by Rye Hart
“What kind of deal?” I asked as I grabbed my drink.
“The deal was that she would always vouch for me whenever we snuck out if I stayed away from her brothers.”
“Seriously? Great, now I’m pissed at my sister. What a cock-blocker,” I teased.
She laughed and tossed an ice cube at me before I caught it in my mouth.
“Hey! That was pretty good. Two for two?”
We threw ice cubes back and forth before I ordered us a glass of them. The concrete around us was covered in melted ice, and I watched her more than once dig them out of her shirt. I tried so hard not to stare at her tits jiggling around, and I thought I’d done a pretty good job of it.
Until her nipples puckered so hard, I could see them through her bra.
Fuck.
“You’re staring,” Sam said.
“Not my fault you have a nice rack,” I said.
“So charming. Such a shocker you can’t get a girlfriend,” she said.
If she only knew the real reason for that. That I’d never settled with anyone because the only woman I’d ever wanted was her.
“I kind of want to go look at baby stuff,” she said.
“Then I’ll take you to go look at baby stuff,” I said.
“Don’t you have to work?”
“Eh, I’ll pawn it off on Liam. I’m good at that.”
I popped off a quick message to Liam letting him know I was taking an early day. He asked why but it was none of his damn business. Sam and I hopped into my car, and we rode around town with the music blasting. Once we came across a baby store, I pulled in. I helped her out of the car and walked inside with her, and I watched her eyes light up.
She was excited.
I missed watching Sam get excited over shit.
We walked through the racks of baby clothes, and she kept holding up all sorts of things. Shoes that fit in the palm of her hand and itty-bitty socks I didn’t even think existed in the size they did. Small suits for boys and little puffy dresses for girls.
Hell. I’d buy my daughter all the damn dresses she wanted.
They were kind of cute.
“Levi! Look at this. Oh, my gosh, it’s so cute.”
I looked over at Sam, and she held up the smallest Halloween pumpkin costume I’d ever seen. The look in Sam’s eyes was unmistakable. Deep down, she was excited to become a mother. But once we got to the furniture section of the store, that excitement turned into worry.
She ran her hand along beautiful pieces of wood, handcrafted into cribs and changing tables. I could see her looking at the price tags on everything and worry lines developing along her brow. I knew that made pretty good money with her job, but her budget would definitely be stretched with the baby and all of the things he or she would require.
I wanted to reassure her shit would be all right, that my brothers and I would cover anything and everything she needed. But I also knew Sam was fiercely independent and wouldn’t want to ask for help, even from the father of her child, whichever one of us that was. She would try to do everything by herself until it nearly broke her before she would ask for anything. I figured the easiest way to go about it was just to let her do her thing and be ready when she was.
I looked back at Sam and saw her rocking in a chair, her eyes fluttering closed.
I took stock of the chair. Microfiber. Plush. A rocker and a recliner combined. She looked so much more relaxed than I’d seen her in recent weeks and I made a mental note to come back later and buy the chair for her as a gift. She would try to fight me on it if I tried to purchase it right now, so I didn’t even offer.
“Ready to go?” I asked.
I put my hand on her shoulder and woke her up from her little snooze.
“Yeah,” she said as she stood up. “I think a nap is in order.”
We rode back in silence. No music. No singing. No nothing. We pulled up to her townhouse, and she was fast asleep in the passenger seat. I sat there for a while, just letting her sleep. She looked so peaceful, and she deserved that time. Her world was unhinged, and she was dealing with it the only way she knew how. I laid my seat back and closed my eyes for a second, my hand reaching over and settling on her leg.
I woke up to her moving around, and I shot myself up before she opened her eyes.
“We here?” Sam asked sleepily.
“Yep, just pulled in,” I said.
“I think I fell asleep again. How long was I out?” she asked.
Two hours.
“Not long at all,” I said with a grin. “Come on. Let’s get you inside.”
I walked her up to the door, and she tripped. She fell into my arms, and I caught her, trying to steady herself on her feet. Our eyes connected, and I got lost in them. Swam around in them and felt my body heat up with her against it. She stood onto her feet, her hands slowly inching up my arms.
Then, she leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine.
My body locked up. My cock throbbed to life. I wrapped one arm around her and cupped the back of her head with my free hand. Our tongues danced together, and I felt her melting into me. I felt her nipples rising to peaks against my chest. Fuck. She tasted decadent. I pulled back, trying to restrain myself as much as I could. But her hands were fisted in my shirt.
She brought me in for one more kiss, and it sent electricity shooting down my spine.
“Thank you,” she said with a whisper into my lips. “Today was nice.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” I said as she released my shirt.
“It was nice to not have any sort of pressure to talk about anything. I can always count on you for that.”
“I aim to please,” I said with a grin.
My arm fell from her body, and I watched her fish her keys out of her purse. I wanted to tell her I loved her. That the only reason I’d never dated anyone was because there was only her in my life. She was perfect, the epitome of everything I could’ve ever wanted in a woman. I wanted to take her in my arms, carry her to her bed, and make love to her until the sun sank below the tree line.
