Page 30 of How Good It Was (Excess All Areas 3)

Shit, he felt a tightening in his own stomach. Because when it had just been the two of them in his apartment, he could compartmentalise. There was a world where Willow was here and pregnant, and a world where he was still a drummer with his mates in a band and had the freedom to do whatever the fuck he wanted.

A knock at the door burst through the apartment. “They’ll roll with whatever we tell them,” Luke said.

He opened the door and let Matt and Izabel in. His sister threw her arms around him in a quick hug. “I just heard you’d had a guest hidden in here for five days. Five days, Luke. What the hell?”

Matt followed behind and winced. “I tried to tell her to not get mad and listen, but she wasn’t having any of it. Everything okay?”

“Not even remotely.” Luke watched Iz head down the hall.

“You want to give me a clue as to what she’s doing here? Because it dawned on me this morning when I got your text that it might not just be because she missed you. Is she ...?”

Luke turned to his best friend. The man who had stood with him through thick and thin, except for the one time he’d let him down in the biggest way possible, when he’d fallen for his sister. “Yeah.”

“Shit. Fake it. Doesn’t matter how you feel,” Matt whispered. “She’s in your life forever. Fake it until you’ve found your feet, mate.”

Luke followed his sister into the living room, trying to fix a reassuring smile on his face. He’d been holding on until he’d spoken to Matt. Reality was smacking him about the face harder than he hit his snares during their song, “Truth and Anger”. “Izabel, this is Willow. Willow, my sister Iz.”

“Hey, Willow,” Izabel said, looking around the decorating in progress. “Is he really making you paint his hovel?”

Willow smiled. And it wasn’t the one she’d shown him during the night they’d spent together. When she’d let him instruct on what he wanted and how he wanted it. It was fake, like the one she used in her videos. He figured he was probably one of the few who knew the difference.

And like Matt had suggested he do, she was faking it.

“Nice to meet you, Iz. And I offered to help clean up as thanks for letting me stay.”

“You’re staying? For how long?”

Willow looked at him, and he reached for her hand. They hadn’t talked, he hadn’t told her what he was thinking, how they should play it. Fuck, he didn’t even know. “It’s a story I only want to tell once. But you should know first. Congratulations, Iz. You’re going to be an aunt.”

With wide eyes, Izabel looked between him and Willow. “You mean you ... you’re ... I’m ... ?”

Luke huffed a laugh. “If you mean is Willow pregnant with my baby? Yes. Biologically, that makes you the baby’s aunt.”

“Oh my God. Is this ... are you happy about it? Both of you?” Izabel pegged him with a sympathetic stare.

She thought he was happy to have no responsibilities. To have the freedom to live his life and play his music however he wanted to. He tipped his chin. “I know what you’re thinking.”

“It’s a lot,” Willow answered, truthfully.

“I’ll bet. So not planned, then?” Izabel asked.

Luke shook his head. “Definitely not planned.”

Izabel turned to him. “Is it wrong to ask if you’re definitely keeping it?”

“Yes. It is,” Willow cut in curtly. “It’s ultimately my choice and I’m keeping it. It’s nobody else’s choice but mine, not even Luke’s.”

Luke mentally flinched at her words. “Nobody’s dictating what you do, Will. Iz knows this wasn’t in my plans. She’s just looking out for me.” He slipped his arm over Willow’s shoulder and pulled her to his side, hoping to reassure her, but her body remained tense. “We’re figuring shit out, Iz,” he said. “Just be happy, yeah? We’ll be back in a minute.”

He led Willow to the bathroom. Neutral territory. Their confessional. He thought about how they’d talked in there when she’d first arrived, with his head reeling from alcohol and shock.

“I’ve not explained why this is hard for me to get my head around. My dad died when Iz was fifteen. My mum couldn’t cope. I was left in charge at nineteen. I had to drop out of school and get a job to make ends meet. A shit job I hated, as our music hadn’t taken off.”

“Luke,” Willow said, placing her hands his hips. “I’m so sorry.”

“Then Mum fell for Dad’s best friend and left us to fend for ourselves when Iz was seventeen. I was stuck looking after my sister. I don’t want to feel like a parent again. I was shit at it. But I’m here. Luke, dad-to-be, I’m here. Every step. I’ll sign your contract if it makes you feel better about being here. I want this to feel like a happy, no-stress time for you.”

Willow blew out a breath and he felt the tension leave her body. “Thank you,” she said, looking up at him with tears threatening to spill over onto her cheeks.

---