Page 17 of Honest Boys Don’t Play

Bertie bristles at my side. “I don’t really care what he thinks since we broke up for good and we’re not getting back together. He wasn’t a great person, and I finally woke up and realized it.” Turning to me, she says, “This is Luke.”

Her dad’s gaze bounces between the two of us, but he stays silent.

“Tommy’s from a good family, honey. That goes a long way. I bet if I called up his mom⁠—"

“Mom!” Bertie practically shrieks. “Just stop it.”

Her dad heaves a massive sigh like this is all just too much for him and frankly, if this is too much then I fear for how beleaguered he’s about to be with the baby news.

“I will not just stop it,” her mom’s voice raises. “A marriage between you two would’ve been a good connection for this family and you just threw it all away. Because he’s not the best person? Honey,” the word drips with condescension. “Most people aren’t the best.”

We still haven’t sat down and honestly, the way this is going already, I’m not sure we’re going to.

“I’m not marrying him, Mom. Not now. Not ever. I can’t believe you’re talking about this like Luke isn’t standing right there.”

“I mean,” she laughs, but it’s a haughty sort of sound. “Look at him. He’s clearly not of our caliber.”

Bertie shakes with rage at my side and I’m not sure what to do. I reach out, brushing her pinky finger with mine. Hers curls around mine and doesn’t let go.

“I’ll have you know that Luke has been drafted to the Nashville Reign hockey team.”

Her dad is the one to speak this time. “That hardly matters. Sure, there’s money in sports, but it’s a fickle thing. Injuries happen and careers are cut short all the time. It’s not a guaranteed lifestyle.”

It’s a good thing I don’t let things like this bother me—being a poor kid at a university overrun with kids of some of the wealthiest people in the world will make you grow a thick skin. The thing that irks me the most is how neither of them will even look at me. It’s like I don’t exist.

“None of this matters right now,” Bertie says with an adamant shake of her head. “I certainly didn’t come here to argue with you about Tommy.”

“Then why did you come?” The way her mom asks the question breaks my heart for Bertie—the obvious disgust and disdain for her own child visiting is sad. My mom would never make me feel bad for seeing her. I mean, granted, I still live at home but even once I move out, I know she’d be thrilled if I showed up.

The fight goes out of Bertie, and she says it so quietly there’s no way they even hear, “I’m pregnant.”

“What? Speak up, Beatrice. We taught you to enunciate,” her dad says.

Bertie steels her spine. “I’m pregnant. Luke is the father.”

I wave awkwardly. “Hi.”

“Pregnant?” Her mom’s voice raises to an excruciating octave. Even her husband winces at the high pitch.

“We’re having a baby,” Bertie goes on. “I thought it was best to tell you in person.”

“I think I’m going to faint.” Her mom fans herself with a cloth napkin.

“What have you done?” Her dad’s voice booms with anger, making his daughter flinch. “You’re throwing away your whole life for what? Some college fling? You can get that thing taken care of you know? You can have other babies.”

Bertie looks ready to explode. Her face becomes covered in red splotches.

“Don’t you dare talk to her like that,” I finally interject. “Your daughter is a wonderful, kind person, and she knows she has choices. She’s chosen to keep our baby and I’m going to support her in every way I can. It’s terrible to see that neither of you can do the same. You clearly look down at me, and sure I’m poor and I grew up with a single mom, and we have a house that probably fits in the foyer of this one, but guess what? She loves me. I’ve never doubted the way my mom feels about me. You might have all the money in the world, but it clearly doesn’t buy decency. You’re both despicable people.”

Bertie inhales a shaky breath and looks up at me with eyes brimming with tears. “Thank you.”

“We’re leaving,” I announce.

“Bertie,” her mom squawks as we turn to leave. “You can’t just go!”

“We can and we will,” I fire back.

I won’t let them talk to Bertie like that. She doesn’t deserve it.