But I stopped myself as she went in and turned around to smile at me.
“If you need anything, call me,” I said.
“Trust me. I will.”
Then she closed the door, and I was left standing there with a pulsing cock and a fluttering heart.
CHAPTER 28
SAM
“Hey! This is Lauren. Leave a message. Unless you’ve already called. In which case, leave me alone. I’ll call you back when I’m ready.”
A voice message that always used to make me laugh now had me worried. Lauren wasn’t answering my calls or returning my text messages. I saw the irony of it all. Me avoiding the guys that way only for my best friend to turn around and do the same damn thing. And it sucked. It was why I’d agreed to stop doing it to the guys.
I missed my best friend.
I wanted to know how her honeymoon was going.
Hell, I wanted to know if we were still friends.
I closed my eyes and let silent tears trickle down my face. Lauren was the person who was there for me through everything. Through middle school and braces. Through high school and failed crushes. She was the first person I called when I was kissed. The person I called when I lost my virginity. The person I talked to at three in the morning if I couldn’t sleep. Hell, she was there when I found out I was pregnant.
And now she wouldn't even talk to me.
My arm curled around my stomach, and the tears stopped. Even though I couldn’t feel anything yet, I knew it was there. My baby. Growing within me and receiving nourishment. With as much chaos as Vegas had brought into my life, I would never regret it. I knew Lauren wanted to hear that. Hear me grovel and beg her for forgiveness. She wanted me to tell her how big of a mistake I’d made and how it would never happen again. But she would never get that.
Because it wasn’t true.
I could never regret what happened because this child was conceived out of l
ove. Even though I had no idea who the father was, I cared for all of the Anderson men. I respected them. Cherished their friendship and the memories we’d all made together over the years. I’d enjoyed our time together in Vegas, and I’d enjoyed that night that changed everything. And I enjoyed the time I spent alone with each of them.
Sex or no sex. As ashamed as I’d been in the beginning, I now saw that it couldn’t really have been any other way.
I rolled over onto my side and closed my eyes. I’d seen new sides to each of them I’d never known before. With the news of my being pregnant, all of them had been revealing parts of their personality I would’ve never thought existed. Levi with his distant protection and Liam with his constant reassurance. Logan with his fierce passion and Luke with his gentle, caring nature that still held strength that I’d seen when Lauren barged into the hotel room.
All of it, different.
And all of it, somehow matching each of them perfectly.
I love them.
I’d known it for a while now, but finally really letting it sink in and reveling in it changed everything.
Tears crested the rims of my eyes and a smile broke across my face. I was in love with each and every one of the Anderson brothers. And oh, the happiness that coursed through my veins.
But before I could process my admission and how it made me feel, my phone rang. A familiar ringtone I hadn’t heard in almost two weeks. I rushed to my phone and picked it up, my heart slamming against my chest.
“Lauren?” I asked.
“I’m back,” she said.
I swallowed thickly as my hand settled back onto my stomach.
“Could we meet up?” I asked. “You know, get some coffee.”
“You can’t have coffee,” she said.
“Come on Lauren,” I pleaded.
Lauren sighed into the phone, and I braced myself for the rejection.
“Sure,” she said. “When?”
“Are you free now?” I asked.
“No. I’ll be free in about an hour though.”
“Ok that sounds good,” I said.
“Let’s go to J’s.”
My stomach flipped at the mere mention of it.
“Okay,” I said. “J’s in an hour?”
Lauren hung up the phone without even saying goodbye, and it broke my heart. The wall she had up was thick. I could hear it in her voice. Feel it in the way she addressed me. But she had called me and agreed to meet so I still held out hope that things would be okay. I took a shower just in case some of Levi’s cologne had rubbed off on me, then I got dressed and headed to J’s Waffle Place.
I got us a booth in the corner away from the kitchen, hoping it would quell the rolling of my stomach.
I watched Lauren come in, and her eyes connected with me. She didn’t look angry, but she sure as hell wasn’t happy to see me. I smiled at her anyway as she came and sat down, then she promptly placed her order with the waitress. A cherry coke and an order of chicken and waffles. Extra powdered sugar.
I felt bile creeping up the back of my throat.
“How was your honeymoon?” I asked.
“Fine,” she said.
“Did you enjoy the beach?”
“I always do. You know me.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I do.”
She nodded but didn’t say anything else. “I didn’t do a very good job of explaining myself in the hotel room,” I said.
“That’s a relief. Because I could’ve sworn my best friend told me she fucked all my brothers at once.”
My jaw dropped as her drink was set down in front of her.
“I mean, it wasn’t planned or anything,” I said.
“Oh, that makes it better.”
“Lauren, you’re not listening.”
“I am. I really am. My best friend screwed around with all my brothers on a weekend we were supposed to all be hanging together, and now she’s pregnant by one of them. And married, did you forget married?” she asked.
My eyes widened as she took a sip of her drink.
“How did you know? Never mind,” I said.
Fuck. This wasn’t good at all.
“I love you like a sister, Lauren. And I need you right now. I’m having a baby for Christ sake.”
