by Meghan Quinn
“No, you don’t.” Connor tried to talk soothingly as he walked toward Lucy, who was in a very defensive position, basically saying, “Come near me and I’ll cut your dick off.”
“Don’t come near me. I swear to God, if you touch me, I’ll scream bloody murder.”
She must have gotten a fresh batch of pregnancy hormones because she was ripe with anger, holy fuck.
“Lucy, please. I was just trying to help, to be a good guy.”
“How about instead of paying attention to her problems, you could pay attention to your pregnant girlfriend?” The minute she said girlfriend, her face twisted as if she’d just solved the world’s hardest algorithm. “You fucking piece of shit, is that where you were tonight, instead of working? Were you with her?”
“No!” Connor said rather too quickly. “I went to go talk to Luke.”
“Even worse!” Lucy threw her hands up in the air.
Connor’s face twisted in confusion. “How is that worse?”
“Don’t patronize me; don’t you dare patronize me.” He didn’t think he was patronizing her at all, but then again, he didn’t think he was doing most of the things her crazy brain accused him of. “I’m out of here and if you try to call me, text, or come after me, I’ll make sure you never see this baby, ever. You hear me?”
“Don’t do that, Lucy, don’t use the baby as a pawn.”
“It’s not even yours, so why do you even care?”
And there it was, she just validated the fear that he’d been carrying around since they found out the baby was Austin’s. She never really thought the baby could be Connor’s. Even though he was always there for her, she didn’t consider the baby to be his, truly she didn’t.
Feeling deflated, Connor just shook his head as he looked at the floor. He hoped that Lucy felt bad for her comment, but when he glanced up to catch her look, she turned toward the door and left him, slamming the door in a very Lucy-like fashion.
What the fuck was he supposed to do now?
**Jane**
Balancing a recycled paper tray of two teas and one coffee for Patty, Jane walked into JB Events, her event planning business. She hated to admit it, but because of her association with the almighty and very popular, Brady Matthews, her business had sky-rocketed. To the point that they were looking into a bigger building and hiring more staff. Never in a million years did she think she would be turning down business because they just didn’t have enough woman-power to take on every inquiry. That was why she had a morning meeting with her girls to go over resumes. They needed help and they needed to train before both Jane and Lucy’s babies came along, since that would leave Patty working all on her own. Lucky for Jane, well, and Patty, Albert had become more of a freelancer, rather than working every day in an office in Marketing and was available to help out in any way possible.
“Drinks and pastries,” Jane shouted into the work space as she set everything on the conference table, which was in the main room. Both Jane and Patty had offices in the back and Lucy was at the front now, helping any visitors, but surprisingly she wasn’t at her desk.
“Hello?” Jane called out again.
“We’re coming,” Patty said as she called from the back.
Jane grabbed some plates from the modern cabinets that lined the grey painted brick wall of the room. When designing the space, Jane wanted it to feel warm and inviting, but also modern and chic so she went with cooler tones of grey, white and a blush pink with pops of yellow and always made sure to have fresh flowers gracing the table tops. They’d just re-decorated the office because they had the budget to do so, but the one thing that didn’t change was the fresh flowers.
Patty and Lucy came into the open space as Jane was dishing out giant croissants stuffed with chocolate. Lucy and Jane were both having pregnancy cravings and Patty had to “suffer” along with them.
“You can’t keep buying these pastries,” Patty said as she sat down. “I’m going to get massively fat and Marc isn’t going to want to be with me anymore.”
“Not possible,” Jane said as she took a seat. “That man is infatuated with you. Plus, I’m getting fat and hell if I’m going to let you sit by and watch me become a whale; you’re eating that.”
Patty rolled her eyes and smiled, “Well, I guess I’ll just have to have an all-night sex-a-thon with Marc in order to burn these calories. Although, it wouldn’t really have to be all night, since he’s a beast in bed.”
“My, my, my, look at Patty coming out of her shell,” Jane said, as she looked at her friend, who was once an abuse victim who had been going through life trying to shelter herself. It was the reason Jane hired her, she saw herself in Patty. Jane once lived a life that was sheltered and all she wanted was more for her life, that’s why she gave Patty the chance to change her life for the positive and Jane was glad she did because, ever since she met Marc, she had really become a new woman.
Patty just shrugged her shoulders, not caring to comment. Jane looked over at Lucy, who had been awfully quiet, and was struck by the dark circles under her eyes and her red-rimmed lids.
“Lucy, are you alright?”
“No,” she said, while wiping a stray tear away from her eye.
“Oh no.” Jane got up from her chair as fast as her belly would allow and went to Lucy’s side, whose head was buried in her hands. “Lucy, what’s going on?” Jane looked up at Patty in confusion. Patty’s face read she knew what was going on, but Jane didn’t want to know.
“Lucy,” Jane urged.
Wiping away her tears, smearing her mascara across her face, Lucy said, “Connor and I got in a big fight last night and I said some awful things and told him not to call me or come after me and he didn’t.”
“Well…you told him not to,” Jane said as nicely as possible, trying to be sensitive, since she knew Lucy’s hormones were off-kilter. Jane knew exactly how the girl felt; she sometimes found herself on the verge of strangling Brady because it seemed like he was breathing too heavily. He was very good, though, when it came to dealing with her craziness.
