He took my ankle and pulled off my shoe before going for the next one.
Luca sat on the edge of the opposite chair. “What do you need? Are you hungry?”
I put my hand over my stomach. I usually felt better in the evenings and could eat a full meal, but I wasn’t hungry yet.
“Not really.” I shrugged and then pinned him with a look. “Are you going to end my misery now and tell me what’s going on?”
He cracked a smile. “That was eating at you all day.”
I nodded. “It was rude.”
“I’m sorry.” He sounded genuinely remorseful. “I hate that too, but I didn’t want to distract you from work.”
“Well, you did.”
He lowered his chin and shot a look at Gavin, who pinched the bridge of his nose.
“What is it?” I sat up a bit, and Gavin sat at my feet.
Neither of them spoke.
“Did something happen?”
The longer they stared at each other, the more my stomach tightened.
“What?” I insisted.
“We never talked about what happened when we reached out to the guys,” Luca began.
“Because it was personal.” I looked at each of them. “You didn’t need to tell me. Then...”
I didn’t need to remind them what happened a few days later. “We decided we don’t need them. The three of us are together, and that’s what matters.”
I decided on that in the hospital after we found out about the pregnancy. We were going to do this, just us. The last thing I wanted was for Noah, Sky, and Vince to feel like I trapped them. They could decide whether they wanted to be a part of our relationship again on their own. I refused to sway them.
“That was before,” Gavin protested, but I silenced him with a glare.
“I’m not telling them.”
“You can’t hide it forever,” Luca pressed. “Sky and Noah still call. They’re going to notice a change.”
Unfortunately, he was right. They’d video-called a handful of times since the accident. I assured them I was fine. My abilitysheltered me from what could have been terrible, if not deadly. But I didn’t tell them about the baby.
Coming back needed to be their choice. They had to want to be here. They had to want this. Me.
I couldn’t handle always wondering if they were with me out of duty or a sense of responsibility for the baby.
I didn’t want to do a paternity test. It didn’t matter who the father was, not to me or Gavin or Luca. The baby was ours. Period.
“We can’t lie,” Gavin reminded me.
“I’m aware.” I turned onto my back and stared at the ceiling.
“Noah and Sky replied to me separately. Noah owned up to the mistakes he’s made. He realized how selfish he’s been, not only about you and the rest of us but toward his family. He wanted answers, but that turned into running from real life.” Luca paused, and I caught him eyeing Gavin with another undecipherable look.
“Yeah, we’ve cleared things up too,” Gavin agreed. “I had to admit some things to Sky to clear the air, but we’re good now.”
I propped myself up on my elbow. “Admit what?” He hadn’t mentioned there being any problems between them.