Page 91 of Forever With You

Nick and I walked back to the large round table, and it wasn’t until I saw everyone did it really hit home how weird this dinner was going to be. When Calla invited us, I hadn’t thought anything about it, but now that I was seeing Jase and Cam sitting there, all I could think about was how awkward this could turn out. Nick knew I’d hooked up with them in some form or fashion, and obviously everyone at the table knew, and yeah ... this was different.

I sat down beside Calla, forcing a smile. “Sorry we’re late. Traffic.”

“Traffic,” Calla mused with a sly grin. “Interesting, on Sunday night.”

Teresa, who was sitting next to Avery, tossed the long length of dark hair over her shoulder. “Don’t worry,” she said, winking. “Jase and I ran into ... ‘traffic,’ too. Really heavy ‘traffic.’ ”

Jase’s eyes widened.

On the other side of Avery, sitting next to Nick, Cam’s face contorted with disgust in response to his sister’s words. “Come on, man. I don’t want to even picture that in my head.”

Placing her hand over her mouth, Avery smothered her giggle but asked, “How heavy was that ‘traffic’ exactly?”

Teresa opened her mouth, but Jase spoke up, “Please, dear God, don’t answer that question. I really don’t want Cam punching me again.”

I laughed as Teresa narrowed her eyes at her older brother. “If he lays one hand on you, that baby is going to be the last Cam can produce.”

“Oh dear,” Calla murmured.

Beside her, Jax leaned back in his chair and eyed Nick. “They are always like this, by the way.”

“Can’t take my sister anywhere,” Cam replied, grinning when her glare turned deadly.

“More like I can’t take you anywhere.” Avery elbowed him as she smiled across the table at me. “How are you feeling?”

All the eyes landed on me, and I resisted the urge to squirm in my seat. “I’ve been doing good. It’s been an ... easy pregnancy so far.”

“She’s been really tired,” Nick cut in.

A look of sympathy crossed the little redhead’s face. “Oh God, same here. I think I finally got to the point where I sort of feel normal, but now I feel like I’m carrying a basketball around.”

“It’s a soccer ball,” Cam corrected, leaning over and brushing his lips across her forehead. “A beautiful soccer ball.”

I eyed her. “You don’t look like you’re carrying a soccer ball.” Actually, she looked like she had the last time I’d seen her.

Avery’s eyes lit up. “Thank you for that, but that’s only because I’m sitting down.”

“Stand up,” Teresa urged as Jase reached over, curving his hand around the nape of her neck.

She pushed back her chair and stood, and yep, there was no mistaking that Avery was clearly pregnant. Her pale blue sweater was tight, stretching across a very well-­defined bump. She framed her stomach with her hands. “As you can see, a soccer ball.”

I laughed. “That is not the size of a soccer ball.”

“Maybe a deflated one,” Jase commented.

Avery giggled as she sat back down. Immediately, Cam draped his arm around her shoulders. “It sure doesn’t feel that way.”

Nick’s gaze tracked from Avery to me and a soft smile appeared on his face. It took no leap of imagination to figure out that he was picturing me with a bump the size of a half-­deflated soccer ball. And there was also no missing the look of complete anticipation in his gaze. He really wanted this baby.

But did he really want me?

The moment that thought crossed my mind, I pushed it away and focused on the conversation. There was no way I was going to let my neurosis ruin tonight.

Nick was definitely the quietest one in the group, sitting back and just taking it in. The food arrived, and I was surprised to find my appetite wasn’t up to par. I ended up eating only half of my well-­cooked steak and mashed potatoes. It might have had something to do with the initial awkwardness of who we were having dinner with, but neither Cam and Jase nor their significant others batted an eyelash over my presence. Neither did Nick.

Took me a few moments to realize and fully accept that no one at this table—­the only ones who had a right to have an opinion on any of it—­cared about any of that. Some of the awkwardness was in my head, a consequence of previous experiences, but these ­people didn’t care. A strange sort of weight lifted from my shoulders. It wasn’t guilt or remorse, nothing like that, because no one had ever done anything wrong or to be ashamed of. It was more like a bit of the wall between me and the two girls had finally snapped in half. They accepted me and I accepted them.

The past was formally in the past.

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