Sweet Summer Sunset

by Delores Fossen

  “Why are you so worried about Piper now that you’ve dumped her?” Nico demanded, aiming his index finger at the boy.

  Jax didn’t seem so cocky right now. His shoulders actually dropped. “I got scared, that’s all. It was just such a big-assed shock when she told me, and I didn’t handle it right. I dumped her and walked away. But I’m sorry about that now. Piper’s prime, not just pretty and all but smart, too, and I didn’t treat her right.”

  Because he was several steps beyond merely being pissed off, it took Nico a couple of moments to pick through all of that and find a big red flag. “A shock when she told you?” Nico paraphrased.

  If it’d been up to Eden, Nico wouldn’t have gotten an answer to that because she moved to shut the door again. Nico stopped her, shot a “stop that” glare and made his glare even harder when he turned his attention back to Jax.

  “What did Piper tell you that shocked you?” Nico growled. “I want to hear it word for word.”

  Jax swallowed hard, twice. “I’m guessing you just want to hear me admit it. I get that. It’s like manning up or some other sh...crap,” he amended, “that older folks want you to do. So, here it is.” Another hard swallow. “Piper said she might be pregnant with my kid.”

  * * *

  “OH, CRUD,” EDEN MUMBLED.

  She thought she’d dodged a bullet after Piper had texted to tell Eden that she’d gotten her period. Piper had almost certainly felt that she’d dodged a thousand bullets. She wasn’t pregnant, and therefore Eden hadn’t had to tell Nico about it.

  Except that Nico had just learned anyway.

  Nico made a growling sound. There was no other way to describe it. It was something feral that had come from deep within his chest. Eden had never seen him get violent, but then he’d never been confronted with anything like this. Just in case he was about to punch Jax in the face, she stepped between the two of them.

  “Hold on to whatever you’re about to say or do,” she warned Nico, and she shot the same warning to Jax as she took out her phone. “Both of you will get an explanation in just a few seconds.”

  They obeyed and stayed quiet, but Eden wondered if that was because Nico’s jaw muscles were too tight for him to speak. In Jax’s case, he looked frozen as if he couldn’t decide what else to do.

  Eden sent a quick text to Piper:

  Jax is about to call you. Answer it. It’s important.

  Of course, it would be terrifying once Piper learned that Nico knew about the pregnancy scare, but Eden was hoping she could soften that blow by telling Nico that his sister hadn’t gotten knocked up by some guy Nico wanted to knock out. Piper would be on her own when it came to telling Jax, but Eden figured once they got past the shock of Nico knowing, they’d be relieved.

  “Call Piper,” Eden told Jax, “and then you can leave. Nico and I have to talk.”

  Apparently, Nico didn’t agree with her plan because he tried to block her from shutting the door in Jax’s face. Then, Nico’s eyes met hers, and she realized that not all the anger he was feeling was for Jax. Some of it was aimed at her.

  “You knew about this,” Nico snarled.

  She nodded, sighed. Even though Jax hadn’t put his call on speaker, she heard when Piper answered. Eden pried Nico’s hand off the door so she could shut it and give both the teens and themselves some privacy for the conversation they were about to have. Eden was betting there’d be a whole lot more jubilation in Jax’s call than in her talk with Nico.

  Since there was no way to sugarcoat this, Eden started blurting. “Piper told me at the rodeo that she might be pregnant. She wanted me to tell you because she was afraid of how you’d react.”

  “Afraid?” Nico snarled, but it wasn’t a question, and it only seemed to piss him off even more.

  “She’s sixteen,” Eden reminded him. “She made a mistake, and even though she didn’t come out and say it, I believe she wanted you to get past the initial shock and anger so you’d be more rational about it when you saw her.”

  His eyes narrowed. “There’ll be nothing rational when it comes to this. That shithead knocked up my sister.”

  Nico reached for the door again, but Eden slid in front of him, which put them face-to-face, and at the moment his was a very mean face.

  “No, he didn’t knock her up,” Eden went on, speaking very fast in case Nico decided to move her aside and go out in the yard. “It was a false alarm. Right after I got here, Piper texted that she’d gotten her period. So, no baby. No reason to pulverize Jax.”

