Page 81 of Camden

“Maybe she was nervous. I mean, you have been trying to get her to move in for a month now,” Mason said.

“Well, shit.” I grinned. “Maybe she would be more receptive to having my baby than I thought.” My pulse raced at the idea of her growing with my child. The idea of her being in my life forever. I would have to make that happen sooner than later.

“Shouldn’t marriage come before babies?” Asher laughed.

“I plan on making that happen, too,” I said.

Mason’s cheek twitched. “No shit?”

I grinned. “Yeah. I bought a ring a couple of weeks ago. Just waiting for the right time to make it happen.”

“You okay with this?” Asher asked Grayson.

He smiled behind his beer. “Yeah. He talked to me about it already. I don’t know you guys that well, but I can tell you’re good people. Stephanie is happier than I’ve ever seen her. That’s all that matters to me.”

It was important to me that I got his blessing. Being the only family Stephanie had left, I knew it would mean a lot to her. “I’m surprised Rylie didn’t mention it to you.”

“Rylie knew?”

“Yeah. She helped me pick out the ring.” I swear she squealed for ten minutes when I called her to come to help me. I chuckled at the memory. She was ecstatic, but also threatened my balls if I ever did anything to hurt her best friend.

“I’m happy for you, brother,” Mason said. Asher and Grayson raised their beers in agreement.

“Think we should get the fire started?” I asked as I stood and stretched my legs. We planned on roasting hotdogs for dinner, just like we’ve done every year.

“I’ll grab the lighter fluid,” Asher said.

“Did you invite anyone else?” Grayson asked. Concern flooded his voice as his face hardened.

“No, why?” I asked as I heard the crunching of gravel. He motioned behind me with his chin. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as I spun. The guys flanked me as we watched the patrol car make its way down the drive.

“Did you tell anyone that we were out here?” Mason asked, and I shook my head.

“No.”

He cursed under his breath. The only people who knew we were out here were the girls. I took off toward Porter, who had stepped out of the cruiser. My legs ate up the distance in no time.

“Where the fuck have you guys been? Get in the car,” He said when I was only a few feet away.

“We’ve been here all day. What happened?”

“We’ve been trying to call you for an hour.” Urgency rang from his voice. My entire body stiffened. Dread pumped through my blood as he said two words I never wanted to hear. “It’s Stephanie.”

“What’s wrong with Stephanie?” Fear clawed at my throat.

“Get in and I’ll explain on the way.” I did as he asked and jumped in the passenger seat as Mason, Asher, and Grayson all slid in the back.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

STEPHANIE

My fingers shookas I held the little pink box. The words ‘Early Detection Pregnancy Test’ stared at me, lit up like a neon sign. I wasn’t kidding when I told Cam yesterday that I thought I had food poisoning. But today, when the smell of coffee made my stomach curl, a little voice in the back of my head started screaming it might be more than that.

I’d felt off for the past week, but I just figured my period was getting ready to start. It was a few days late, but I’d been stressed trying to tell Cam that I wanted to move in permanently. It wasn’t unusual for my body to be off for a few days. But as soon as my body revolted at the smell of coffee, I knew something was off. Luckily for me, I didn’t actually get sick from the smell. If I had, Cam probably never would have left my side.

I needed to be alone while I took the test.

I wanted to process the information. Process what it would mean. I knew Cam would love a baby. He would be the best dad out there, but that doesn’t mean either of us was ready for one.

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