by Sosie Frost
Regan helped Eric serve slices of turkey. “Oh, enough of that, Mom. Let’s let these kids have a nice dinner. It’s great to have the family together again.” She nodded. “And Jude as well. We haven’t seen you since your injury.”
I took the initiative and patted his hand. “Yes. Jude signed with the Rivets. We’ve sort of…reconnected.”
Mom didn’t notice.
Eric did.
And his grin one-eighty’d into a scowl.
“Didn’t know you two were ever…” He waved a fork loaded with mashed potatoes. “Disconnected.”
“Well, we met up and…just got to talking,” I said.
Eric dropped his silverware. “Is that right?”
“Rick, would you prefer light or dark meat?” Regan asked, sweetly.
Rick had dimples, ones he eagerly flashed at me. “I’ve always been a dark meat guy.”
Oh Christ. This wasn’t happening. I gripped Jude’s hand. Regan ignored it.
“Aurora, you should tell Rick about your fellowship. I’m sure he’d love to hear all about it.”
“Actually…” I cleared my throat. “I think there’s something else we should probably discuss first.”
“That Doctor Clayton Frolla.” Regan said his name with such reverence that I shuddered. “He’s a genius in his field. He took Aurora on as his protégé.”
A lump of turkey thudded to my plate, followed by a heaping mound of potatoes, a tangled mess of green beans, a cascade of gravy, and every mingling scent that tied my stomach into a tourniquet.
I leaned away from the plate. I pushed the food away. It wasn’t as subtle as I’d hoped. Neither was my step-mother.
“I’ve met him a couple times,” Rick said. “He seemed…”
Regan leaned forward. “Yes?”
“Very friendly, especially with his interns.”
A little too friendly.
“Oh, he’s a lovely man,” Regan said. “Handsome too.”
Oh no. This so wasn’t happening.
“We had one or two dinners out together—strictly work related, of course.” Regan offered me the rolls. I nearly added some tossed cookies into the basket. “I so admire an accomplished man though. It’s rare to find someone so respectable in medicine anymore.”
Clayton? Respectable?
It suddenly felt like I was the one loopy with a concussion.
Regan smiled. “That’s why I was so excited that Aurora was selected out of a pool of hundreds of doctors vying for the fellowship.”
“Quite the accomplishment,” Rick said.
I didn’t answer. Regan paid no attention. “Plus, now Aurora has a bit more time on her hands since she’s spending the last year of her residency with the Rivets.” She leaned closer. “You must remember those days, Rick. So lonely in the classes and hospitals.”
“Right…” Rick studied my hand as I folded it in Jude’s. “I can imagine.”
“I was just telling her that this is a perfect opportunity to step outside the hospitals. It’s a chance to meet new people.”
Eric’s voice hardened. “Oh, Rory’s gonna be meeting someone special in a couple months.”
I kicked him under the table. Like I was going to say a damn thing about the baby when Regan was obsessed with sacrificing me to whatever single doctor was within swiping range.
“Usually I have to pry that fork away from you,” Regan smiled. “Go on, Aurora. Eat. We’ll have plenty of time to talk. She’s such a good conversationalist, this daughter of mine.”
Mildred knew the game. She swigged her mimosa. “She’s cute too.”
“Mom, please,” Regan said. “Let’s be polite.”
“You should be more observant.” Mildred shuffled from the table and took my wine glass. “I’ll pour you something else to drink, Rory-Doll.”
Oh no.
Regan chastised Mildred with a flip of her napkin. “Sit down. We’re in the middle of dinner.”
“And you’re one rose short of an episode of the Bachelorette, Regan. Don’t go poking around or you’ll just end up with a handful of thorns.”
“Honestly, mother.”
“How many men do you think that child needs? Lord have mercy, we’re gonna end up sawing her in half like in Solomon’s Court.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Is the electric turkey carver still on the counter?” Mildred asked. “No. You sit down. I’ll grab it.”
