Page 80 of Loving You

“Define emergency,” Bronx said.

“Anything bleeding, broken, or someone dying?”

Bronx had to laugh. That was his rule about Luke interrupting him at work when he was little. “No. But poop hit the fan over at Monty’s with his dad and his dad’s wife. She’s there right now, and he needs some support in case Rod shows up. I think I need to stay over.”

“Uh, yeah,” Lucas said. “Don’t let him deal with that man alone.”

“Where are you? I can come get you if you want to join me.”

Lucas cleared his throat, sounding guilty. “Uh. I’m…I’m on a double date right now, actually.”

Bronx sat back, startled. “A date?”

“Double date. Blind date—ha ha. Gage set it up.”

Bronx’s stomach twisted. “Oh, Lukie?—”

“No, it’s good. It’s nice. We can talk about it later, okay?”

“Have Gage drop you off at Monty’s if you don’t mind potential drama. I think he’d like it if you were there too.”

Lucas had a room there now, and Monty had spent two weeks organizing the house and setting up labels and bump dots in the kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room soLucas didn’t need to ask for help. Lucas felt safe there, so Bronx wasn’t surprised when he agreed.

“Tell him to hang in there. I don’t think this date is actually going anywhere.”

“We’ll talk soon.”

Bronx hung up and hit the road, bypassing the turnoff to his street as he made his way to Monty’s. There was a small, sporty convertible with the top down parked in his usual spot, so he pulled around beside it, then made his way up the drive.

There were lights on, but when he walked in, the house was almost deathly quiet. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting—maybe not crying, but a little laughter. Celebration. Anything other than the tension he was feeling.

He searched the rooms inside, and it wasn’t until he ventured out into the small garden area that he found them. Poppy was dressed in leggings and an oversized sweater, curled in a chair with her legs pulled to her chest. Monty was in a chair across the table from her, saying nothing, his gaze fixed out into the darkness.

“Hey.”

Neither of them startled, which meant they’d heard him pull up. Monty tipped his head back, and Bronx dropped a kiss on his lips before taking the chair closest to his lover.

“I didn’t mean to ruin your night,” Poppy said. “I didn’t know where else to go, and I know you don’t deserve this, Monty.”

“No one deserves him,” Monty said quietly. He reached for Bronx’s hand and squeezed. “Except maybe my brothers and sister. They literally ask for it.”

Poppy scoffed. “They used to. Things have been…different ever since that dinner.”

Bronx couldn’t help but feel like he’d upset the balance.Not that it was a bad thing, but there was still a little tingle of guilt in the tips of his fingers. His ex had always accused him of ruining things that were good—that were comfortable. Maybe that was true.

He just couldn’t regret this.

“He said if I left, he wouldn’t come after me. We have a prenup, so it’s not like I can fight him for anything.”

Monty’s head snapped over, and Bronx realized that Monty and Poppy hadn’t actually discussed much of anything since she got there. “Tell me there’s a settlement for you.”

“One amount if we had kids and one if we didn’t. He didn’t tell me he’d had a vasectomy though,” she said with a small, bitter laugh. “I found out tonight after the last negative test I took.” Her voice was trembling. “We were trying. He let me think…” She trailed off and swallowed thickly. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does. If he didn’t disclose that, you can probably have the agreement thrown out,” Monty told her.

She shook her head. “I don’t want that. I don’t want anything from him. I just…” She let out a bitter laugh. “I feel like a monster because I thought I was different—I thought it was all okay so long as he loved me and didn’t treat me the way he treated everyone else.”

Bronx winced. That wasn’t a great look for her.

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