Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 391(@200wpm)___ 313(@250wpm)___ 261(@300wpm)
Yet with every passing hour, the weight of what I have to do presses a little harder against my chest. I can’t avoid it forever. I just don’t know if I can do it today.
Dinner feels impossibly long. I try to summon the words, taking bites of food that may as well be cardboard. The guys talk around me, but their conversation is stilted. Like they already know.
Finally, at that thought, something in me snaps. I set my fork down, draw in a shaky breath, and just blurt it out.
“I’m pregnant.”
All three of them go totally stock-still, their eyes widening as they look at me. My hands twist nervously in my lap. “You’re the only men I’ve been with in, uh, a very long time. So it has to be one of yours.”
My voice quivers, but I keep going. “I’m about, uh, five weeks along. I think I got pregnant the first time we—” I swallow hard. “The first time we were together.”
The room is silent, but I can see the shock etched across their faces and the way their jaws harden and their eyes lock on me like they suddenly see the world differently. And at that moment, I know nothing will ever be the same.
I just don’t know yet if that’s a good thing or a very, very bad one.
23
BOONE
For a second the world just stops. Roxie’s words hang over the dinner table like a cloud.
Pregnant. Five weeks. One of ours. Fucking hell.
The shock doesn’t last long. Not for me, anyway. I’d spent all day, hell, the last few days, preparing myself for this moment. Coming to terms with the maybe becoming a yes. The second my brain catches up to the truth, something warm and fierce detonates in my chest, so intense it knocks the air straight out of me.
Joy. Real, bone-deep, staggering joy.
I’m out of my chair before I even know I’ve moved. She looks up at me, wide-eyed and terrified, but I refuse to give that fear any room to breathe. I just reach for her, pulling her gently out of her chair and into my arms.
She makes a soft sound against my chest, something halfway between a gasp and a sob, but I hold her tighter, peppering the crown of her head with kisses. “Sweetheart, this is good. This is good news.”
Her hands fist my shirt like she’s been bracing for the opposite and half convinced the blow is still coming. I keep whispering against her head, inhaling the sweet scent of her, even as the certainty of what I’ve only suspected takes time to settle in my bones.
“I promise you, sweetheart. It’s great news. I’m so fucking happy.”
Behind me, Chance exhales sharply, and his chair scrapes back.
“Jesus, Rox. This is—” His voice cracks, and when I glance over my shoulder, he looks stunned but not scared. Instead, his expression is warm, proud, and protective. Hopeful. “This is incredible.”
A beat later, he’s behind her, sliding his arms around her waist, above mine on her hips. He bends to her neck, speaking against her skin and pressing soft kisses to her throat. “This is the other thing, isn’t it? What you were so scared of?”
Her head dips in the slightest nod, her tiny body trembling like a leaf between us. Dillon catches up last, but only by a heartbeat. He stands up, both hands shoved into his hair, and his face breaks open with one of the most brilliant damn smiles I’ve ever seen on him.
“No way,” he breathes. “No way. We’re actually…” He laughs under his breath, a shaky, amazed sound. “We’re gonna be dads?”
Roxie lets out a trembling laugh that dissolves into a sob, and that is all it takes for the three of us to move in closer. Chance wraps an arm around her from one side, moving slightly so Dillon can get in on the other, and we fold ourselves around her, our little circle, our little family, holding her as tightly as we dare.
“You’re not going to be alone in this,” I tell her, cupping the back of her head to make sure she hears every word. “Not for one second.”
Chance kisses her temple. “We’re in it together. Every step of the way, angel. We’re here for you.”
Dillon presses his forehead to her shoulder. “We want this, Roxie. We want it with you, and we know it’s unplanned, but that doesn’t mean it’s not perfect.”
She sniffles, tears slipping down her cheeks as she looks between the three of us like she’s trying to memorize every expression and every ounce of reassurance we’re giving her.
“You really want this?” she whispers. “Do you actually mean that?”
I smile, swallowing a laugh that probably has no business being in this moment, but fuck. I’ve been wanting this with the right person for twenty goddamn years. “Yeah. We do. We want it all, Rox. I swear.”