Page 37 of Say Yes To The Fake Date

I stop before I get to them, and Lucy is frowning at me. Gabe comes to stand beside me, and he looksat all of us before reaching in and giving Luciana a hug. “Hey, Lucy. How you doing?”

She hugs my brother back. “Good, Gabe. How you doing? I was thinking of you when I heard about the brush fire. Glad you’re okay.”

I clear my throat. “Luciana. Ms. Raven. What are you doing here, is everything okay?”

Luciana points at her mom. “Yeah, we came to see a friend of Mom’s.”

I nod, and the silence is awkward. “Uh, what are you doing here? Everything okay?” she asks.

I smile. “Yeah, Haven is having the baby.” I look at Ms. Raven. “Haven is my brother King’s wife.”

Ms. Raven just harumphs with a nod. She’s never liked me, and it doesn’t look like her opinion has changed any. It’s obvious that Lucy hasn’t told her about us, and that’s like a punch in the gut.

I stand here, staring at Luciana, and her mom breaks the silence. “I’m going to go. It’s room three ten, Luciana.”

She walks away without another word to me, but my manners win out. “Bye, Ms. Raven. It was nice seeing you again.”

Ms. Raven just keeps walking, and when I turn back to Luciana, she has her arms crossed over her chest. We stare at each other, and Gabe clears histhroat. “Uh, I’m going to go check in on King and Haven.”

Neither Lucy nor I say anything to him. I walk close to Lucy, and she holds her hand up. “What was that?”

“What do you mean?”

She rolls her eyes at me. “Really, Dom. What was that? When we’re alone I can’t keep your hands off me and what, in front of your brother, you want to act like we’re… hell, he even hugged me. I barely got a hello out of you.”

I’m angry. More because Gabe thought it was okay to hug her and I didn’t think I had the right. Forever I’ve dealt with the fact I’m not good enough for Lucy, and I thought I was over it, but one look at the disapproving expression on her mom’s face makes me feel it all over again. When I don’t say anything, her words are incensed with anger. “Are you ashamed of me?”

I gasp. “What? No, of course not.”

She points around the hospital. “Well, maybe we’re just not where I thought we were then.”

I shake my head, trying to make sense of what she’s saying. “What are you talking about?”

She lifts her shoulders. “I dunno, Dom. Your sister is having a baby, and you didn’t even thinkabout calling me. I see you here at the hospital and you act like we’re fuckin’ acquaintances.”

I reach for her, wrapping my hand around hers. “I wanted to call you, but I knew you were driving your mom somewhere this morning. I wanted you here with me—hell, Lucy, I always want you with me.”

She purses her lips and just stares at me, but I’m not giving up. “And I acted that way because I know your mom hates me and I didn’t want to add any pressure to you, that’s all. I mean, have you even told her about us? It doesn’t seem like you have.”

Before she can answer me, I keep going. “Look, if we’re going to do this, you need to know a few things. To this day, there’s still people in this town that think I’m a piece of shit. Your own mother hates me. Before you tie yourself to me, you need to know that.”

She laughs. “How long are you going to hide behind your past, Dominic? Are you just looking for a reason for this to be over?”

“Hell no.”

“Hey! The baby is here. Come on, Dom.” Chrissy is so excited it takes her a second before she looks at Lucy. “Oh, hey, Lucy! You coming to meet the baby?”

Lucy smiles, but it doesn’t quite meet her eyes. “My mom is waiting for me. I should go.”

“Lucy, come on, I want you there. Come with me.”

I hold my hand out to her, but she just shakes her head. “No, this is for family… I’ll check in on Haven in a few days. Send them my love.”

She holds her arms against her chest and walks briskly away.

Chrissy comes over to me. “What happened, Dom? You okay?”

I feel like my heart is shattering in two. “I’m fine. Let’s go see our niece.”

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