  Nico stayed quiet, dangerously so, for a moment. “Yeah, there’s a reason. The shithead had to have had sex with her for her to think she might be pregnant.”

  Eden huffed and wondered why she hadn’t expected this big brother logic. “Teenagers have sex,” she reminded him. “You sure did when you were Piper’s age.” She aimed her index finger at him. “And don’t you dare say that’s different.”

  He didn’t say it. Maybe didn’t even think it, not in the insulting way it could have been had Nico believed it was okay for boys but not girls to have sex. Clearly, he didn’t believe that.

  “She’s my sister,” he snapped.

  “I know, and that makes this hard to take, but it’s over. They had sex, there’s no baby and therefore there’s no reason for Rayelle to know any of this.”

  That got Nico’s attention, and his gaze fired back to hers. “Shit.”

  “I’m in total agreement,” she said. “If Piper wants Rayelle to know, then she’ll tell her. It won’t come from us.”

  And she was betting it wouldn’t come from Piper, either. Rayelle’s prudishness would soar to epic proportions if she found out that Piper was having sex. A baby scare might send the woman off the prudish ledge and result in Piper being grounded for life. While Piper did deserve a good talking-to about safe sex and such, Rayelle could and would dole out a lot more than that.

  Nico didn’t jump to approve of what Eden had just laid out, but at this point she doubted he would agree to anything other than beating up Jax. Still, Nico finally nodded. Then, in a sneaky move, he hooked his arm around her waist, moving her, so that he could push the door open.

  “I’m going to see Piper,” Nico insisted just as Jax said, “Piper wants me to come to the cabin so we can talk.”

  Eden could see an immediate problem with that. “Rayelle will be there.”

  Jax nodded and looked marginally less uncomfortable than he had minutes earlier. “Piper’s going to tell her aunt that she’s going for a short walk, and then she’ll meet me at the end of the road that leads to the cabin.”

  Eden was shaking her head before he even finished. “Rayelle will hear the motorcycle.” She knew that wouldn’t put the boy off going. Didn’t want him to put it off either since it was obvious that the teens needed to talk. She also couldn’t see a way to stop Nico from joining in on at least a portion of that chat. A portion where he could do his big brother thing for Piper and maybe scare Jax into never having sex again.

  “We’ll go in my truck,” Nico insisted. He shot Jax a glare. “That way I know you won’t be staying too long or doing something you shouldn’t do, and I won’t have to kill you.”

  Yep, Nico was going for the “scare the crap out of Jax” angle. It might work in the short term, but even Nico was no match for teenage hormones. He of all people should know that.

  Since Jax looked somewhat terrified of getting into the vehicle with Nico, Eden got in first, and she slid into the middle. Jax took shotgun, and Nico got behind the wheel. He took off as soon as they had their seat belts on.

  “Should I text Piper and let her know that you’ll be with me?” Jax asked, and mercy, he sounded rattled.

  “No,” Nico snapped. “She’ll know soon enough.”

  Yes, Piper would because Nico was practically flying down the country road. Eden considered making some kind
of small talk, but the only thing that seemed a safe topic was the weather.

  “Nice night,” she commented. “It’s cooled down a little.”

  The stony silence from Nico and the nervous aura bursting off Jax let her know that even that hadn’t been a good choice of conversation.

  She moved closer to Nico to give him a whispered reminder not to yell or Rayelle would hear it, but the moment Eden leaned in, Nico did, too, and her mouth ended up brushing over his ear. There was some breath involved, too, since she’d geared up to speak.

  “Shit,” he grumbled. “Not there. Not now anyway.”

  Obviously, his ear was a “sensitive” spot for him, and while Eden hadn’t been looking for anything like that at this moment, she would file it away for later and put it to good use.

  That’s because Eden had decided that sex with Nico was going to happen.

  After that kissing circus in his kitchen, she couldn’t see him trying to figure out a way to stop it. Nope. Once they had this situation with Piper resolved, there’d be more kisses—including ones solely devoted to his ears—and then they’d land in bed. Eden refused to think what would happen after that.

