Page 81 of Press Your Luck

When I didn’t answer right away, Bo said, “You know, I knew Ruby ever since I was a kid, and I knew I was in love with her by the time I was in high school. Hell, deep down, I was still in love with her when I was sent home last summer to rehab my shoulder. When we started to reconnect, I remember thinking that maybe there was something there. Maybe we could build a life together, and then I learned about Laina. It felt like my world had ended.”

“You were pretty fucked up,” Reed agreed.

“But I loved her. And I loved Laina, so I had to risk having her rip my heart to shreds again by hearing her reasoning and trying to understand why she made the decision she did, and then forgive her. It was the only way I was going to have her in my life, and as mad as I was, I knew deep down that she was it for me. Even after she kept Laina from me, I was still in love with her. Do you love Naomi?"

My jaw tensed because I did love Naomi despite the fact that I didn't want to. But Naomi didn’t love me, so what I felt didn’t matter. “It’s not the same. Ruby loves you.”

“You don’t think Naomi loves you?” Reed asked.

"I'm pretty sure she does or at least feels something,” Bo said.

"Don't fuck with me, man." Jesus. Did they want to hurt me more?

Bo held his hands up in surrender. "I'm not fucking with you. I don't know for sure, but I overheard Analyn and Ruby speculating on it."

Reed glanced at Bo and then nodded. "You're right. I have too. They didn’t say why, but women are more attuned to these things. I meant what I told you before, Pierce. If this woman is what you want, you should fight for her, especially now that she's having a baby."

“Babies,” Bo corrected.

I shook my head. "I've been there and done that."

"Then you need to go there and do it again. Look, I know it hurts, man, and it’s fucking scary. But what's the alternative? If there's a chance that she loves you and you two could be happy together, isn’t that worth risking a little bit more heartbreak?" Bo urged me.

“This is all easy for you to say. Both of you have found the women of your dreams."

Reed and Bo let out loud guffaws at the same time.

"There was nothing easy about it. You were there. You saw how much I struggled with Analyn. I was terrified to take that gigantic leap of faith. And I'm glad I took it, but when I did, I didn't know that it would end well. I had no guarantee that she and I would resolve things and make a life."

Next to him, Bo nodded. "There's nothing scarier than laying your innermost feelings on the line for a woman."

At first, I rejected everything they were telling me, but when I finally was able to go home and could be alone with my thoughts, I wondered if maybe they were right. As soon as I entertained their suggestion, I’d remind myself that I had tried to lay it on the line for Naomi and she had either rejected me or lied to me. I wasn't sure I had the courage to open myself up again.

At the same time, I knew that if we were going to coparent the triplets, we’d have to at least be civil to each other. That meant I had to stop being selfish and letting my hurt dictate how I was treating her. Based on what the doctor said, having triplets could be risky with potential complications for Naomi during the pregnancy and for the babies. Naomi and I needed to have a game plan, and that meant I needed to talk to her.

36

Naomi

Iwanted to blame hormones for sitting in the car and bawling my eyes out when Pierce left after the doctor’s appointment. I had hoped to have a chance to talk to him to make him see that I was telling him the truth and that I was the woman he said he'd fallen in love with. At the very least, we needed to make a plan for the babies. But just as the appointment was ending, he got a text. I almost wondered if he had someone call him at that exact moment, giving him an excuse to leave.

I understood the pain I'd caused him, but at the same time, I wanted to tell him to grow up. We had three babies coming, and it was possible that one or all of them would need additional help and resources. Multiple babies were at risk of being small simply because there wasn’t that much room in the womb, but also because they normally were born early. We needed to prepare for that.

When I finally got myself together, I drove the short distance to my apartment. For a moment, I considered driving up to Las Vegas and forcing Pierce to hear me out, but I was exhausted. So instead, I checked in with Todd and Max, who I'd put in charge so I could go on my doctor’s appointment, and hearing that everything was okay, I lay down to take a nap.

I was startled awake as my phone trilled on my bedside table. I reached for it, wondering how long I had been out. My bedroom had grown dark. I looked at the time on my phone and realized I'd been asleep for several hours.

I poked the answer button. "Hello?"

"Are you alright?"

My heart fluttered in my chest at the sound of Pierce's voice.

"Yes. I was just napping."

"We need to talk."

Finally. "I agree."

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