Page 79 of Secret Baby with my Brother's Best Friend

“I am happy for you,” he assured me. “Really, I am. I’ve always known your heart belonged to Ryan, as much as I hated that fact at times. For a while, I thought it was better that you two stayed away from each other, but now, I know that you belong together. If you can forgive him for being a colossal dick all those years ago, so can I.”

I didn’t realize until that moment how important it was for me to have Jason’s approval. It wouldn’t have changed things had he protested Ryan and I being together, but I wanted him to be happy for me. To be happy for us.

I wanted him to continue being an important figure in Henry’s life, as well as my own.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside of my room. I heard a familiar voice start to admonish whatever poor soul was in her way.

“Somebody needs to tell me where the hell she is! I swear to God, I will bring the pain if you keep me away from her! I mean that entirely respectfully because I appreciate all the work that nurses and doctors do, but I will seriously raise hell if someone doesn’t tell me where she is!”

“Is that Jessica?” I asked, arching a brow in amusement.

“I think it is,” Ryan grumbled.

A few moments later, Jessica came storming into my room. Her eyes landed on me and widened.

“There you are! Oh my God!” She rushed to my bedside, shoving past Ryan without a moment of hesitation. She sat beside me and wrapped her arms around me, yanking me into a tight hug.

“Jess, why are you freaking out?” I asked with a stunned chuckle. “I’m okay, I promise!”

“How can I not freak out?” she exclaimed, pulling back and holding me at arm’s length so she could look me up and down. “You were attacked! You fainted! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“Really, Jess, I’m fine,” I insisted. “Ryan was there and saved me.”

“You!” Jess exclaimed, leaping off the bed and rounding on Ryan. She poked her finger into his chest, hard. “What’s the matter with you? You nearly got my best friend killed, you idiot! I should kick your ass!”

“Jess, stop,” I said on a groan. “Don’t kill Ryan. It wasn’t his fault.”

“The hell it wasn’t,” she hissed. “I told you not to hurt her, didn’t I?”

His expression solemn, Ryan nodded. “You did, and I failed to protect her. I’m sorry, Jess. If you want to kick my ass, I know I deserve it.”

Jess’s nostrils flared, and she gritted her teeth as she glared up at him. After a bit, though, she lowered her finger and snorted out a breath.

“You’re on thin ice,” she snarled. “But I’ll let you off with a warning this one time because Sam is okay and doesn’t seem angry with you herself. I swear to God, though, if you ever let anything like this happen to her again, I will make you suffer. Do you understand?”

“Absolutely.” Ryan nodded to reinforce his words. “You have my word, Jess, that I will do everything in my power to protect and care for Sam. Nothing like this will ever happen again.”

“It better not,” Jess growled, giving him one final poke for emphasis before turning back to me. She sat back down on the bed with me and put her arm around my shoulders. “I’m so happy you’re okay. You have no idea how scared I was.”

Smiling softly, I wrapped my arms around her as well and hugged her back.

“I know,” I murmured. “I’m sorry. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she whispered. Leaning back, she grinned at me. “Now that I can see that you’re fine, you and I need to have a conversation about what the hell is happening with you and the big guy here. You’ve been holding out on me, girlie.”

I chuckled and nodded. “Yes, we do need to talk. For now, though, can we just be happy that everyone is safe and together? It’s been a long couple of days.”

“Absolutely,” Jess replied. She gave me one more squeeze before she moved off the bed to stand. She shot Ryan another glare before turning to Jason and Mandy. “We should go, you guys. You two need to go enjoy your wedding night, and I guess we should give these guys some privacy.”

Mandy nodded. “You’re right, Jess. Come on, Jason.”

She grabbed my brother’s hand and tugged on it, but he hesitated to move and stared down at me with a furrowed brow.

“Oh, my God, Jason. Go with your wife. I’m fine. Enjoy the rest of the night.”

“I don’t feel right leaving you like this,” he mumbled.

Sighing, Mandy pushed onto her tiptoes and whispered something in Jason’s ear. His eyes went wide, and his cheeks turned red.

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