Page 137 of Set Me On Fire

“And whatever else comes after that? Well, we’ll just adapt, right?” she asked. For a second, I thought Charlie had gotten through to Millie, but then her brows drew down, a wicked smile spreading across her face. “Have you got your phones in your pockets?” she asked.

“Yeah, why?”

We pulled them out, expecting that she’d want a photo or to make a call or something.

Not that she’d rush us, throwing us backwards and into the pool.

My arm shot out without thinking, dragging her with us, because that’s the way it would always be. In good or bad times, dry or wet, we’d be together, I swore. All four of us emerged spluttering to find we had an audience around the edge of the pool.

“Pool party!” Hunter shouted, right before he dive bombed us.

“I can change the nursery,”I told Millie.

Hours later, we sat in a secluded corner of the garden. She was wrapped in a beach towel we’d borrowed from Jamie, and she was sitting across my lap.

“You don’t need to. You listened to everything I said and made it perfect.”

So why didn’t it work? That went unsaid, but no one could accuse me of being slow on the uptake. I kept my mouth shut, just following her fingers as she traced the whirls of hair on my forearm.

“That was never the issue.” She turned around and stared at me. My eyes felt like they were soaking every inch of her in, down to where her hair had dried in chaotic spikes. She was beautiful when she was covered in soot and coughing up smoke, and she was doubly so now. “It wasn’t anything you did.” I needed to hear that so freaking much it took my breath away, but I couldn’t trust myself to speak, not when my tongue felt swollen and my throat was closing over. “It’s just… you’re asking me to trust you, trust us, when weeks ago I couldn’t even trust a guy to turn up to the date we set up on one of the apps.”

“No more dating app dickheads,” I grumbled.

“Deal.” She held out a hand and I shook my head, grasping it and giving it a squeeze. “But after years of being treated like crap, you’ve just gotta give me time to adjust.”

“Adjust.” I nodded, reaching for her and tucking her back against my chest. It was then that I could take a full breath. “Got it. Can I ask for something in return?”

I felt her stiffen and my grip tightened in response.

“OK.”

God, she couldn’t have sounded any more wary if she tried.

“Talk to us.” I rubbed my hand up and down her arm, trying to soothe her through the idea. “Push back. Say ‘no, I’m not moving in less than a week after telling you that I’m pregnant.’ That you need more time.”

“I’m not moving in with you less than a week after telling you I’m pregnant.” I admit, I felt my heart sinking as she echoed my words, but then she looked up at me with a little grin. “It's going to take longer than that to pack my shit up at my place.”

“And a biohazard suit?”

“And four biohazard suits.”

“Breaking out the PPE, are we?” Charlie appeared with a plate laden with food. “I am down. Now, your dad said these were your favourites.”

“I haven’t eaten little boys since I was a kid.” She plucked one of the small cocktail sausages off the plate and dipped it in some sauce, humming as she bit into it. “Yum.” Millie looked up, a little shamefaced. “Thank you.”

“And a drink.” Noah appeared with several glasses and a jug of mocktails. “I heard this amazing woman mixed the cocktails tonight.” Millie opened her mouth to protest, but he continued. “These are the virgin ones, so don’t worry.”

He poured everyone a drink with a flourish.

“So what’s the verdict, Mills?” I shot Charlie a dark look as he lowered himself down into a nearby chair. “What’s it gonna take to get you to shack up with us? My place is nice, but Knox’s is a lot closer to the beach.”

“Jesus, Charlie…” I muttered under my breath.

“I keep my place.” Hope spluttered, then threatened to catch alight in my chest. “Even if it's just as an investment property. I need to know I’ve got a bolt hole I can escape to if things go south.”

“They won’t,” I promised.

“You don’t know that.”

---