Page 77 of Dissonance

Then I’m back in her arms, her grip squeezing tight enough that I make a sound, her laugh watery against my shoulder.

“I know I don’t know him well enough to say, but after what he did for me during our tour with Reign…I’m so happy for you.”

A loud pop echoes around my office, bubbles fizzing over the neck of the bottle held high in Olive’s hand.

“Time to celebrate, ladies!”

Chapter Thirty-One

Thea

It’s funny being the sober one while everyone around you gets progressively tipsier as you sit there, clear-headed as the night goes on.

Olive’s sprawled across my office sofa, one leg hooked over the armrest, glass dangling precariously from her fingers, talking with her whole body. Paige is cross-legged on the floor, cheeks flushed, her laugh easy, light, filling the whole room. Mae’s in the armchair, a third bottle open by her foot.

“You cannot tell me,” Olive says, hiccupping mid-sentence, pointing at Paige, “that you and Maddox haven’t fucked backstage. I saw you, babe.”

Paige’s face turns bright red as her mouth drops open. “Liv.”

“What?” she giggles. “Me and Eli would totally be up for it if Beau wasn’t such a buzzkill.”

Hiding my face behind my hands, I shake my head. “Please don’t talk about what you get up to with those boys in front of me. It’s like hearing about my children.”

Olive gasps, sitting bolt upright. “Oh, oh, speaking of children, how is that going? Any morning sickness? Weird cravings?”

Rubbing my stomach, I shrug. “Fine, I guess. Morning sickness was relentless at the start. Mostly evenings, which was the worst timing because Lockie kept cooking for me, and I’d sit there feeling terrible that I could barely touch it. I’d manage maybe four bites before I’d be running to the bathroom.”

Paige grimaces from her spot on the floor. “Is that normal?”

“Pretty much, according to the books. Apart from that and being tired all the time, it’s been pretty easy.”

Olive studies me, wiggling on the spot. “What about your Scottish hunk? How did he take the news? I’ve only met him a few times, but damn, I’d let that man accidentally impregnate me any day.”

“Oh my god, Olive. Filter!” Paige chastises, playfully slapping her best friend’s thigh. “Are you not happy with the two you’ve got?”

“Perfectly,” she purrs, and a salacious grin spreads across her face.

“So, what’s the deal with you two?” Mae asks, head resting on her hand. “Are you together…? Dating…?”

“I…don’t know. We’ve never defined it, never had to. Whatever this is, it just sort of happened.” And now he’s here, every morning, every night, like he’s choosing to be. Choosing me. Or maybe—

My hand stills on my bump.

Maybe it’s not me he’s choosing.

The thought doesn’t exactly hurt, but it lands somewhere deep and nagging and stays there. Then the memory of the other night surfaces—his hands, his mouth, the way he looked at me. Heat floods low in my stomach, my legs pressing together. My body has never responded to anyone the way it responds to him. Like every nerve ending gets switched on, every sound dragged from me, intense and all-consuming.

“You’re thinking about him right now, aren’t you?” Olive teases.

I’m about to argue when a knock sounds at my door. All four of us turn as Lockie pushes it open, his eyes landing on me first—always me—before taking in the scene in a single sweep.

Three half-drunk women and one very sober one.

“Afternoon, ladies,” he says.

Olive spins so fast she nearly loses her glass. Mae sits up straight like she’s been caught doing something she shouldn’t, while Paige just looks between us with a small, knowing smile.

“Hello again,” she says.