by KB Winters
She yawned. “Hating you wouldn’t help anything. Don’t worry about me, worry about yourself.” I guessed me being here exhausted her because her voice got weak as she drifted off to sleep.
I stood to leave just as a nurse was about to enter with a tray full of nurse shit. I held the door for her and watched as she walked over to sleeping beauty. She must not have realized Teddy was in la la land because I heard her say, “Ms. Quinton, we have painkillers for you that won’t harm the baby! And of course your prenatal vitamins.” Her voice was chipper but her words sounded so foreign I figured I had to be experiencing a fatigue-induced hallucination.
Because if I wasn’t, then that nurse just said Teddy was pregnant.
Only Teddy hadn’t said a word to me about it.
Because the baby wasn’t mine? Or, because I wasn’t the kind of man she wanted to raise a child with?
Chapter 20
Teddy
“God it feels so good to be going home.” At least it would be if they’d let me out of here.
I tried to explain to Jana that I couldn’t wait to leave those blinding lights behind, the noise of the machines and the constant interruptions by nurses coming in to poke and prod me just when I’d finally get comfortable. But Jana wouldn’t get off my case.
“Oh no, Theodora. Don’t think you can just drop a bomb like, ‘I’m pregnant’ and change the subject.” Arms crossed over her own growing belly bump, she sent me a narrow-eyed gaze that was supposed to intimidate me.
“You’re actually pregnant?” she whispered. “Like a bun in the oven, fetus growing into a squiggling little baby in your belly, you’re gonna be a mommy, pregnant?”
This girl was way too excited for the little bit of sleep I got last night. “Duh. Is there another type of pregnant I don’t know about?”
She rolled her eyes, but my best friend could not contain her excitement. I’d bet a million dollars it had little to do with me and everything to do with the fact that she wouldn’t have to do this alone. “Oh my God, this is the best news ever! We’re pregnant! Together! Mostly at the same time. And by brothers!” Her squeal was so high pitched I had to plug my ears.
“Settle down before they start evacuating patients because of that tornado siren you call a voice.” She wore a sheepish smile and then burst out laughing and pulled me in for a tight, loving hug.
“Okay, Hormones McCrazy,” I told her as I extracted myself from her surprisingly strong grip. “Because you’re not going to like the next part.”
She froze, her green eyes going wide. “You’re not keeping it?”
“Jana,” I sighed.
“Foster care isn’t ideal, but we came out all right. Didn’t we?”
“Jana! I’m keeping my baby, but I’m swearing you to secrecy.”
She was my best friend and I knew asking her not to tell Tate’s brother and her future husband wasn’t right, but this time, I felt okay about being selfish.
Jana sighed, completely deflated from her giddiness a few moments ago, and shook her head. “I love you, Teddy, but I’m not sure I can keep this from Max.”
I glared at her, not surprised but disappointed anyway. “Then we have nothing else to talk about.” The room had fallen silent, tension thickening the air as I busied myself packing up my few things.
“That’s not fair, Teddy! You can’t ask me not to say anything to him!”
“Say what to who?” Max asked, leaning against the doorway as cool as you please. I didn’t think for one second that he hadn’t heard the full conversation because he was as inscrutable as they came.
“Nothing to no one, because there’s nothing to say. To anyone.” I turned my back to them, wishing I’d just called a damn cab even though I couldn’t count on a cabbie to help me move around with one good arm and one good leg.
“You both are shitty liars,” Max said and even though my back was to him, I could hear the smile in his voice. “For the moment, I’m okay with that because I’m ready to get the fuck outta here.”
Join the club. “I’ve been ready since they wheeled me in here, unconscious and broken, but it’ll be a few more hours. You guys should probably go and I’ll get myself home.” As bitchy as it sounded, if I couldn’t share my thoughts and secrets with my best friend, I didn’t see any point in having them here.
