Page 36 of Easy On Me

“Do you think I can hide it, looking like this?” I gestured head to toe. I was a shaking, disheveled mess. And I did not cry pretty, so I knew my face bore red splotches. He’d take one look at me and know something was up.

And I really didn’t want to deal with this alone.

“I think it’s a good idea to talk to him.” She circled her thumb over my kneecap. “I mean, parenting is hard, but doing it together . . . that would make things easier.”

Easier. Like anything about this was easy. I closed my eyes again, breathing in and holding it for a count of four, then releasing for another four count. Two more square breaths, and I could at least think without noise and static in my head.

“Okay,” I whispered, covering Maggie’s hand with my own. She turned her palm, linking our fingers. I met her concerned gaze and nodded, a decisive movement that made me feel more in control. “Okay. I’m going to tell him.”

I swallowed, my stomach twisting.

“Tonight.”

Chapter Nine

Jase

Headlights flashed over the kitchen window, and I glanced up from scattering sea salt over the vegetables on the sheet pan. I squinted at the vehicle making its way up the drive, shoulders relaxing when I recognized Tyler’s Explorer.

She was late, but not enough I’d worried, although all of my texts since I’d gotten off work went unanswered. That wasn’t like her, but maybe she’d been late leaving work, too. Her GM was a stickler about employees not having their cell phones out, and my girl was a bit of a rule follower at heart.

Shoving the pan in the oven, I strode to the side door, ready to see her. Eagerness pulsed under my skin, a heavier anticipation settling low in my belly.

Parked under the carport, she sat in her car, head bowed on the steering wheel. I went cold at the sight of her hunched shoulders. Something was bad wrong.

Taking the steps two at a time, I stalked to tap on her window. Lifting her head, she pushed her tousled hair away from her face and opened the door. Not quite meeting my gaze, she turned sideways like she’d planned to exit the vehicle and lost all drive to move.

I caught a glimpse of red-rimmed eyes above her pinkened nose. She’d been crying, and she was wrecked. My lungs seized. I was going to kill a motherfucker.

Hunkering down so I could see her, I framed her thighs with gentle hands. She flinched, and I scowled, unease beating a hard drum under my skin. “What’s wrong?”

Her eyes filled, glistening in the yellow light of the old-fashioned fixture, and her shoulders slumped. “We can talk inside.”

My gut squirrelly, all pleasure gone, I straightened. Adrenaline pumped through my system, playing havoc with my heart rate. Those tears gutted me. She didn’t cry, and if someone had harmed her . . . well, Trace might have to call me down instead of Tate.

An arm about her, I walked her to the door. She didn’t push me away but didn’t curl into me either. That only drove my unease higher.

Inside, she dropped her bag in one of the kitchen chairs and covered her face with both hands. Small tremors shook her shoulders.

Now, my stress level hovered around DEFCON 1.

“Tyler, baby.” I wrapped her up close to my chest and kissed her temple. She trembled in my hold, vibrations that sank into me like a fist to the gut. “Please tell me what’s going on.”

With her arms folded between us, she kept her face buried in her hands. “I’m pregnant.”

I froze.

What?

A sob shuddered out of her, muffled by her palms. I suppressed the whoop of joy welling from my chest. She was telling me she was pregnant, and she didn’t act like she was happy about it. That kinda hurt my feelings, but those could wait. She needed understanding and reassurance from me. She – and now our baby – came before everything.

“Okay.” I rubbed a hand down her spine and rested my chin on her hair. She’d changed her shampoo again, the herbal scent tickling my nose. “How do you feel about that?”

“What, you don’t want to ask me if it’s yours?” An ugly note hovered in her muffled voice.

“Well, you’re here telling me. If it were some other guy, you’d be somewhere else, telling him.” I tucked her hair behind her ear. “And I’d be planning how I was gonna whip his ass and keep you for myself.’

A broken huff of laughter escaped her.