Page 70 of The Boyfriend Boycott
“Okay, okay. Whatever she needs.” I whirl around on my heel and head out of the house, grabbing a different set of keys on my way out. “We’ll take the bike, it’ll be faster,” I say over my shoulder. Spencer is close on my heels.
She doesn’t hesitate to take her helmet out of the back hatch and climb on behind me. Suddenly whatever fear I had about Spencer rejecting me is on the back burner of my mind, replacedby a new fear that makes my mouth feel sticky and dry. Fear for my brother and Ally.My niece.
For Spencer, who cares about Ally as if she’s her own flesh and blood. My ears are ringing as my bike roars beneath us, picking up speed to get to the clinic as fast as we can.
Hudson and Jettare in the waiting room of the clinic when we arrive. The lights are dimmed save for the glow of the one coming from behind the reception desk. I open the door to let Spencer through, the bell overhead chiming. The sound is too cheery against the tense, somber mood in the room. Jett looks up from where he’s sitting, and Hudson is standing, already moving towards us, pulling me into a hug.
“Hey, man. You okay?” he asks, giving me a firm pat on the back.
“Hanging in there.” I look at him, my mouth tightening into a grim line. The same worry lines his face as he nods, understanding passing between us.
“Where is Ally?” Spencer says from behind me, her voice fuzzy and distant. Everything around me feels like it’s happening in a blur.
“Spencer, thank God you’re here.” Winnie rounds the corner from the hall leading back to the exam rooms. “Ally has been asking for you. She’s not coping well.” Spencer places her purse on one of the waiting room chairs and sets her phone down on top of it before she disappears down the hall with Winnie.
I pace up and down the row of worn pleather chairs, nerves roiling in my gut.
“You may as well sit down,” Jett says, his head resting in his hands, elbows perched on his knees. “Winnie warned us this could take a while.”
“Why couldn’t they get her to a hospital?” I ask, as if Hudson and Jett will know.
“I don’t know.” Hudson shrugs. “But they just hired a midwife for the clinic, and Ally said she wants the baby to be born in Heartwood. I don’t think they expected her to come so early …” His voice trails off, not wanting to address the potential scenarios that could come from having a premature baby born in a rural clinic.
“Ally was what, seven, eight months pregnant?” I ask again, receiving only shrugs for answers. They have no idea. “I’m pretty sure she was nearing eight months. So, the baby likely has a better chance of being healthy.”My mind races through the possible outcomes, not wanting to go to a dark place that I rarely, if ever, let myself entertain.
“Let’s hope so,” Jett says, a crease forming between his brows. I’m taken aback by how concerned my youngest brother is. For a guy who takes nothing seriously, and never stops moving, it’s jarring to see him like this, pinned to his seat, worry evident in his eyes.
My gaze is diverted from Jett when Spencer’s phone screen lights up beside me where she left it on top of her bag. I look away briefly, not wanting to snoop, but two minutes later when the same text message lights up the screen again, I can’t help but read the preview.
SASHA
Got the contract! Damn your signature looks good on it …
I feel my shoulders slump, my stomach dropping within me as disappointment washes over me. I’m more disappointed than I have a right to be. Spencer prepared me for this, we knew what this was between us. I thought I had come to terms with the long-distance thing. Part of me hoped that showing her the new master bedroom would maybe change her mind. One final grand gesture in my plan to get her to stay in Heartwood. I have nothing left now. That was my last kick at the can, and I’m tapped out.
She’s going. She’s really going. And this relationship, this electric chemistry between us, will be reduced to phone calls and cramming in as much as we can together for a few weeks here and there. I’m well aware of the schedule that Mile High gave her, the number of trips they plan on sending her on in the next year to try and turn their brand around. It’s going to leave hardly any time for me, for us.
A thought pops into my mind and derails me even further, and bile rises to the back of my throat. Did she send the contract before or after I showed her the bedroom? Was she sitting on the e-mail and seeing the room was enough for her to quickly hit send? Was this always part of the plan or did I just push her away even more?
I can feel the blood draining from my face, my vision blurring. I tried to fight for Spencer, I tried to do everything I could to show her that she can rely on me, and instead, I did the opposite of what I set out to do. I freaked her out, made her feel suffocated.
Time feels like it’s moving in slow motion, and I have no concept of how long we’ve been sitting here, my mind in an anxious spiral, when a voice breaks through my thoughts. I look up to see Mason standing before Hudson, Jett, and me. I rise as soon as I see him, my knees wobbling slightly beneath me.
Mason’s mouth breaks into a smile, and my eyes sting at the expression of joy on his face.
“Do you want to meet your niece?” he asks, and I pull him into a tight hug in response. Mason’s shoulders shake, half a sob of relief, half joyful laughter, before I pull away and we head back to the exam room to meet my beautiful baby niece.
CHAPTER 30
SPENCER
Big blue eyespeer up at me as I cradle my best friend’s baby girl. Hazel. My niece. Not by blood, but by something even more valuable—sisterhood. I can’t tear my eyes away from her. She’s the spitting image of Mason, save for her cerulean eyes. Those are Ally’s.
“She’s perfect,” I breathe, admiring the small bundle. “She looks just like?—”
“If you say she looks like Mason after I just spent eight months growing her and the last three hours pushing her out, I swear to God, Spence.”
“You. I was obviously going to say you.” I save myself at the last second and glance up to where Ally is lying on the stretcher that seems to take up most of the cramped exam room, her face tired and puffy but still gorgeous.My heart swells to a size I didn’t know it was capable of, stretching to accommodate this new little person that I already love so much, and this new version of my best friend.
