Page 77 of My Secret to Protect

‘She’s been kind of emotional.’

Doug and Leo both laugh lightly. ‘Well, she’s pregnant,’ Doug says as though that explains everything.

‘Yeah, but she said she feels lonely. I’m at work, Jonah’s at school, Cara and Zoe have been wrapped up with the babies, and Bree—’ he glances at me and guilt punches me in the gut. They think she’s been absent because of me, and I can’t tell them the truth.

‘Shit, sorry, man,’ I say, and he shakes his head, clapping his hand on my shoulder.

‘Nah, we’re happy to see her happy, and Miss is at work anyway. The guys are right. It’s pregnancy.’

‘Pregnancy is amazing. My God, I couldn’t get enough of Zo, she was like a goddess to me, and Lucas is every-fucking-thing,’ Leo says enthusiastically, ‘but those hormones, man. I had to just wait for her to tell me if I was allowed to talk to her some days.’

Doug laughs and agrees. ‘Yeah, Cara is the most mild-mannered woman in the world, but fuck me, she hated me for about a month and a half in the middle. There were some days she would just cry and cry because she ran out of peanut butter or couldn’t find her favorite t-shirt.’

‘Christ,’ I grumble and feel their eyes on me, then each other, and I know they’re wondering if me and Bree have talked about kids, whether I know she doesn’t want them, so I put them out of their misery. ‘Your kids are cute as fuck, and funny, and the babies are sweet, I guess, although I don’t really know what you’re supposed to do with them,’ they all smile, ‘but that ain’t for me.’

‘You don’t want kids?’ Nick asks, and I shake my head, no.

‘Nah, never have.’

‘Huh.’ Doug nods and meets my gaze. ‘Does Bree know that?’

‘Yeah,’ I admit, and he sips from his bottle. ‘What?’ Does he know something I don’t? Is she lying about not wanting them?

‘Don’t you fuckin’ dare tell my sister I told you this. She will kick my ass if you do.’ I smile, knowing she would. ‘Look, it’s clear as a summer’s day that you and her have something special, but dating has been hard on her. She’s met guys she liked, but they always made her feel like she was broken or missing something because she didn’t want kids.’ I feel my teeth grind together at the thought of her with other guys. ‘Are you likely to change your mind on the kid thing? Because she won’t. She hasn’t wanted to be a mom a single day in her life.’

‘Jesus, man, they’ve been together for a heartbeat.’ Leo smacks his best friend’s knee, but Doug holds my attention.

‘And you’ve all seen them together, so you all know what I know. This is real.’ I nod in response to his words because he’s not wrong. ‘So, I need to know she’s not going to end up heartbroken because you changed your mind on something there’s no compromise for.’

‘I’m not,’ I offer freely. ‘I never wanted them a day in my life either, and now I can’t have them anyway.’ I hold up my fingers and make a gesture like scissors cutting and all three men drop their hands to their laps, making me smirk.

‘Baby, can you get me Lucas’s bag from the car, please?’ Zoe says as she swings open the door and steps out onto the porch. Leo turns to look at her, and she grimaces. ‘Why are you all holding your dicks? Men are weird.’

Laughing, Leo kisses his wife before heading out to his car, and the rest of us head back inside. This is good, I think. These people are good, and once the job I came here to do is done, maybe I’ll be able to let myself be happy to have them in my life. I just hope they still accept me once they know the truth.

You’re Mine, Right?

Bree

‘Youokay?’IaskArlo as we walk along the path to his front door after Missy dropped us off, and he nods, yes, but stays quiet. ‘Arlo,’ I push softly, and he exhales as he turns to me under the porch light, wrapping his arms around my back as I lift onto my tiptoes. ‘Are you mad at me?’

‘No, pix. I’m not mad.’

He dips his head to press a kiss to my lips, then releases me to open the door and let us in. Beans trots over to welcome us home, and we both greet him before Arlo heads to the back door to let him out, and I go to the kitchen to get a couple of glasses of water.

‘Arlo.’ I lean back against the countertop as he refills his glass from the faucet after joining me and draining the first glass. ‘Talk to me, please.’

Turning, Arlo reaches out to grab my waist and lift me onto the countertop, then pushes my thighs apart and stands between them.

‘I want your family to think I’m a good guy,’ he admits as he reaches up to push my hair behind my ears. ‘I wanted to handle the party, all of it, so they would see that.’

‘Baby.’ I reach up to grip his shirt and pull him closer, and he holds my hips in his hands, sliding me to the edge so I have to wrap my legs around him. ‘My family isn’t transactional. They see you’re a good man because of the smile on my face, not the food you put in their bellies.’ I kiss him once, then rest my forehead against his. ‘They like you because you’re a good man, and they see that. We share stuff in this family. We work together and help each other out. Get used to that, okay?’

His eyes fall closed for a moment, and I pull back.

‘Arlo, come on, tell me what’s going on.’

‘I was in prison, Bree.’

---