eating at me. I think it’s affecting my health. There’s a reason people shouldn’t keep secrets, ya know?”
I looked at Piper to figure out what this was all about. She sipped her wine at the kitchen island and shrugged, as if saying,don’t ask me.
“Wait.” Colt put a hand up to stop him. “You’re not talking about…” He gave him a look I couldn’t quite decipher.
