Page 64 of Love Bank
“And you are?” I pulled myself up as tall as possible, feeling the need to be the adult here. Maybe just telling her Bain didn’t live here would get her to go away.
“I’m Addi. Addi Townsend. A friend of Bain’s.” She nodded and looked behind me, as if she’d already dismissed me.
A rush of anger had me answering more firmly than I anticipated. “He doesn’t live here. Sorry, wrong house.”
I went to close the door, but not before I felt heat at my back.
“What’s going on?” Bain’s deep voice caused my eyes to close.
Shit.
“Bain!” Addi pushed past me and threw her arms around my boyfriend’s neck, pressing herself against the torso I’d fondled just minutes before.
I folded my arms, the closest I could get to hugging myself. I could use the reinforcements right about then.
“What the hell?” Bain pulled her arms off his neck and tried to push her away from him.
The girl was like a damn octopus, arms showing up out of nowhere and lacing around his body. I cleared my throat, riding the red-hot wave of anger, refusing to just disappear into the woodwork. Sure, I knew the end was coming, but now that it was here, I found I wasn’t going away without a fight. There was nothing this Addi Townsend-boyfriend-stealing-extraordinaire could say to drive me away from Bain.
“It’s Addi, remember?” The girl stood there, a lovesick grin on her face that turned my stomach.
Bain kept glancing from her to me like he didn’t know where to look. He snatched my arm and dragged me over to stand next to him. His arm snuck around my waist like a steel band. Nope, definitely not going anywhere.
“Vaguely. What can I help you with?” Bain had his warden voice on, the one that demanded answers and brooked no silliness.
Her smile faltered for a quick second, clearing almost immediately as she spread her arms out wide, jazz hands included.
“Surprise! I’m pregnant.”
24
Bain
My entire body buzzed with the excitement of knowing Lucy and I were on the same page. We were in love. We were dating publicly. I still had a job. Sure, things could have been better on that last front, but it didn’t even matter. Not when I had Lucy.
If I’d known being in love would satisfy like the first sip of the frostiest, biggest mug of beer after a hot day of inmates bitching at everything under the sun, I would have given over a lot sooner. I had a feeling being in love wouldn’t be as perfect, though, if I hadn’t found Lucy.
She got under my skin in the best way. She kept me on my toes, kept me guessing, kept me walking the straight and narrow line of adulthood, doing the right thing and having a shit ton of fun while doing it. I was used to women letting me order them around and I hadn’t even known I did that. It took Lucy and her smart mouth getting in my face to make me truly see myself. And when she was by my side, I liked what I saw in the mirror.
Which was why I was scrambling eggs again, determined to feed my woman and keep her happy. She could have any man she wanted and, secretly, I was afraid her blossoming confidence would show her that same truth. She could do so much better than a loser warden on the cliff of being unemployed, barking orders at her and letting her be robbed at gunpoint because I was too pigheaded to see that she was right in the first place.
I was also not a nice guy because I’d do anything to make sure she stayed with me even as I knew she’d be better off with a better man. If I wouldn’t let her find that better man, I’d become the better man myself. Starting with not burning her eggs for once.
“Can you grab that?” I asked Lucy over my shoulder.
If I took my eyes off the damn pan on the stove, the whole house might go up in flames. I wasn’t expecting anyone, but small towns were weird. I’d had more than a handful of neighbors stop by unannounced to drop off food to welcome me to the neighborhood. Given the current shaky egg situation, I wouldn’t turn down food delivery.
I flipped the burner off and plated the eggs, pleased to see not one flake of black stuff nor anything running off the sides of the plate. I felt like beating my chest and roaring out loud in the small kitchen. Lucy was going to be so happy to finally be able to eat without leaving the house.
Speaking of Lucy, where was she?
I wandered out of the kitchen and then hustled faster when I saw her back stiffen. That was a classic Lucy tell. Trust me, she’d done it often enough when sparring with me. Some girl shouted my name and my brain sort of just skidded to a halt.
“What the hell?”
Before I could blink, the girl was hugging me, her curves hitting me all wrong. I pulled her off me, my brain clicking into gear enough to warn me to back off. I loved Lucy. I had no intention of hugging this girl I didn’t seem to know.
“It’s Addi, remember?”
