Page 75 of Best Kept Secret

"I gotta get home to the kid…." I paused to look at my watch. "In about five minutes so I can do bed and bath time."

Dom curled his lips. "You've all become so fucking domesticated."

"Don't be cocky, asshole." Noah stood up then. "Your time will come. And, apparently, so will mine…soon."

I raised an eyebrow. Noah grinned. "She's not ready to tell anyone but they're gonna figure it out when she orders a fruit juice or some shit."

We all congratulated Noah on Stella being pregnant. This could've been my life. I could be telling my friends Mira was pregnant, not right away, but in a few years. Instead? I was drowning my fucking sorrows.

"I'll join you for drinks. Need to catch up with Anson and take advantage of the fact that my wife is our designated driver for the next nine months," Noah added.

I sat down alone with Gabe after Noah and Dom left.

"Is he dating Luna, yet?" I asked.

Dom and Luna had been circling each other foryears.

"Nope. She's treating him like afriend. And he's hangin' around with Camy Channing, tryin' to make Luna jealous."

"That's not gonna make Luna jealous, it's gonna piss her off. She hates Camy," I pointed out.

"Well, Camy is special," Gabe said amused.

Camy Channing was heiress to the Channing Sugar empire and was known to not be the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree.

"Regardless, this is progress. A few months ago, he was the enemy," I remarked.

Gabe laughed. "I wish she'd get her head out of her ass. You thinkyou'resuffering, imagine Dom, he's been pining over the same woman since they were kids."

"Yeah, well, at least Lunatalksto Dom. My situation is far worse." I took a pull of my beer. "I fucked up, Gabe."

"Yeah," he agreed. "She needs to heal, man. She tried to end her life, that's not something you get over on a weekend."

I didn't say anything for a minute, staring into the foam at the top of my glass. The bar around us buzzed with life—people laughing, clinking glasses, like they didn't have a care in theworld. Good for them. They weren't dealing with a woman who wouldn't even look them in the eye, like I was some kind of ghost she'd already forgotten.

"We were so fucking happy," I muttered, more to myself than to them. "And I ruined it."

"People shut down for a reason, Beau. She's protecting herself."

I looked up at him, my jaw tightening. "From me?"

He met my stare and didn't flinch. "For now? Maybe. Maybe the whole world. I don't know the history, just…you know, bits and pieces. She's been through a whole hell of a lot of trauma herwhole life. She needs to break free."

But what if she can't? What will Pari and I do then?

I looked away, downing the rest of my beer in one long gulp. The glass slammed against the table, harder than I meant to, but I didn't care. I felt the IPA's bitterness scrape down my throat, but it didn't do a damn thing to lighten the weight pressing down on me.

"I got to go home." I rose and pulled out my wallet.

Gabe waved it away. "I got this."

I was about to leave when I saw Mira looking around, probably for a restroom. I couldn'tnotspeak with her. I was about to take a step toward her when someone crashed into me and gave me a hug.

"Beau," Fallon cried out. "It's been so long."

Fuck my life!

I pushed Fallon away. "Stay the fuck away from me," I said as clearly as I could.

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