Page 55 of Tempting

Our families are so intertwined.

Mac and I getting together is either the stupidest thing I’ve ever done or it was inevitable.

I don’t believe much in fate, but I’m going with option two.

I wait for one of them to say something... anything.

But they don’t, they just all sit and wait until I crack.

Doesn’t take too long. “I think I’m going to go check on Mac...”

“She’s busy,” Becket tells me, and Sam chuckles but doesn’t say anything. “You might as well say it. I know you’re thinking it.”

“I’m not thinking anything,” Sam tells him, then looks my way. “Unless you want to tell him what she was busy doing before coming to the hospital, Nix?”

Cade chuckles, and I stay quiet.

“Just don’t hurt her, Nixon.” Becket clears his throat. “She’s a good girl with a big heart and a fucking ton of hurt already weighing her down. She doesn’t need someone to add to that. Understand?”

I look him in the eyes and ignore everyone else in the room. “Respectfully, if things are going to go anywhere with Mac and me, that deserves to be a discussion between her and me, not me and the three of you. But I can tell you I respect her. I’ve cared about her for half my life, and I’d never hurt her or let anyone else hurt her. I’m not sure what you’re asking. But that’s what I can tell you right now.”

“Quiet confidence is a good thing, Nixon. You’ve always had that. Remember that,” Sam tells me with a small nod of his head, while Becket just sits, staring at me, apparently trying to decide what he wants to say.

“You gonna speak, Becks, or can he go now?” Cade asks.

“Keep her safe, Nixon,” Becket warns.

“I’d protect her with my life, Becket.” And I mean every fucking word.

Scarlet opens the door with a beautiful smile on her face and tears pooling in her eyes. “He’s here.” She walks over and wakes up Kennedy. “Your brother is here, and they’re asking for you.”

Kennedy stretches and moves next to me. “Will you walk me down, Nix?”

“Sure.” I kiss Scarlet’s cheek and nod at the men gathered in the room. “Congratulations.”

And minutes later, when Kennedy opens the door to Brynlee’s room and I lock eyes with Mackenzie, it clicks. My heart feels like it’s going to thrum right out of my chest.

She’s holding Brynn’s baby, and I know without a doubt in my fucking mind, that woman right there is mine. One day, this will be us. She’ll be holding our kids, and I’ll be the happy fucker in the corner of the room, helping his wife, like Deacon is helping Brynn get adjusted in the bed. He embraces Kennedy, and as she walks over to Brynn, he mouths thank you to me. And I wonder if I should be telling him that.

“Do you want to meet him, Nix?” Brynlee asks quietly, and I shake away my quickly firing thoughts and get a little choked up. Brynlee might not be my sister, but I’ve known her my entire life, and unlike Mac, I’ve always looked at Brynn like one of my sisters.

“You sure, Brynn? I don’t want to interrupt. I should leave,” I stammer.

“Come in, Sinclair. This is probably the calmest it’s going to be for days,” Deacon tells me, exhaustion and elation lining every inch of his face. “Meet our son, Knight.”

I step inside, and Mac moves next to me, holding the tiny baby boy wrapped in a pale blue blanket. “He’s perfect,” I say as all other words escape me. “Welcome to the world, Knight.”

I don’t touch him. Just watch in awe. Taking it all in for a moment.

Then I look up at Mac’s beautiful face and tuck that same curl from earlier behind her ear. “You’re a rockstar, Hayes.”

Fuck. This is it. This is that thing Dad always talks about. That moment when you just fucking know, and it all changes.

She smiles softly, and Bryn laughs. “Hey. I’m the one who just pushed a ten-pound, two-ounce watermelon out of my vagina, Sinclair. Kenzie just spent hours yelling at me to push.”

Mac gasps softly, careful not to wake the sleeping baby as she carefully hands him off to his mother. “I did not yell at you.”

Brynn grabs Mac’s hand and squeezes, and a sob catches in her throat. “Thank you for being here for me, Kenzie. I can’t imagine doing this with anyone else.”

---