“Cut the shit, Teddy.” Max lowered his big body into one of the hard plastic chairs and pulled it so he was between me and the doorway. I wanted to think it was a protective move but the intensity of his gaze said it was more of a keeping me here move. “What’s this big secret?” He smiled and I said nothing so he shrugged. “You know Jana’s gonna tell me, don’t you? She might just break from the silence, or I really hope she makes me coax it out of her.” He smiled and looked over at Jana with love and heat in his eyes.
I held up a hand, fake gagging. “Oh please, spare me the damn details, Max.” I knew I couldn’t hide the pregnancy from Tate forever, but I needed to come to terms with it myself before he started trying to tell me what to do with my body and my life. I didn’t need more opinions before I decided for myself, but I knew Max was right about one thing, Jana would break before the day was over. Time for a subject change. “Please tell me you guys got to eat some of the party food?” I’d spent so much time planning that party, I really hoped it wasn’t for nothing.
That perked Jana right up, hopefully her impending betrayal all but forgotten as she gushed over the cake, the cupcake tower, the mac & cheese balls, the bread bowls filled with dips.
“It was so beautiful and so delicious! Some of the, uhm...club girls, brought some of it to the waiting room so plenty of people got to enjoy it, Teddy. I can’t,” she blinked and sniffed, trying to fan away the tears threatening to drop. “I can’t thank you enough for the party. It was a shock, the best surprise really, and so great. Until you nearly died.”
“I’m happy for you both, and it was my pleasure. But this was all Tate, I just put it together.”
“You have to forgive him sometime, Teddy.” That came from Max, a dark scowl on his face as he stood to make room for the doctor and nurse entering my room.
“There’s nothing to forgive, Max. He was helping me and then he wasn’t. No big deal. I’m a big girl and I have been taking care of myself for a really long fucking time.” Even if I did let myself forget for a little while. Max and I were trapped in a staring contest until the nurse checked me out while the doctor gave me orders for wound care, painkillers and walking.
“It’ll be difficult at first, but we have a wheelchair to help you get around. But only short trips, like the bathroom,” the doctor emphasized. “And here are your prescriptions. Feel free to call if you have any questions.” I smiled, grateful she hadn’t accidentally spilled my secret.
Finally, I was free to go home. The drive was short and silent, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to stumble to my sofa and get lost in a few days of Netflix bingeing.
“Fuck my life,” I groaned as Max stopped in my driveway where Detectives Haynes and Dobbs waited. With Tate.
“You have to deal with them some time,” Jana offered, most unhelpfully.
“Actually, I don’t.” It was a struggle, but I managed to get out of the car without any help. But Max wasn’t moving all that quickly so I stood, wobbling on one leg and trying like hell not to fall. I watched Max yank the chair from the back of his truck and struggle to open it. “Bring it here.”
He ignored me, still fumbling with it and letting out long strings of colorful curses. “Fuck this shit. Tate,” he yelled and motioned to me.
“I don’t need any help. I need the goddamn wheelchair,” I yelled, holding a hand up to stop Tate’s movement and nearly toppling over as I grew unsteady.
But what did it matter what I wanted with two overbearing men around? Tate scooped me off my feet and carried me up the steps, leaning down so I could unlock the door and disarm the new security system. Ignoring Tate and his big strong arms, I looked around my hou
se and noticed there were no traces of any of the shit that had gone down here over the past few months. No paint cans, no soot, no broken glass.
No fucking gifts.
He set me on the sofa and I winced.
“Sorry.”
I brushed off his apology. “It’s fine. It hurts constantly anyway.”
“I know and I’m damn sorry for it,” he bit out, hurt and anger flashing on his handsome face. He looked and sounded sorry, but I was angry, in pain and really bitchy, so basically not in a very forgiving mood.
“Don’t be.”
He frowned. “How can I not? I promised to —”
I cut him off. “You don’t owe me anything, Tate. I’m grateful for the help you gave me, but I’m not your responsibility so don’t let this hang on your conscience.”