“I know, I know I told him not to contact me, but I thought maybe he would…maybe he cared enough to come after me. I guess I was wrong.”
Patty put her hand on Lucy’s and said, “You know that’s not the truth. Connor loves you, he cares so much about you. He was probably just giving you space like you asked. You can’t be mad at him for that.”
Lucy nodded her head as she wiped another streak of mascara across her face. Thank God they kept some spare makeup in the bathroom, for moments just like this.
“What were you even fighting about?” Jane asked, but regretted it because the tension in the room went from zero to ninety in two seconds.
Lucy didn’t answer, so Patty took the lead and said, “Molly.”
Well, this moment just got awkward, Jane thought, since Molly was her best friend and Lucy was Jane’s employee and friend as well. The feud between Molly and Lucy started when Molly started secretly seeing Austin, who Lucy was crushing on at the time. Molly was in rare form a couple of months ago, doing drugs, drinking too much and not taking care of her life, so the feud between them escalated into pure hatred. Jane didn’t blame Lucy because Molly really was a total bitch back then, but she’d changed. She was a good person and was just trying to get her life back on track.
Not wanting to get into it because Jane already felt like she was in the middle, but knew their meeting wasn’t going to go anywhere unless Lucy got everything off her chest, she asked, “What happened?”
Lucy sucked in some air as she hiccupped and stared down at her hands. “We were about to get frisky and his phone went off; he took the call and, come to find out, it was Molly. He stopped in the middle of what we were doing to answer her phone call.”
“There was legit reasoning,” Patty added, which made Lucy glare at her. “What? There was.” Patty looked over at Jane and said, “They found Luke, he was at his friend Nash’s place.”
“They foun
d Luke? That’s so great…” Jane stopped talking when she looked over at Lucy. Not wanting to set off any more emotional triggers on Lucy, Jane pulled back a bit. “Lucy, you know I love you, but Connor helping Molly has nothing to do with betraying you or hurting you; it has everything to do with helping his brother. You know Luke and Connor were close and the distance that has been put between them has been hard.”
Patty cut in, “You have to put yourself in Connor’s shoes for a second. He thought he lost his brother; he thought his brother was dead and then he comes back and is not only a completely different man than Connor once knew, but he wants nothing to do with his family. It’s like a nightmare, having someone you love back in your life, but not being able to fully grasp them. You have to cut him a little slack if he’s helping out Molly. He isn’t necessarily doing it for her; he’s doing it for Luke.”
Lucy nodded as their front door chimed, announcing someone had come in. Quickly, Lucy turned her back, so whoever came in wouldn’t see her mascara-swiped face.
“Hey, love.” Jane turned to see Connor standing in the entryway of the office, holding a brown bag with a sullen look on his face. “I know you told me to stay away, but I just wanted to make sure you had lunch. I know that sometimes when you get upset, you forget things. I’ll just set it right here. Sorry for interrupting, Jane.”
Jane’s heart melted as she watched Connor gently place the lunch he’d packed for Lucy on the counter next to the door and start to turn around. Jane kicked Lucy under the table, indicating that she needed to say something to stop him.
Thankfully, Lucy pulled her head out of her ass and turned toward Connor. “Wait.”
Connor stilled and quickly turned around. The second he saw Lucy’s tear-stained face, he was at her side immediately. He knelt in front of her and grabbed her hands in his. Jane knew she should give them a little space, but it was as if she was watching a drama on HBO, she couldn’t tear her gaze away and neither could Patty because she was watching just as intently as Jane was.
“Love, are you okay?” Connor ran his hands up and down Lucy’s body as he examined her.
Nodding her head, Lucy grabbed Connor’s face and made him look at her. “I’m sorry, Connor. I never should have said those things to you last night and I never should have used the baby as a pawn. I’m so ashamed.”
Baby as a pawn? Jane was going to have to get the full story from Patty later.
She continued, “I just hate Molly and whenever I hear her name, especially from your mouth, I freak. I’m sorry.”
“I should have been honest with you,” Connor answered back, as he pressed a kiss to Lucy’s palm. “I should have told you where I was going to be and what I was doing. I just didn’t want to add any stress to your life. I guess that’s a moot point now.” He slightly chuckled.
Jane was amazed as they both worked out their problem so easily. It was rather sickening, actually. When she and Brady got into it, they were at least at each other’s throats for a while, but the way Connor and Lucy made up so quickly had Jane questioning her relationship’s strength. Was her marriage with Brady not as strong as she thought it was? After watching Lucy and Connor, she didn’t think it was.
Dismissing the rest of their make-up session from her questioning mind, she saw Connor grab Lucy’s face and gently press his lips to hers.
“I love you, Lucy. I’m so sorry.”
“I love you too, Connor.”
Connor rubbed at her makeup and noticed it wasn’t coming off. He held out his hand to her as he got up and said, “Let’s get you cleaned up, love.”
Lucy nodded and followed him, putting their meeting on hold for a second. While they were waiting on Lucy’s return, Jane pulled out her phone and sent a text to Brady.
