Page 21 of Undeniable

“Well, that wasn’t the way we were going to tell y’all, but it’s true. We’re going to have a baby.”

Luke beamed with pride, and Hazel couldn’t contain her excitement. Then an entirely new eruption began, except it was one of joy and happiness. We all took turns hugging the pair and asking a million questions that came along with the announcement.

“How far along are you?” Amanda asked as we took our seats once again, except she’d made Josh switch with her so she could sit next to her best friend.

“Not too far, I’m still in the first trimester. Our due date is March of next year.”

“How did you find out?”

Hazel laughed and looked at her husband, who rolled his eyes. He tucked her into his side, throwing a tattooed arm over her shoulder. “She was acting differently, so I bought her a pregnancy test. She took it just to be spiteful and prove a point, except it came back positive. It was only a few days after the reopening party at Murphy’s.”

Hazel and Luke continued fielding questions as we finished dinner. I’d purposely not looked across the table at Ivy, but when my eyes betrayed me and I happened to glance in her direction, I stopped. She was listening, but the smile on her face was forced. She was only pushing her food around her plate, making it appear like she was eating when she hadn’t actually taken a single bite.

No one else noticed, but it probably wasn’t as obvious to them. I’d known the woman for my entire life—it was hard not to fucking notice her.

Thankfully, with Hazel and Luke’s news, the conversation topics for the rest of dinner mostly included them. And I was happy to keep it that way, not only for selfish reasons—including the fact that everyone had pretty much forgotten about me and Ivy—but also because I was genuinely excited for my friends and wanted to share in their happiness.

By the time the plates were cleared and the dishes were done, almost everyone else had left except for me and Ivy.

I wasn’t sure how that happened, but I’d helped Reed and Josh clean the kitchen while Amanda and Ivy stayed back in the living room.

Being the last ones left felt a lot like punishment for something. A punishment for anything, really. Name it, and I was probably being punished for it.

It was almost ten o’clock, and I was feeling the full effects of my nonstop weekend. My eyes were heavy, and I didn’t know if I was going to make it the fifteen-minute drive to my townhouse if I stayed even a second longer.

“Thank you so much for dinner.” Ivy hugged Amanda as I told the guys the same thing. My quick, painless escape floundered. It would’ve been an asshole move not to walk out with her, and as much as she believed the opposite, I wasn’t actually an asshole.

“Thanks for coming,” Josh waved to Ivy, and she smiled. Her eyes shifted to me, only for her smile to immediately drop.

Noticing the tension, Reed offered, “I’ll walk you down.” The guest lot was a slightly longer walk than the reserved spots directly outside of their building.

“I got it.”

“Really?” Josh asked.

I peered around the room and all of them were looking at me like they were surprised by the offer.

“Yes. Is that so hard to believe?”

Reed shrugged, and we walked out the door as Amanda muttered threats that she intended to make good on unless I was nice.

Outside and alone again, we headed down the stairs and toward the parking lot without a word. She walked in front of me like she was being chased and didn’t turn around until she reached her driver’s side door.

Her hand stilled on the door handle, and I could feel her contemplation. I just wanted to see that she was safely in her car and then get the hell out of there.

Without letting go of the handle, she glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes swept over me, but they didn’t linger.

“Princess?” she asked, and it took me a moment to connect the question with my earlier comment at the dinner table. “You really think I’m an entitled princess who gets angry when things don’t go my way?”

No.The word was on the tip of my tongue, but I didn’t say it. “Do you really think I’m a selfish prick who doesn’t think my actions have consequences?”

She considered me a moment longer and plainly said, “Yes.”

I only nodded, already knowing that would be her answer, but I didn’t move until she was in her car with the door locked.

Trudging to my car, only a few spots away, I dreamed of my soft bed and a hot shower. I hoped the hot water would rid me of the lingering memories that arose every time I saw her or at least wash away the tension and anxiety boiling just below the surface every time I had to be near her.

But I knew it wouldn’t work. It never had. The woman was, unfortunately, a part of me. A part of me that I’d never be rid of.

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