“What in the world—”
“Mom…” I tightened my grip on Jude’s hand. He took the hint. If I bolted, he’d drag me back. “Do you realize I came here with Jude?”
“Jude is always welcome here,” Regan said. “Eric, can I interest you in another roll?”
Eric practically snorted smoke. “Oh, we’re about to roll, let me fucking tell you.”
“No, Mom.” I clenched my teeth. “I came here with Jude.”
The table quieted. Regan tilted her head. Her full lips shriveled into a single point.
“Oh.”
A chill flooded the table. The turkey might have turned to ash and the rolls rocks, but at least the lie was out in the open. Rick toasted Jude with his wine. No hard feelings.
Too bad my step-brother wasn’t nearly as refined.
Or tactful.
Or patient.
His smile faded. His best friend was already in danger by virtue of supposedly dating his little sister, but the bomb was about to drop, and Jude hadn’t packed a helmet to survive this siege.
I hopped from the table too late. “Eric, can I talk to you?”
My step-brother slammed his hand against his plate.
Wine spilled. Potatoes splattered into the wall. Mildred ducked before a green bean flicked into her face.
The turkey wasn’t the only thing about to get plucked.
Eric seethed at Jude. “It was you…”
“Eric, wait!”
Too slow. My step-brother raged. His plate spun through the air like a Frisbee, shattering against the chandelier.
Regan leapt to her feet. “Eric Eugene Kellen, you sit down this instant.”
Only a mother could scold a defensive end, but Eric’s fury was beyond anything short of a restraining order.
Jude surrendered with his hands up, his voice calm. “Just listen, man. Don’t get mad.”
“Don’t get mad?”
“Eric, stop.” I took a step closer. “You don’t understand.”
“Oh, I understand. Believe me. I get it.” He pointed at Jude. “You’re a dead man.”
Mildred scooped another helping of mashed potatoes onto Rick’s plate. “No fighting at the table. At least, not before dessert.”
“What is all of this about?” Regan would never raise her voice, but her eyebrow twitched a little too quick. “Aurora, explain this.”
“Maybe we should finish dinner first?” I asked.
No dice.
Eric launched at Jude. Both men crashed into the dining room table.
Had the turkey flown that quick before it hit the oven, it might have stood a fighting chance.
“Stop it!” I shouted. “What are you doing?”
Jude was smaller than Eric, but he was quicker. He dodged the blow, took a detour through the green beans, and rolled away by veering across the casserole. The candles overturned, but Grandma Mildred was quick on the mark, snuffing out the fire with a ladle of gravy.
Yams.
Yams everywhere.
I ducked to avoid a flying serving spoon. Eric’s punch imbedded his fist squarely in the turkey’s stuffing. Instead of rolling away, he doubled down, delivering the bird a rather unfortunate prostate exam. He swung his arm up, and the turkey came with it.
Fourteen pounds of impaled poultry quivered on Eric’s fist as he lunged for Jude.
Jude dodged, but the gobbler still pecked him in the jaw. Fortunately, Regan’s renowned juicy breasts absorbed most of the impact.
Eric tore the carcass to shreds Mad Max style. Rick d
ove over the table to prevent a ribcage from striking Grandma Mildred.
If he were only fifty years older, that rescue would have gotten him so lucky.
Jude escaped from the table but stayed low, tensed for a fight. His hair dripped with cranberry sauce, and a stalk of asparagus poked from his pocket.
Eric had face-planted in the butter, but he spat most of it out. “I can’t believe you’d betray her like this.”
“Eric—that’s why we’re here,” Jude said. “We wanted to tell everyone.”
“I can’t believe you’d hurt her like this!”
I rushed between them. “Stop it. He hasn’t hurt me. We’re together, Eric.”
Mildred scraped some butter off of Eric’s arm and shook her head. “Let them go, Rory. Boys will be boys.” She grinned at Rick. “Does this mean you’re free tonight?”