Jane: Hey, handsome, do you think we have a solid marriage?”
She knew she was being ridiculous, but she couldn’t help it; she all of a sudden felt inadequate when it came to their relationship. Her phone buzzed back.
Brady: Of course! What makes you think we don’t?
Jane thought about it for a second. She couldn’t quite place it, but something felt off. After watching Lucy and Connor, she knew there was something that was missing from her and Brady’s relationship, she just needed to figure out what it was.
Chapter Six
**Luke**
Feeling the hot Atlanta air slam against his face as he sprinted through the last half mile of his run was a sensation he hadn’t felt in a while. He actually felt alive for a brief moment in time. He’d lost his life the minute his plane went down and he hadn’t felt the same since, so this run was a bit of an energizer for him.
Connor’s visit was less than welcomed last night, but seeing his brother was unfortunately refreshing. Luke didn’t want to feel refreshed; he really didn’t want to feel at all. He wanted to stay in the numb-like state that he was living in where he had random women suck his cock and beer was his best friend.
Luke didn’t even know what Connor was trying to achieve by showing up. Did he really think he was going to convince Luke to move back in with Molly? Fuck no! Luke was not going back there, not when he had the option of living in his numb world with Nash. Nash was the perfect guy to share a place with because he was living in the same world as Luke, and he had been living in it longer, so he was a seasoned pro; it was as if he was Luke’s mentor.
As Luke entered the house, he pulled his ear buds out as he looked down at his phone to see how far he’d run. He was just confirming his six-mile run when he tripped over a bag in the hallway.
“What the hell?” Luke mumbled, as he looked down to find his ruck sack and laundry bag sitting in the hallway. “Nash?” Luke called out. Luke didn’t have to look far because Nash was standing in the doorway of the living room with only a pair of jeans on and a baseball hat. “Why is my shit out here?”
“Time to leave, bro.”
Instant panic set in at the base of Luke’s stomach. Nash couldn’t be serious. There was no fucking way Luke was going to leave the little cocoon he’d made for himself.
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Clean your fucking ears out, dude. Your time here is up.”
“I didn’t know I had a fucking time limit.”
“What? Did you think you were just going to squat here forever…for free? Fuck, dude, this isn’t some princess Disney show. I gave you time and now it’s time to leave.”
“Well, where the fuck am I supposed to go? I have no one.”
“Not my problem, man.”
Irritation and frustration ran through Luke’s body as he tried to figure out what the hell he was going to do. He sure as shit wasn’t going to go to Connor’s place because Luke had an inkling that Connor had something to do with this sudden change of heart from Nash.
Not wanting to look at Nash’s smug face anymore, he threw his ruck sack over his shoulder, grabbed his laundry bag and looked around for his keys. When he looked up, he saw Nash dangling them in front of Luke’s face.
“Fuck you!” Luke spat out as he tore the keys away from Nash.
“Well, you’re welcome too, sweetie.”
Getting in Nash’s face, Luke leaned in and said, “Go to hell. You call yourself my brother? No brother would ever throw their own out on the streets with no fucking options.”
“You have options.”
“No, I fucking don’t! Don’t you get it? I can’t go back to my old life. I don’t even know what that life is like anymore. When I tried once, my life was crushed. I lost fucking everything and now I’m supposed to act like everything is okay? Out of everyone, you should fucking know that that option is impossible.”
“Don’t compare yourself to me, fuckhead, because the big difference between our fucked-up lives is that you have people who care about you, who want to see you get better. I had no one, I was the one who came home to no one. So stop being a fucking vagina and go back to your fiancé and don’t try going anywhere else, because no one
is going to take you.”
“She’s not my fucking fiancé.”
“I think you fail to realize that you weren’t the one who died out there. You’re alive and wasting your life away while people are depending on you. It’s time you get your head out of your ass and move on.”
“Funny how you can dish out such noble advice, but you can’t follow it yourself.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, because the moment they removed my leg was the day I died, so don’t fucking tell me to follow my own damn advice. You have a beautiful and more than willing woman waiting for you to start a family with…to have a life with her. It’s time you realized that. Now, get the fuck out of my house and don’t try calling anyone else for help, you’re not going to get it. Time to go home, dickhead.”
“Fuck you!” Luke stormed off and went to his car, not so gracefully shoving his shit into the back seat while swearing up a storm. Once he sat down in the front seat, he slammed his palms against the steering wheel until they felt good and bruised.
The last thing he wanted to do was go back to Molly’s apartment, the apartment they’d once shared, but as he drove aimlessly through the streets of Atlanta, he found himself parked right in front of Molly’s place, staring up at one of the windows he knew belonged to her.
Fucking hell.
**Parker**
“I’m not going to take it easy on you, Mo,” Parker called out as he held a baseball and glove in one hand and a bat in the other. At first, he was unsure if Margo was going to be okay with using a baseball rather than a softball, but when he asked her she gave him an insulted look, as if he thought she wasn’t good enough to play with a baseball, which wasn’t true at all. Both Margo and Lexi were the toughest bitches he ever met; he wouldn’t put it past them to be able to infiltrate Major League Baseball with their skills.