“I know that, Harry, believe me, I know how it feels to have your best friend get with your sister.”
“So why did you do it?”
“Because I love her.” I don’t stop there. “I’ve always loved her. I loved her before I knew she was Scotty’s, and I saw her working in that bar. But I stepped back, I said nothing, but when we lost him, and she was hurting, I wanted to be there for her, as her friend. I kept it all buried, I promise, but when she showed me she felt the same way, well, call me a weak man because I folded like a deck of cards for her. Because she’s Tori.”
I wait for his fist to connect with my jaw, or for him to yell, but it doesn’t come. Instead, his smile grows wider, and he says, “Good. I just wanted to check. I can see how much you love her.”
I sag in relief, clutching my head in my hands and let out a small laugh.
Thank god.
“She’s everything to me. Her and our baby, it’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
Harry rises to his feet and holds out his hand. “Then you have my blessing.”
I stand, pulling him in for a hug and slapping him on the back. “I’ll look after her, I promise,” I say, still clinging to my best friend.
“I know you will.” His words sound a little choked.
We break our embrace, and I take a deep breath. “But there’s something else.” I confess, “and I need your help…”
Chapter Fifty-Four
Noah
I left Tori with Harry so they could talk and headed to the floor above them to Jack and Ria’s apartment. My heart hammered as Jack greeted me and pointed to where Ria was. Even though so much of our adult life has been spent apart, my sister is one of the most important people in my life.
I tap my knuckles against the pantry door and push it open. I can't help but smile when I find her on the floor, legs outstretched, crossed at the ankles as she devours a giant bag of Cheetos, the same way she did as a kid.
“Jack said I’d find you in here.”
She startles and looks up at me. “It’s my thinking space. I like to come in here and just hear my own thoughts.”
I chuckle, “I don’t blame you, four girls are a lot.”
She quirks an eyebrow. “You’re telling me.”
She holds out the bag as I sit beside her. “Cheeto?” I take a handful as I pluck up the courage to spill my secrets. “So, not that I don’t love an unexpected visit from my big brother, but something tells me there’s a reason for this visit.”
She always could tell when something was up.
“Noah,” she scolds in the same way as when my nieces misbehave.
I inhale a deep breath and blurt it out. “Tori is pregnant, and I’m the dad.”
Silence. So loud you could hear a pin drop.
“And I found out a couple of days ago that I’m being deployed, and I don’t know how long I will be gone, and I don’t know how to tell her Ri, I can’t lie to her but, I can’t risk something happening to the baby. Help me figure out what to do.” The confession rushes out as she stares, mouth open, her hand still buried inside the bag of Cheetos.
I swallow the thick lump in my throat. “Please say something,” I plead.
She clears her throat, removing her hand from the bag. “I’m just processing, I have, so many questions.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
And so I do.
