Page 78 of Hard Hitter

The words hit me sideways as soon as I said them. After all we’d been through, girlfriend felt like such a weak way to describe my relationship to him.

Micah’s eyes flitted to me, seeming to take me in with a single glance, and his mouth relaxed into a half-smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Chloe. I’m Micah, Noah’s dad.”

Noah wasn’t amused. He moved forward a step, tucking me behind him. “I didn’t call you.”

“Craig did—so he could warn me away. I’ve never been big on taking orders, and his insistence made me wonder what he was trying to hide.” Without missing a beat, Micah bent and picked up the pregnancy test, leaving the plastic bag on the concrete. He raised a brow and held it out for me. So much for good first impressions.

My face flamed immediately, but I raised my chin as I took the box from him. “Craig is kind of a dick. Jury’s still out on you.”

Noah coughed out a laugh, and I flattened my palm against his back, over the phoenix hidden by his TU football shirt. This whole encounter was beyond awkward, but hell if I’d let the dad who’d disappeared for fifteen years judge the son he’d only just met.

With spectacular timing, Eva barged out of the apartment, nearly colliding with Micah. Her eyes widened as she looked way up at him, and she quickly backpedaled to the relative safety of the doorway.

She took in our positions, with Noah playing human shield in case his dad turned out to be a psycho, and shook her head. “I don’t know what’s going on out here, but I don’t care at the moment. Chloe, your brother hasn’t left yet.” Her gaze dropped to the stupid test in my hand, and she tilted her head toward our apartment.

“Shit,” I whispered, glancing at the other door on the landing.

I’d made my peace with D, mostly, but I wasn’t ready for my entire family to know about a potential pregnancy. The smothering would never end, and I hadn’t even used the damn test yet.

Noah pressed his lips to my hair and urged me toward Eva. “Go on. I’ll be in as soon as I can.”

My insides melted at how easily he figured out what I needed then gave it to me. If I asked, I had zero doubts Noah would blow off a showdown with his dad to come hold my hand while I took this test.

I wouldn’t ask. He needed to see this through—without worrying about me. That didn’t stop me from worrying about him.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay? If you need me, I’m here.”

Noah’s lips tilted up in the little smile he often wore for me. “I’ll be fine. I’d rather not give D a reason to take a swing at me this morning.”

Micah chimed in. “I have a feeling Craig is going to show up sooner rather than later. Unless you want to deal with his head exploding, you might want to take care of your business in private.”

Noah frowned at him. “Why do you think that?”

The older man shrugged. “He’s my brother.”

Eva propped her hands on her hips. “You heard Prison Daddy. Let’s go take care of business.”

Micah laughed, but Noah winced.

“How did you know about that?” he asked.

Eva sent him a pitying look. “If you don’t want people to read your private letters, don’t leave them on the coffee table.” She hooked her arm through mine. “I’m stealing your girl for bathroom fun times.”

Noah glowered. “It was in my pantsnextto the coffee table.”

“Close enough.” Eva chirped as she dragged me away, huddling her head close to mine to whisper. “Sorry I missed all the fun earlier.”

“Where were you this morning when we left?” I hissed at her.

“Something came up. Noah’s dad is hot. The bad boy vibe is doing it for me. Kinda makes me wish I was into older guys.”

“Why? Why would you put that in my brain?”

She scoffed. “Like you weren’t thinking it.”

At the door, we both glanced back at the men watching us. “If that thirst trap is my future, I have zero complaints.”

Eva snickered and closed us in the quiet apartment. “Come on. You can play with Henry while we wait for Noah.”

---