With a frustrated grunt he dropped down beside me on the sofa. “I think I know who’s been doing this.”
I tensed but refused to overreact, so I took a few deep breaths and pushed out all the what ifs running through my mind. “Tell me.”
“Her name is Sheena,” he said, but I only shrugged because the name didn’t ring a bell.
“She’s a Reckless Bitch and she’s made it clear since I got free that she wants me.”
I scoffed. “I knew you fucked her, there was no reason to lie about it.”
So typical. Men lied even when they were getting sex without strings, and that was why they couldn’t be trusted.
“I never fucked her.” He growled the words at me, his eyes fierce and begging me to believe him.
I didn’t.
“She’s ready to be somebody’s old lady and she figured I was it. Then she found out about you.”
“This started before we ever did anything.”
He nodded, his face in a twisted plea. “But she doesn’t know that. All she knows is that she’s seen us out having dinner together. Planning the engagement party and self-defense.”
I leaned back on the sofa, exhausted because it all made sense. Tate and I had been spending a lot of time together and to a crazed outsider it probably did look like we were a couple.
Before we could take it any further, the detectives entered with Jana and Max trailing behind them, sheepish looks on everyone’s downturned faces. “Does this mean you got her?”
Detective Haynes stepped forward and raked a hand through his hair, the universal sign for bad news. “No. We haven’t been able to locate the suspect. No one has seen her since the party.” He blew out a frustrated breath and I could see that he really was one of the good cops. “We can send a car around hourly, but if there’s an emergency …” he stopped, unwilling to finish the sentence.
“I’m on my own,” I finished for him and he nodded. It wasn’t his fault but that didn’t change how I felt. “Then I hope the next time I see you, I’m still drawing breath since I’m in no position to protect myself. Have a good evening, detectives.”
Haynes glanced around the room and I knew what was coming. “Can’t you stay with someone?”
“Nope,” I said immediately before Jana or Tate or Max could say a word. After a long stare-off, the detectives left.
“If someone can put the wheelchair next to the sofa and lock it, all I need is water and a few snacks.” Because of my arm, crutches wouldn’t work. And I was grateful the physical therapists in the hospital helped me practice getting in and out of the wheelchair one-armed by myself. The snacks turned out to be leftover engagement party food, which made me giddy. I was good to go. Or as good as I’d ever be. I mustered a smile. “Thanks, Jana.”
She wrapped her arms around me and kissed my cheek. “I wish you would come stay with us.” With a quick glance down at my belly she stepped back, her green eyes pleading with me.
“I’ll be fine, girl. Get some rest.” Surprisingly, Max bent over to hug me too. I thought he only tolerated me because of Jana, but maybe I was wrong. “Thank you for your help, both of you.” I meant it but wanted them out of there because all of sudden I was tearing up. “GO!” I said with a harsh laugh, and they left.
And then there were two. Tate was itching to say something, had been for the past fifteen minutes so I sat there and fought down the emotion that Jana and Max had stirred up and just waited. And waited.
Then he put it all on me. “Ready to talk?”
After he was the one who’d walked out on me? I felt like a teenager throwing a hissy fit. I crossed my arms and pouted but didn’t give a shit how dumb ass it looked. “No, but you have me at a disadvantage since I can’t get up and walk away.”
“Would you walk away right now if you could?”
“Damn right I would, Tate. I’m tired, I’m sore, all broken up and possibly in danger. I’d like a hot bath and to sleep in my own bed, thank you very much, but none of that is going to happen now, so just fucking talk if that’s what you want. Or else leave.”
My chest heaved, the pain shot up and down my body, not even the adrenaline of anger was enough to bury the pain. “Besides,” I started, trying to sound much calmer, “what do we have to talk about?”
He leaned forward and settled his angry gray eyes on me. “How about the fact that you’re pregnant with my baby?”
Yeah, there was that.
Chapter 21
Tate
I knew I’d shocked Teddy but she was a pro, her emotions carefully in check and her face gave nothing away. There was a lot of bat-shit crazy shooting through her head if she thought for one damn second I’d let her keep a child from me. “Now you have nothing to say?”