Regan was a tall woman, fierce and proud, but even she was nothing next to a six-foot-six defensive end. However, she took ahold of her son’s ear, forced him into his chair, and tossed a napkin into his lap.
“Aurora!” And yet she yelled at me. “What is going on?”
Like it was my fault Eric was picking stuffing out of his ears and corn from his nose.
I didn’t have a choice. I had to come clean, especially since we were never getting the stains out of Jude’s dress shirt.
“Mom…” I swallowed, hard. “Jude is pregnant, and I’m the father.”
Jude’s wine spilled during the brawl. He grabbed the bottle instead. “So close.”
Damn it. “Wait. I’m pregnant. Jude’s the father. That’s why I wanted to talk to you today. I’m sorry, Rick. Grandma. Eric already knew.”
Eric disagreed. He roared, crashing his dining room chair over the table.
Regan’s china shattered to pieces. So much for my inheritance. At least he hadn’t broken Jude’s neck.
Not yet at least.
“I didn’t know shit!” Eric’s shout carried over the house. “I had no fucking idea this son of a bitch was the father!”
“Please…” I said. “We’re all friends here.”
“No. Not anymore. This is unforgivable.” He pointed a trembling, gravy soaked finger at Jude. “This isn’t how a friend treats the people he cares about. A friend doesn’t fuck his buddy’s little sister. A friend uses a motherfucking condom!”
To demonstrate, Eric ripped the pack of three from his wallet and threw them at Jude. They bounced off his chest and landed on Grandma Mildred’s plate.
Mildred, practical as always, dried them off and stuffed the pack in her bra. She patted Rick’s arm.
“For later,” she whispered.
Rick chugged his wine.
Regan didn’t let Eric charge again. She pointed him upstairs to cool down. He didn’t listen. The front door slammed behind him, and his car peeled out from the driveway.
That…went worse than I’d expected.
Silence fell, broken only by Grandma Mildred. She patted Jude’s hand.
“I was holding out for you, my boy, but I suppose I better let my granddaughter have you.”
Jude nodded. “Sorry to break your heart, Mildred.”
“No worries, son. That’s what a pace-maker is for.”
Regan stared at me, that perfect façade cracking as her dinner dripped off the table, peeled from the walls, and coagulated in Jude’s lap.
“Pregnant?” She repeated the word as if the greatest doctor in the state hadn’t heard it before. “I…can’t believe this. How could you be so careless? You had so much potential, Aurora. This will ruin your career.”
I forgot to bring my BINGO card, but I was pretty sure that in fifteen seconds I’d cleared a full row. “It wasn’t easy telling you this.”
“Easy? It shouldn’t be! I’m…” Regan shook her head. “I’m very disappointed with you, Aurora.”
“It’s not the first time.”
“And I’m sure it won’t be the last. Jude…” She excused herself from the table, but she didn’t look at Jude, only Rick. “I apologize for the way my son reacted.”
Jude stood. “Regan, I just want you to know how much I care about—”
The kitchen door swung shut.
“—Rory.”
Mildred dragged her dinner roll through a puddle of gravy. “Good lord. When I was young, all the bears prowled around the honey hives. They’d get stung, we’d have a wedding, and seven months later we’d meet a lot of fully-grown, premature cubs. That was how it worked. No wrestling through the potatoes needed. You hear me, Rory?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I know what you mean.”
“These things happen, child.” She patted my hand. “Ain’t nothing to it. Part of life. We’re gonna have a baby around here, and that’s always a blessing, no matter how many side dishes we wash off the ceiling.”
“Thank you, Grandma.”
“Now you go get your man a shower…or some bread to soak up the juices. I’ll talk with Regan.”
I hated this part. I apologized to Rick with a shrug. “I’m so sorry for all of this.”
He savored a bit of Regan’s yams and shrugged. “Believe it or not, this is the most peaceful dinner I’ve been to all week. My brother and his wife, Lindsay, aren’t anywhere near as polite as your family.”
I found that hard to believe.
