Page 7 of Zac

“We brought chick flicks.” Bree holds a stack of DVDs in front of her.

“And five different flavors of ice creams,” Aurora declares, in true Ror fashion. She loves her sweets.

One by one they step inside and I close the door behind them. Each offering me a hug, I start to tear up all over again. I hate hormones, they are making me a crybaby. But honestly in this moment I feel like one of the luckiest girls in the world. To have friends like the three of them. To be accepted as one of the girls. To be brought in like I hadn’t been here with them all from day one. I feel blessed, and I know it’s because of Craig that they all showed up at my front door.

ChapterFive

Zac

“Why is Grayson with Craig?” I ask, pausing outside Daxton’s room. He’s currently finishing up a piece on Oliver’s arm and they both look up at me. “Did something happen?” Nervous energy courses through me.

Presley and I may not be together but I would hope that she’d at least call after the talk we had a few days ago. I want to be there. I want her to lean on me. I don’t know how we do this, but damn it, I am fucking here.

“Craig ran into Presley at the store.” I stare at Dax, waiting for him to offer more. “He said it looked like she could use a break, so he offered to take Grayson. I guess he was having a fit, Presley lost it for a few seconds and then when Craig was in his truck he called Bree. The girls decided to go over and surprise Pres with a girls’ night.”

“What do you mean she lost it?”

“Who lost it?” Jace asks, stepping up behind me.

“Presley,” Oliver takes the moment to chime in. “She was emotional. Craig thought it’d be a good idea for the girls to go see her and Luna decided that a fucking pajama party was in order. Now I’m stuck sleeping alone.”

Seeing Oliver pout like a child makes me laugh. He’s seriously ridiculous when it comes to Luna. He did a complete one-eighty when he finally let himself feel what he’d been fighting not to.

“Dude seriously.” I hold my side. “You are such a fucking baby.” He glares at me and I step out of the room, pulling my phone from my pocket. Searching through my contacts I find the number I am looking for and shoot off a message.

Me: Glad you got the girls there with you. But remember I am always only a phone call away.

I tuck the phone back into my pocket and make my way back to my room. As I move around the room, gathering my tools and tossing them into the cleaning solutions, my phone vibrates.

Presley: I know, and thank you. But I’m okay.

Continuing to clean everything up, I wipe down all the surfaces with solution all while lost in thought.

“Aurora says she’s alright.” Glancing back over my shoulder I find Jace leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. “She had a rough day, emotions were high. But they’re watching movies, eating ice cream and laughing.” I nod, busying myself as I organize my tools.

“We haven’t really talked since Presley?—”

“Announced that I was gonna be a dad.”

“Yeah,” he says as I turn around to face him. Leaning back against the counter I stare back at my best friend. He is watching me, waiting for me to say more.

“I never wanted kids,” I confess. “I love kids, like Piper and even Grayson, they are awesome.” I pause, looking around the room, feeling my heart race a little faster. “I still remember what it felt like to be alone. What it felt like to know that they were gone and I’d never see them again. I never wanted to have kids, because I never wanted the chance of them feeling even an ounce of what I felt that night and all the years to follow.”

“You can’t hide from the possibilities of a family because of what happened all those years ago.”

“I know.” I shrug. “It goes both ways though. Me losing them, them losing me.”

“Living in fear, we’ve all done it. For different reasons yeah, but it’s what we all have in common. We’ve ran from it, we’ve ignored the good when it is right in our faces. But you can’t run from this.”

“I don’t want to run,” I confess. “I’m scared don’t get me wrong, this is the exact opposite of where I thought my life would end up. But I don’t even know how this is going to work. Hell, I barely know Presley.”

“So you take the time to get to know her. You let her lead.”

“I tried that once and look where we ended up.” I’m referring to the night that led to the pregnancy and Jace knows that. He smiles, I smile, and for the first time since I walked back to my room I feel a little less unsettled.

“Beer and pizza,” he offers. “Your place, though. You have a bigger television and I’m thinking I need to kick your ass in some boxing.”

Video games, it’s something him and I haven’t played in a while.

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