  Eden spotted Piper as soon as Nico pulled into the road that fronted the cabin. Piper was using the flashlight on her phone to illuminate the path she was pacing, and she looked about as comfortable as an embezzler facing a tax audit.

  Nico stopped the truck, bailing the moment he’d put it in Park. There was an immediacy in Jax’s exit, too, but because of her middle position, their “chat” had already started by the time Eden got out of the truck.

  “You should have come to me with this,” Nico growled to Piper. “You should have told me about him.” He hiked a thumb in Jax’s direction.

  “I know. I’m so sorry.” That’s all Piper had to say, and Nico no doubt heard the swarm of emotions in the girl’s voice. Thanks to his truck headlights, he could see it, too. Along with seeing the tears shimmering in her eyes.

  That caused Nico to curse, groan and scrub his hand over his face. After he’d done all of that, he pulled Piper into his arms and kissed the top of her head.

  “You should have told me,” he repeated, but this time there was love mixed in with his anger and concern.

  “I know, but I was afraid of what you would think of me. Afraid of what you might do to Jax.”

  Nico eased Piper back a few inches and stooped down a little so he could make eye contact with her. “I wouldn’t have thought less of you. Never.” He paused. “Jax is a different matter.” Nico shot the boy a glare from over his shoulder. “He had sex with you and then broke up with you when you thought you might be pregnant. That’s an asshole thing to do.”

  “It was,” Jax readily admitted. “And I’m sorry. But I’m here now, and I want to do what’s right.” He went closer to Piper as if he might continue to plead his case, but Nico kept his grip firmly around his sister.

  Eden didn’t think Nico was just going to encourage a conversation between the two teens so she moved in closer, as well. She started to whisper to Nico that they should give them a few minutes alone, but she remembered his sensitivity in that area.

  “Nico, they need to talk,” Eden said, keeping her voice calm and low.

  That didn’t get him to budge. Or stop him glaring at Jax. “How do I know he won’t hurt her again? She cried, you asshole,” he added to Jax.

  Eden understood the groan that Piper made. The girl wouldn’t want a heart-crushing ex to know that she’d been crying over him.

  Jax didn’t back away, and he did look sorry about Piper crying. “I said I was wrong,” the boy repeated. “I didn’t handle it right.”

  “No shit, Sherlock.” Nico snapped. “Did you even use any protection when you had sex with her?”

  Piper groaned again, and this time Eden joined her in a chorus of groans. “Nico, that’s something that should be discussed in private. But if you didn’t use protection, you should have,” Eden softly added to the teens. “I’m sure this is something you’ve already clued into, but you’re both too young to risk a pregnancy.”

  Because of the whir of Nico’s truck engine, Eden didn’t actually hear the footsteps as much as she sensed them, and she practically snapped in the direction of the cabin.

  And there was Rayelle.

  Even now, the woman was wearing one of those plain dresses she favored. Mint green this time. And she was sporting a very troubled look.

  Oh God.

  Obviously, Rayelle had walked up on their conversation, but it surprised her when the woman didn’t turn that look on Piper but on Eden.

  Rayelle pressed her hand to her chest. “Sweet merciful heaven. Eden, did I just hear you say that you’re pregnant?”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  PIPER HAD BEEN about to start digging a hole that she could climb into, but her aunt’s question stopped her. She’d been certain that Rayelle heard what Eden said, but she hadn’t.

  And now all eyes were on Eden.

  Piper held her breath because it was possible that either Nico or Eden was going to spill everything. But she knew that there was no chance of Jax doing that because he was standing there looking as scared spitless as Piper felt.

  “Well, are you pregnant?” Rayelle demanded as she went closer to Eden. “Because if you are, it’s definitely not a good idea for you to be around Piper.” Even though Rayelle had dropped her voice to a near whisper for that last part, Piper was still able to hear her every word.

  Eden laughed, surprising everyone around her, and she gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “We were talking about horses. One of Nico’s mares will foal soon, and Piper was wondering if she’d be around to see the colt or filly.”