“I know that Sam. But in all the years we’ve known one another, it doesn’t even occur to you why I’m really pissed,” she said.
“You’re angry that I slept with your brothers,” I said. “Because of that deal we made with one another.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “You think I’m angry because of some stupid thing we promised one another when we were twelve?” she asked. “Sam, I’m pissed because you hid it. Because all of you snuck around behind my back. And it wasn’t until I caught you and you had to tell me, that you finally fessed up.”
I just stared at her. She was right. I had kept everything from her and had only told her because I’d been forced to. And her own flesh and blood had done the same. “I was there when we figured out you were pregnant, and you didn’t say anything. I reamed my brothers for days over your disappearance and you running off to your parents. They didn’t tell me, and you didn't tell me. Sam, I should’ve been the first person you told!”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“You should be. I spent half my fucking honeymoon crying over it. You know what I did on the first night of my honeymoon?”
“What?” I asked breathlessly.
“I cried to Todd. Because I couldn't understand why my best friend of eleven plus years could hide something so big from me.”
I slumped back into the booth as her food was set in front of her. It felt like my stomach was going to come up my throat. I looked away as she ate, and Lauren didn’t seem phased by my utter disgust at the smell of her food.
“With all of that aside, I don’t know if I can accept this,” Lauren said.
“Accept what?” I asked.
“You seeing all of my brothers. That’s why we’re here, right?”
“What?” I asked.
“They’ve been running behind you for a while now. I know they have. And judging by the expression on Luke’s face in the hotel room, they know you’re pregnant as well.”
Well, at least we were going to jump into it without dancing around the topic.
“They do,” I said
“I figured. Got it. Well, it’s weird. I’ll be honest with you. It’s weird that my best friend slept with all four of my brothers and apparently wants my approval to date them.”
“Since we’re going to go ahead and be so blunt about this, then I’ll follow suit,” I said. “I love your bothers, Lauren.”
“Well that’s good. Because I sure as hell can tell they love you.”
My eyebrows hiked up onto my forehead.
“I know you don’t understand this,” I said. “There’s a part of me that doesn’t either. But I’ve always loved your brothers, Lauren. They’re my family. Just like you’re my family.”
“But you’re sleeping with them, too. You’re pregnant by one of them, Sam.”
“I’m not here to talk about my pregnancy, because I won’t allow you to cast some sort of shadow on that part of my life. I’m terrified, and there are moments where I feel completely alone. But the idea of being a mother is growing on me, and I’m not going to let you bad-mouth that.”
“It astounds me that after so many years of friendship, you think I’d do that to you. I was there when you figured out were pregnant, Sam. What pains me is that all of you have kept me out of the loop. Every single one of you. People I consider family, just like you do. I’ve had to put all these pieces together by simply being in the right place at the right time!”
“Then let me continue to be blunt. I love your brothers. All of them, for different reasons. I love Liam for his wisdom and guidance and his ability to calm me down when I’m riled to my core. I love Luke for his calming effects and his ability to be patient with me when I’m spiraling out of c
ontrol. I love Logan because he’s fierce and raw and doesn’t give a shit about whether or not he’s being vulnerable. And I love Levi because he gets me. He understands why I do the things I do because he’s just like me, Lauren.”
“What is the goal of this conversation, Sam? Why did you really want to meet with me?”
“Because I missed you,” I said. “And I know you’re upset. I don’t like it when you’re upset with me.”
“That’s not the reason. That’s an excuse. I want the reason, Sam. I want what motivated you to pick up that phone and call me every single day for the past week and a half.”
I knew she wouldn’t give it, but that didn’t stop me from hoping that it could all work out.
“Because I want your blessing,” I said. “They’re your brothers, and you’re the matriarch of that family. If your parents were still alive, I’d want your parents’ blessing. But they aren’t here and mine don’t matter. The only opinion that matters in this situation to me is yours. And I know your brothers would enjoy having it, too.”
“Then I’m sorry,” Lauren said, “because I can’t do that.”
“Why not?” I asked. “I love them. And they love me. I have four wonderful, strong, capable men standing at my side while my entire life whips around me, shredding itself apart at two hundred miles an hour. Isn’t that what you would want for me? Men that stick up for me and make me feel cared for and enjoyed and loved?”
“You’re seeing all of my brothers, Sam. All of them. Don’t you see how weird that is? How awkward that is? You gave me such a hard time about dating and marrying a man so much older than me—”
“I joked with you about it.”
“But that didn’t change the fact that it was weird to you for a while,” she said.
“So, does that mean there’s a chance this won’t be weird? After some time has passed? You’re my best friend, Lauren. I don’t want to lose you over this.”
“Then you should’ve thought about that before you got drunk and slept with all of them,” she said.
I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to draw on a store of energy and strength I had depleted throughout all this. I loved my best friend. But I loved her brothers, too. And if she was going to make me prioritize and choose, then she would be sorely mistaken as the decision I would make. I wasn’t going to make a decision that would leave my child without a father. After everything I had endured with my parents growing up, the last thing I would do was put my child in a situation where they were already down for the count before he or she was born into this world.
