Page 103 of Stuck with my Mountain Daddies

“You’re pregnant?” I said again, slower this time. Maybe if I said it differently, it wouldn’t hit as hard.

She gave a tight nod. Barely moved her head, as if it cost her something.

I opened my mouth, but the words wouldn’t come.

Is it mine?

Is it ours?

I couldn’t even finish the thought.

But she already knew what I was trying to ask.

Her voice cracked, just a little. “It could be any of you.”

And just like that the cold found its way under my skin and stayed there. Deep. Sharp.

Pregnant. Riley was pregnant.

And one of us—me, Garrett, Beckett—was the father.

My throat went dry. My brain tried to spin up something useful, something smooth or reassuring, but it was all static.

My voice, when it finally clawed its way out, sounded as if it’d been dragged over gravel. “Are you okay?”

Stupid question. But it was all I had.

She breathed out, shaky. Wrapped her arms tight around herself as if she could hold the pieces in.

“Not really.”

That cracked something in me harder than the news itself.

Because Riley didn’t say things like that.

She didn’t break in front of people. She didn’tletherself break.

Until now.

“I didn’t mean to tell you in that blunt way,” she said again, voice rough. “It just slipped out.”

“Yeah,” I said quietly, still reeling. “Well. Hell of a thing to let slip.”

She looked away, eyes darting toward the street like she was about to bolt. Like if she moved fast enough, she could outrun the truth.

But not tonight.

Not from me.

“Come back with me,” I said, too sudden even for me.

Her head jerked back toward me. “What?”

“To the cabin,” I said, softer now. “It’s freezing. You look like you haven’t eaten or slept in a week. We can talk. Or not. Whatever you need. Just don’t do this alone.”

“I’m fine?—”

“No, you’re not.” I stepped closer. “You’re walking through the dark like the world’s about to crack under your feet. And maybe it is. But you’re not doing it alone.”

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