  Heck, Eden was a lot better liar than Piper would have ever thought, and Piper appreciated it all the way to the marrow of her bones. However, a lie, even a good one, wouldn’t necessarily get her out of the hot seat because it was possible that Aunt Rayelle wouldn’t believe it.

  Piper could almost see what Rayelle was thinking. Had she really misheard? Maybe, too, she was working out a way to apologize to Eden about being so snippy with her about being knocked up.

  As it turned out, her aunt didn’t say she was sorry. She just shifted her attention to Jax. “What are you doing here?” Rayelle asked. “You and Piper broke up.”

  Jax nodded. “I just wanted to talk to her and try to work out some things.”

  “Then you can do that at a more reasonable hour,” Rayelle scolded.

  It was 7:00 p.m., which was plenty reasonable for a lot of things, including talking. No one pointed that out, though. Piper, Eden and Jax all nodded in agreement, but Piper figured no one actually agreed. She hated when her aunt got all pissy like this, but considering what she’d done by nearly getting knocked up, Piper wasn’t going to judge. Especially since Rayelle had stepped up to take her after Mama Brenda had died.

  “Jax was just leaving,” Piper explained. “I’ll call him tomorrow, and we can talk then.”

  That would hopefully give her time to settle her nerves. Right now, she was straddling a kind of high because of the relief of getting her period while tamping down the fear of nearly being caught.

  “Just give me a second to say goodbye to Piper,” Jax begged. Like Eden’s laugh, that surprised Piper, too. She would have thought he would have turned tail and gotten out of there as fast as he could now that they had dodged a Rayelle bullet.

  Nico wasn’t getting out of there, either. He was giving Jax and her a hard stare. “We’ll talk soon,” Nico finally snarled in a whisper as he brushed a kiss on Piper’s head.

  Oh joy. That would be a fun chat. Nico wasn’t usually a pain-in-the-butt kind of brother, but there was no way he was going to let her get away with a pregnancy scare without giving her a serious lecture. Piper felt another safe-sex chat coming on. Unfortunately, this time
he would have a good reason for giving it.

  “Good night, Rayelle,” Eden said.

  Eden gave Rayelle a cheery wave before she took hold of Nico’s arm and got him moving back to his truck. Of course, they couldn’t leave, not since Jax had ridden with them, but at least Nico was no longer standing in front of Jax and glaring at him.

  “I’ll be inside in just a few minutes,” Piper told Rayelle. While she tried to sound adamant, Piper knew she was bargaining with the woman, and she added as much of a smile as she could muster, hoping it would help.

  Again, Rayelle had the debate expression on her stern face before she ground out, “Ten minutes. Then, you and I can work out some visiting rules. I don’t want Jax showing up here at all hours.”

  Piper nodded, ready to grovel or do whatever it took to get the woman to leave. And her aunt finally did. Not before giving them yet another glare. Even though Rayelle’s wasn’t as good as Nico’s, it still worked. Piper knew she was going to have to work hard to get into her aunt’s good graces.

  Once Rayelle was on her way back to the cabin and out of earshot, Piper set the timer on her phone for eight minutes. No way did she want to be late getting back, or Rayelle might ground her.

  Piper whirled around toward Jax. “I don’t know why you came here,” she snapped. “You’re the one who broke up with me.” He opened his mouth to say something, but there was nothing she wanted to hear from him. “I’m still grieving my mom’s death, was worried I could be pregnant and you broke up with me. What kind of loser does something like that?”

  “The lowest of losers,” Jax readily admitted. He groaned. “God, Piper. I’m so sorry. I was just scared. I mean, there’s no way I’m ready to become a dad.”

  “And you think I’m ready to become a teenage single mom?” Somehow, she managed to keep her voice lower than a shout though she wasn’t sure how. She wanted to punch Jax. Curse him.

  But at the top of her list was something that disgusted her.

  She wanted him to hold her. To pull her into his arms and tell her that everything was going to be all right. Apparently, she was stupid. This was the guy who’d run out on her at the lowest point in her life. And it wasn’t as if he’d been a one-night hookup or anything. Nope, he’d been her first.