Page 45 of How Good It Was (Excess All Areas 3)

What would she mean?

“I really like her. She’s funny. And smart. And driven. Like it takes balls to do what she’s done. But she’s also a little naive. A little ...”

“Young?” Jase said.

“No. It’s more than an age thing. Like a vulnerability thing.”

Alex smirked. “I like those the best.”

Luke shook his head. “Dude, you’re like a fucking dog with toys. Oh, fragile blonde, my favourite. Oh, built guy, my favourite. Twins, my favourite. Married couple, oh, my double favourite.”

Alex’s laughter cracked across the beer garden. “Fair, but I’m always a top. So, I like a little vulnerability, especially if you have to hack your way through layers of armour to get to it.”

“Do you ever stick with someone long enough to do that?” Matt asked.

“My methods are usually very effective. Gimme one night.”

“For fuck’s sake. I don’t want to know. But yeah. There’s something inherently vulnerable about her. And I think there’s a piece of me that responds to that.”

“Beneath the general panic and what-the-fuckery of it all, you actually like her.”

Luke tapped his packet of cigarettes, debating lighting one because, fuck, he really wanted one. Cutting back was a ton harder than he’d anticipated. “Yeah. But the contract says—”

“Mate. You’re a rock star,” Alex said. “What do you care about contracts? Send her a dirty text reminding her about how good everything was in Detroit. See how she responds.”

“I’m not sending her a dirty text. She’s not some random chick I picked and want to keep on the boil for future hook ups.”

Alex took a gulp of his pint. “Isn’t she? I mean. Your balls have got to be pretty blue. You aren’t going to be fucking around on her. So, I guess you’re going to be stuck with her for a year. Might as well fuck her and—”

Luke turned in his seat and grabbed Alex’s collar. “You’ll watch how you fucking talk about her. She’s the mother of my kid and you’re talking about her like ... What?” he asked as Alex grinned.

“You need to ’fess up to your real feelings about her. You respect her. You think she’s hot. You had a night to remember with her already. She’s pregnant with your kid.”

“Maybe. But people don’t stay, Alex. They never do.”

“What does that mean?” Matt asked.

“Luke,” Ben said, his brow furrowed as he looked down at his phone. “You’ve got to go.”

Luke stood. “Where?”

“Back to Manchester.” Ben stood and grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair before dialling a number on his phone. Alex followed.

“What? Why? We have that meeting with the marketing team for the album release. And then, that publicity—”

“Chaya messaged. She’s with Willow. They’ve been trying to ... hang on. Hey, sweets, what’s happened?”

“My phone died earlier,” Luke said. “What’s going on?” Fear pulsed through him, a sturdy bass beat that matched his heart.

Ben covered the mouthpiece of the phone. “Willow is in the hospital. There’s a problem.”

The fizz of the lights above her cubicle were about to drive Willow mad.

She looked down at her phone. Completely useless with no signal in the depths of the old hospital corridor, where she lay on a gurney surrounded by a pale blue curtain.

Thank God Chaya had been upstairs.

Terror filled her at what she’d assumed was the imminent loss of her baby. A baby, she’d realised, that she loved and wanted a million times more than she’d believed possible.

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