Page 93 of Love Me, I Dare You

They nod, giving me equally teasing smirks like they know exactly what’s going on but want to badger me with questions. Beau pats me on the shoulder. “We want to hear it from you.”

“Well, Beau’s going to have to give me the spark notes version because my time is up. It’s my time to get back out there, the people are calling. Gotta give them what they ask for.”

I swat Theo on the shoulder before he races off to the small stage we assembled for him and the impromptu concert he offered to give tonight as part of the entertainment of the beer garden. The usual live band that plays nightly at Stingers gathers around him, playing another one of his hit songs.

The noise level increases, making it almost impossible for Beau and me to keep our conversation going. “So, our baby sister is having a baby?” He asks, making small talk.

“Yeah, that’s something I don’t think I’ll ever get used to hearing.”

I don’t need to be reminded of that bomb dropped on us. I still can’t believe it, nor do I want to imagine what the next sixmonths are going to be like before she gives birth. Or thereafter, when she’s raising the baby as a single mother.

To say Monty took it badly would be an understatement. I’ve never seen the man so defeated, chastising and blaming himself for letting her down. Considering what Bailey told me about Monroe being an adult and capable of making her own decisions, along with my brothers, we tried to make Monty see reason.

Monroe was absolutely devastated about the way he’d found out. She adored Monty. He was her father for all intents and purposes, but the man continued to see her as the defenseless little girl she was when our mother left and father refused to acknowledge she existed. We all still saw Monroe like that, so of course it was going to be nearly impossible for us to assimilate to the idea of her having a child, but I didn’t blame her for her decision to do this on her own. I just did a shit job of showing her I loved her and was here for whatever she and the baby needed.

It was no surprise to anyone that I did a shit job at loving people. The gorgeous woman less than forty feet away from me was a perfect example of not appreciating something I loved.

I loved Bailey King. I realized it last night as I lay restless in bed, replaying the look on her face when I walked out of her father's study with him right behind me. When I thought she’d overheard us, my heart sunk, a feeling I’d never experienced and never again wanted to feel.

It’s why I did what I did, kissing her for everyone to see and claiming her as mine in front of her family when I’d picked her up earlier this morning. I hoped she’d understood what I was trying to say, but I was never good with words. How was I going to explain to her I didn’t want to be anywhere else but with her?

Last night, spending the night alone at the apartment was painful. Not able to lie together, our bodies tangled into one,like we’d spent the last two weeks, was something I never again wanted to go through.

“Hey, why is Monroe over there arguing with Jase? Something going on between those two?” Beau asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I turn my attention toward where Beau is staring, only to see he’s right. Monroe is having an awfully heated conversation with Jase, which makes no sense whatsoever.

“I’ll be back,” I say, as I leave my brother and head toward the HoneyBees booth. Concern laces my expression as I head their way, careful not to alert them to my presence.

Jase’s voice is tense, filled with an emotion I can’t quite read. It’s not anger nor sadness, but a feeling of apprehension.

“Monroe, we have to talk about this. We can’t just go on ignoring it. I gave you two months to come to terms with what’s happened. I can’t keep waiting without knowing what we’re doing.”

Her response is slightly less apprehensive, but nonetheless, I can hear the fear and pain in her tone. “I know Jase. It’s just…it’s a lot to process. My brothers didn’t take the news well. How the hell do you think they’re going to feel when they find out it’s your child?”

This right here is a pivotal moment in our lives, of that I am one hundred percent sure. Something that’s going to affect our relationships profoundly. Only right now, I have no idea how to respond to what I’ve just heard.

Not when the only thing I feel is a blinding rage building up inside me, fiercely bubbling to the surface, about to explode right before our eyes.

“You fucked my sister?” I shout, taking Jase by the collar of his shirt and slamming his back against the metal column holding the tent up over the booth. My ire overpowers my reason as it builds within me.

At first, I swore I was imaging it. Actually, I prayed to fucking God I was, because there is no fucking way Jameson King is the asshole who got my sister pregnant.

Jase and Monroe exchange terror stricken glances, unsure what to say now that I’ve caught them. “Nash, please let him go,” Monroe pleads, tugging on my sleeve as she tries, and fails, to pull my arm. My grip on him tightens as my anger continues to build full force until I can barely see or hear a damn thing.

“Is this some sort of revenge plot you’ve come up with?” I continue to bark out at him, this time causing a few more heads sitting in the tables nearest the tent to turn our way. Thankfully, the music Theo is playing is loud enough the entire crowd can’t hear us, but those closest to us will have no issue witnessing me beat the shit out of my so-called best friend. “I fucked your sister, so you fuck mine and get her pregnant?” I laugh, though it’s humorless and cold. “You were always one to try to one up me in everything we did as kids. Well, you’ve done it, Jase. You won this game.”

“Fuck you Nash,” he finally blurts out, pushing me away. I release him only because there are more than a few people gathering around us and I really don’t want to be arrested before I get to say what I need to say. “It’s more than what you think.”

“Tell me, did you or did you not, fuck my sister and now she is pregnant with your kid?” His silence is deafening yet speaks volumes. He can’t fucking admit it, but he’s also not a fucking dumbass trying to deny it.

“What the hell is going on here?” Monty shouts, as he and my brothers push through the crowd and rush over to where we are, Theo’s guitar still strapped to his body.

“It didn’t mean anything.” Jase yells at the same time my sister shouts, “Nash, please, it wasn’t just sex.”

The desolate look on Monroe’s face makes me almost feel sorry for the asshole, but then I remember the urge to makehim bleed and it all goes away. “You wanna try again, Jameson? Cause apparently you fooled my sister into thinking it meant more, but now you’re telling me it wasn’t shit?”

Monty shifts uncomfortably, his gaze darting to Jase. I’m surprised the man can keep calm since his anger and frustration have been brewing inside him these last few days. “Jase, what the fuck is Nash talking about?”

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