Page 206 of Pucking Sweet

“Oh, and you’re so wise with relationships? Propose to the redhead yet?”

“Nope,” he replies, totally nonchalant. “I don’t think we’ll ever get married.”

“She kicked you to the curb already?”

“Nope,” he says again, grinning wider. “Actually, we’re happy and in love, thanks for asking. Tess is my forever. She’s perfect for me, and I’ll follow her anywhere. I love that woman more than my own life. It’s done.”

My shoulders drop a little. He said it so openly, so freely. He loves a woman, and he’s telling me about it. No fear, no shame. Nerves buzz in my chest. It can be this easy, right? Oh god, I’m doing this. The HR forms are signed. We can’t get in trouble letting people know. “Look…about what you saw at Shelby’s party—”

He holds up a hand. “Hey, man, I didn’t ask. And I didn’t tell,” he adds. “Tess didn’t either. Your secret is safe.”

I take a deep breath. “Well, that’s just the thing…I don’t want it to be a secret anymore.”

He raises a brow at me.

I square my shoulders at him, hands on my hips as I stare him down. “Langers, I want you to be the first to know: I’m in love with Poppy St. James. I love her so goddamn much, and I nearly lost her because of my bullshit fear of commitment. But now I got her back, and I am never losing her again. That’s why I’m freaking out about the cat,” I go on. “I needed someone here with me because if this cat dies, I need a witness that I dideverythingI could to save it. I am not above giving a cat mouth-to-mouth. Hell, I’ll give it a piece of my kidney.”

“Why don’t we just wait and see what the vet says.”

“Well, when Poppy packs my bags, maybe you could tell her how desperate and pathetic I was,” I go on. “You could even add that I cried a little. Because I will do anything for that woman, Langers. Literally anything.”

“Jesus,” he mutters, eyes wide. “Okay, so you’ve definitely got it bad.”

“Oh, I’m not even finished,” I say, heart racing. “I think you should also know that I’m in love with Cole.”

He blinks. “Morrow?”

“What Cole do you think I mean, asshole? We don’t have another one on the team.”

“I’m just checking,” he says, both hands raised.

“Well, yeah, it’s Cole Fucking Morrow. I love him, and he loves me. And we love Poppy. And we’re together. The three of us.”

“Wow,” he mutters. “Seriously, wow. And it’s…good? You’re happy and it’s all working?”

I smile. Even with Cole’s news about his heart health, we’re all in good spirits, ready to plan our future. “Bud, I quite literally cannot help myself,” I say. “It’s so fucking good.”

He smiles. “Well, I’m happy for you—”

“Oh, there’s more.”

His eyes go wide again. “What?”

“She’s pregnant.”

“Whoa.”

“Yeah, whoa. Could be mine,” I say with a shrug. “Could be Cole’s. There’s literally no way to tell until he comes out.”

“He?”

“Yeah, it’s a boy. I’m gonna be a father in like six months. That will be another occasion when you can race to the hospital with your shoes untied.”

He laughs. “Noted.” He’s quiet for a minute. “Nov…why did you tell me all this? I mean, like, why me first?”

“Because I’m really fucking happy,” I admit. “And when I considered who would hear my news and only be happy for me, and not, like, judgmental or rude, I thought of you. I knew you’d let me just be happy.”

I can see my words have blindsided him. He recovers, clearing his throat. “Well, this is fucking dumb. Come on, we’re hugging it out.”

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