She blinked, her long eyelashes moved slow and deliberate. “What are you talking about?”
“Seriously, Teddy? That’s how you want to do this? Fine, I heard the nurse tell you she brought your prenatal vitamins.” That was three days ago and yet, she hadn’t told me anything.
“You must have misheard,” she offered simply. But she didn’t say anything else, refusing to answer even basic questions about her pain levels as she reached over to the end table for a book and pretended to read a murder mystery. An hour later she’d given up the pretense and dragged her laptop off the coffee table, wincing in pain rather than ask me for her help, and checked her email. Then, she called her employees and let them know she was homebound for the foreseeable future and issued orders like a drill sergeant.
I sat right beside her the entire time, watching TV or playing games on my phone, waiting for her to relent. She never did. Not even when the pizza and wings I ordered arrived. She extended her good arm beyond the point of pain to reach for her food, rather than ask me.
“Damn stubborn woman,” I growled, slamming two slices and a few wings onto her plate.
“Thanks,” she murmured and inhaled the food. Teddy didn’t say another word to me. After eating her fill, she took a pill and fell asleep nestled into the corner of the sofa. By the time she woke up, it was nearly dinnertime.
I held a glass of water out to her so she could take her pills. “How’s your pain?”
She snorted. “I’ll take the pills without the small talk, thanks.”
“Dammit Teddy, you’re having my baby. You might hate me, even though it kills me to think it, but we are having a kid together. This is just one more reason for us to be together.”
She flashed an angry glare up at me. “There is no us, Tate. I made that mistake but only for a moment. Luckily for you, it’s easy to fix.”
“It’s not a fucking mistake, Teddy.”
She nodded, suddenly more confident and sure. “It was, Tate. You know it was, because you walked away first.”
“I said I was sorry.” I never expected Teddy to be the unforgiving type, she’d always seemed so laid back.
“But that’s just it, I don’t want your apology. You made me forget, at least temporarily, that I needed to rely on myself. It was a nice little vacation, but if I’d remembered it maybe I wouldn’t be defenseless right now.” She shook her head with a smile but there was no joy behind it. “I don’t
want or need your guilt. We had fun.”
Just when I didn’t think I could feel any worse, she said the one thing guaranteed to slice me open. Being with me had reminded her that she couldn’t rely on other people. That meant she wasn’t ready to hear everything else I had to say. Not yet, anyway. “We’re not done talking about this,” I warned her but she looked up at me, almost bored.
“Yes, we are. I’d like you to leave.”
“Fuck that! I’m not leaving you alone. Hate me all you want, but I can’t let anything happen to you, Teddy. I just fucking can’t.”
She didn’t respond, just diverted her gaze back to the television, dismissing me. She didn’t think she could rely on me and I couldn’t blame her even though it pissed me off to no end.
I’d leave, but not without making sure she was taken care of. I dropped down and roughly kissed her cheek. “See you soon, Teddy.”
She grunted and that only made me smile wider as I walked out to my truck and made a few calls. Teddy thought she could get rid of me easily but she was wrong.
So, so wrong.
Cross picked up my call on the fourth ring. “What’s up, man?”
“Can we call a meeting? I have some shit we need to discuss. Important shit.” I knew the Reckless Bastards were a brotherhood, though some people called us a gang, and that meant our first priority was to each other and our families. But Sheena was technically part of that family so I had to tread carefully.
“You on your way now?”
I started the engine and reversed out of Teddy’s driveway. “Yep. See you in ten.” It was time I remembered who the fuck I was, and what I was willing to do for those I cared about. And though she wasn’t ready to hear it, I cared about Teddy.
I might even fucking love her.
Chapter 22
Teddy
“You don’t have to stay here, Lasso. What the hell kind of name is that, anyway? And doesn’t a man with a name and a face like yours have someplace else to be?”