Jude took my hand and walked with me out of the house. It helped. We reached the Jeep with a smidgen of our dignity.
“I’d say it went well,” he said.
“You think?”
“I’ll talk to Eric. He’ll be okay.”
“Regan’s mad.”
“You knew that would happen.”
“She’s…really mad.”
Jude took my hand. Nothing was going to calm me down, but he shook the crumbs from his pony tail and mercifully changed the subject.
“We can get a pizza on the way home.”
I bit my lip and yielded to the craving. “Or maybe…some strawberries?”
“Deal.”
He started the car, but I didn’t let him drive. I took his hand.
“I’m sorry, Jude. I hate that I dragged you into this.”
“You didn’t drag me. I wouldn’t have had you do that alone for anything, even if someone offered me another five years of football.”
“You mean it?”
“I said I’d take care of you. I mean it. You’re worth it, Rory. You know that.”
I didn’t, but I was starting to believe it. And whether that was right or wrong, I needed that bit of hope to keep me going.
I leaned over, kissing his cheek. He smirked.
“No one was around to see it,” he said.
“I was.” I kissed him again, softly. “And I’ll never forget it.”
9
Jude
This woman got more beautiful every day.
It was torture.
I went to training camp, and she was there.
I came home, and she was there.
I went to sleep, and she wasn’t in the bed, but I couldn’t get her out of my head.
And now, I met her at a Rivet’s charity event. My awareness was definitely raised…but not for the charity.
Rory greeted me outside the practice facility, shrugging as she showed off a form-fitting peach sundress. She peeked at me from beneath a wide-brimmed straw hat and smiled.
“How’s this dress look?” She spun. “Be honest.”
I loved her in it. I imagined her out of it.
And then my eyes focused on where she pointed—her lamp. Well, her bump. Rory’s tummy was suddenly visible in the right clothing.
I hated myself for the thoughts I’d been having of this woman. I once considered myself a gentleman. A good friend. Someone she could trust.
Friends didn’t lust. I imagined desires that didn’t belong to me, and words she would never whisper. Like she didn’t have enough problems. Like she wasn’t stressed and scared and completely vulnerable. She depended on me.
&nb
sp; I couldn’t think with my cock, but I couldn’t answer with my head.
“Wow,” I said.
“I knew it.” Rory groaned. “I’ll toss my lab coat over it. Maybe no one will notice.”
“No. You look—” I stopped myself before I said something stupid, like incredible or sexy or ball-bustingly beautiful. “Smart.”
Her expression fell. “Oh. Well? Best we can hope for now.”
“No, it’s a good smart.” I wasn’t risking her tears. “You look good. The hat is an…interesting choice.”
“If we’re gonna be out in the sun all day, it pays to be cautious.”
“Can I pay you to take it off?”
“This hat cost me forty bucks.”
“I’ll pay you double to forget you own it.”
Rory smirked. “Out of all the clothes you’ll pay me to take off…you aim for my hat?”
“Don’t tempt me. I’ll trade a signing bonus for your panties.”
“Tough luck.” Her eyebrow rose. “Those aren’t for sale.”
“Why not?”
She twirled again, running her hands over her hips. “Not wearing any.”
If it wasn’t a concussion dropping me, it’d be a stroke. I waited for the blood to circulate north again.
It didn’t.
“Rory Merriweather.” I practically growled. “Since when are you so naughty?”
“Since this dress got a little tight and showed panty lines.”
That was considerably less fun. “I don’t believe you. The Rory I know wouldn’t dare leave the house without panties.”
“You’re trying to bait me into showing you.” She winked. “The Jude Owens I know would never be so forward.”
“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think?”
“And maybe this isn’t my first time going commando.”
“Around me?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know…”
“I would. Very much.”
Rory teased with a wink so tempting it hit like a blow to the head. “Maybe if you’re good at this event today, I’ll let you in on a couple more secrets.”
“Good secrets?”
“The best secrets.”
“Dirty?” I grinned.
“Absolutely filthy.”