Page 143 of Him Lessons

“I’d love for you to try, Rhodes.”

“Ugh,” she cried, stalking off. “Why are surfers so annoying?”

Quickly catching up to her, Dylan tugged her back around. He’d ditched his board in the sand, and his RBF was dialed down several notches.

Studying her intently, Dylan’s dark gaze caused her eyes to blur inexplicably.

“You saw Luke go down out there.”

“Yes.”

“It scared you.”

“Yes.”

“Because you love him.”

“Yes!”She damn near shouted this last one.

Dylan’s expression softened. “I won’t let anything happen to him. I’ll always have his back, okay?”

She nodded, glancing towards Luke as he dropped into another wave with a huge grin on his face. Like he truly believed that big swell of waterwasa toy from god. His joy was so palpable even from this distance, Andy had to smile.

“I’ll always have yours too,” Dylan added.

Gaze sliding back to him, she blinked rapidly for a few seconds to clear an embarrassing sheen of tears. “Ditto,” she finally said, biting her lip as her stomach pitched uncomfortably. “And okay, yes, I really do have to go to the bathroom.” She took off with Dylan chuckling behind her.

So annoying.

But even as she settled back in her car, Andy found herself smiling. Mostly because she did believe Dylan had Luke’s back out there.

But also because he’d called her sis.

By the time Andy picked up the cake from Rockabilly’s, she was no longer smiling. She was sweating. Racing into a silent apartment after her pit stop at the diner, she tossed the take-out container on her kitchen island and tore into the bathroom.

Thank god, Kory and Gray had left because Andy couldn’t contain the shriek that slipped from her when, a few rocky minutes later, she finally cleared out her gut.

Dear god, was that what childbirth felt like?

Washing her hands, Andy shook her head.

Hopefully, Luke wasn’t one of those crunchy, oatmeal type of guys who wanted their offspring delivered in a tide pool because that so wasn’t happening.

As much as Andy disliked the place, she would need to be at a hospital if she was going to push out a freakishly tall baby. She’d need drugs too. Lots of them.

Frowning as the thought occurred, Andy smoothed at the limp locks framing her face. The girl staring back at her in the vanity mirror was pale and blinking sluggishly. Her head hurt too.

Grabbing a couple ibuprofens from the medicine cabinet, Andy washed them down with palm-fulls of tap water.

What was wrong with her?

Usually, when she got over her digestive problems, she felt a hundred percent better, but right now, she felt worse. She was woozy and kind of nauseous, and there was a bad smell in the air. Not the normal one post-blockage either. Hitting the switch for the bathroom fan, Andy stepped out of the room.

The smell was stronger in the hallway, and as she moved towards the kitchen, Andy realized with a jolt of panic what the noxious odor actually was.

Covering her nose with her elbow, she rounded the island and peered down at the stove. One of the burners hadn’t been turned off all the way. Gas hissed from it like an invisible snake.

Andy quickly switched it off, mind racing with all the what-to-do’s and what-not-to-do’s she’d read about in the event of a gas leak.

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