Page 41 of Deep in Her Marrow

I shake my head and give him a sheepish smile before hastily throwing on the rest of my clothes. I snag a hair tie from the top of the dresser and throw my hair up into a messy bun.

When I look back, he’s already dressed and sitting on the bed to put on his boots. How men get dressed so quickly I’ll never know. I rush over to the closet and slip my feet into my Uggs. They feel like soft fluffy clouds on my sockless feet.

We both rush through the house and out to the garage. He picks me up and places me in his truck before walking around to the driver’s side. We buckle in and are away in under five minutes.

The town is quiet because of the late hour. We drive in silence until I look over at him. “How much of a mess do you think Edge is right now?”

Marrow glances at me with a smile on his face. “I’m sure he isn’t bad. He’s probably just irritating Kea since she’s in labor. He’s probably just sittin’ in a chair too close to her or some shit. I’m sure that we’ll get there and everything will be just fine.” He reaches over and pats my thigh.

“I don’t know,” I gnaw on my lip, “Kealy sounded pretty upset. She wouldn’t just have us come there for no reason.”

“I’m tellin’ you, Sprite, Edge is fine. That fucker never loses his cool. They don’t need us there, but I have no problem being the first person to see my new niece or nephew. Edge being annoying works in our favor, you’ll see.”

I give him a small smile that’s more of a grimace. He seems confident, but I’m not so sure. I’ve never heard someone sound so homicidal before. I have a bad feeling that Kealy is right and Edge has turned into a neurotic nutcase. Only one way to find out, I suppose.

Iwaswrong.I’mman enough to admit that. The second we walked into Kea’s room, I knew that I gave my best friend too much credit. He looked two seconds away from having a complete mental breakdown. The way Kealy was glaring at him made me realize I had to remove his ass from that room for a little bit.

I was worried he was going to protest getting a cup of coffee, but the death glare Kea sent his way must’ve made him understand how close to death he truly was. He walked over to her and gave her a kiss on the forehead, I’m pretty sure she growled at him, and then he hightailed it from the room with me on his heels. I barely spared Cadie a look since Kealy was turning her glare towards me. I’m smart enough to stay far away from a pissed off woman in labor. Especially one who looks mean enough to scare Satan himself.

We walked down to the cafeteria that’s deserted at this time of night and got our shitty smelling coffee before sitting down at one of the many empty tables. We both take a small sip and grimace at the burnt flavor.

“Fuck, this is nasty,” I choke out and push it far from me.

Edge does the same with his cup that he’s eyeing with disgust. “You’re right about that. Tar would go down easier.”

I try to recline into the hard ass chair as best as I can, which isn’t very much, especially for someone my size. I only feel minimally better watching Edge try to get comfortable as well. I stay quiet for a few moments with my arms crossed. It’ll do no good to start badgering him. I’ve known him long enough to know that I have to wait on him.

He sighs loudly, “Kea called you… didn’t she?” His lips purse like he’s sucking on a lemon.

I chuckle lowly. “Well, she technically called Cadie, but demanded that I get here so that you didn’t meet a gruesome end.”

He places his head in his hands. “I don’t understand how she’s so fuckin’ calm. We’re about to have a kid.” He looks over at me with fear shining in his eyes, “She didn’t even want to come to the hospital right away. I had to practically drag her from the house and tie her into the car.” He scrubs his face roughly. “And now we’re about to be responsible for this tiny ass creature that can die if you even look at it the wrong way. What the fuck are we gonna do?”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this freaked out. Planning a murder? Cool as a cucumber. About to become a dad? Shitting his pants. You just can’t make this shit up.

“I don’t think you can kill a baby just looking at it the wrong way,” I drawl, I mean that can’t happen, he’s just being ridiculous, right?

He glares over at me. “You know what I mean. What if I trip and drop the baby?”

I shrug. “You’ve always been sure footed; I don’t see you tripping over thin air.”

“You could be a little more helpful.” He glares balefully at me. “My woman is about to go through a shit-ton of pain that I can’t stop and my kid is about to come into this fucked-up world. A little understanding would be nice.”

I crack my knuckles just to be an asshole. “I got my ass out of bed, where I had a naked and warm woman of my own cuddled next to me, so that I could get here to save your dumbass. That’s about all the understanding you’re getting from me tonight.”

“Touché,” he mutters before running his hands through his hair that looks as though this isn’t the first or fiftieth time he’s done that recently. “What the hell am I gonna do?” He shakes his head. “I thought I was ready for this, but fuck, man, I’m not. I’m terrified I’m gonna fuck up my kid mentally or physically.”

I lean forward and place my arms on the table. “You’re not gonna fuck up this kid. Look at how many strays you’ve taken under your wing over the years. All of them were fucked up because of their parents. You’re the one who finally got them to see their worth and gave them a home, literally in JT’s case.” I look him in the eyes, and use his name, so that he knows how serious I am. “Ryan, you did more for them than any of them will probably ever know.”

“I gave them a job,” he scoffs.

I shake my head slowly. “No, you gave JT a new dad who believed in him, you gave Draven a place to calm his demons, Mel’s dad hasn’t been heard from again, Blaze was given a place to fit in, and Cadie, fuck man, you gave her safety and security.” I chuckle lowly, “You even just gave Briella the same. How the hell can you actually believe you would screw up your own kid when you’ve been fixing everyone else’s for years already?”

“Because they were already old enough to take care of themselves,” he replies gruffly before holding up his hand to stop my retort. “Even JT was old enough to not die in his sleep. I just gave them a place to land, nothing more.”

“You’ve done more for them than anyone else in this world did or could’ve. You gave each of them exactly what they needed without asking for anything in return. That’s why they never leave.”

His lips twitch. “I’m pretty sure none of them want to be broke. That’s why they stay.”

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