Page 103

She nods. “Okay.”

Ellie slides the door open, and Colston follows her into the backyard. She pulls it shut behind them, leaving Goldie and me alone.

I push to my feet and sit beside her. She immediately turns toward me, tucking herself against my side and laying her legs across my lap so she’s almost sitting on me. I wrap an arm around her shoulders, and my other hand settles over her stomach without me thinking about it.

Her bump is big enough to fill my palm now, and I fucking love it.

Goldie covers my hand with hers, but instead of making one of the usual comments about me being incapable of keeping my hands off the baby, she stares down at our fingers.

For several seconds, neither of us says anything. The AC hums quietly in the background while I wait her out.

Then Goldie takes a deep breath.

“There’s a chance the baby isn’t yours.”

For a second, I’m not sure I heard her right.

My hand stays on her stomach, but the rest of me locks up. “What?”

She swallows. “Four nights before I met you, Grant and I had sex.”

I hate hearing it. I know she had a life before me—hell, technically I’m still married—but that doesn’t mean I want to picture anyone but me touching her. I shove the fucked-up mental image away.

“We were still using condoms because we were supposed to start trying that weekend.” Her thumb rubs back and forth across one of my knuckles. “He finished, and when he pulled out, we realized the condom broke.”

My stomach drops.

I’ve read enough of the pregnancy shit Goldie sends me—and enough she doesn’t know I read—to know the timing doesn’t rule Grant out.

I keep my palm against her stomach while my brain tries to catch up with what she’s saying.

“When the test came back positive, I didn’t question it,” she says. Her cheeks turn a little pink as she glances up at me. “You were extremely thorough.”

Normally, I’d be smug as fuck about that, but right now I have to remind myself to breathe as the world goes hazy at the edges.

“I forgot about that night completely,” she continues. “I didn’t think about the broken condom again until Grant brought it up today.”

I look down at our hands over her stomach.

Until right now, I’ve never once questioned that this baby is biologically mine.

I take a slow breath through my nose before I look at her again. I don’t want my reaction to scare her before I’ve even figured out what I’m feeling.

I want this kid to be biologically mine. There’s no point lying to myself about that.

And I already love this baby enough that I’d die for it. I’d kill for it. I’d do anything to make sure it’s happy and loved.

Goldie’s fingers stop moving. When I look up, she’s watching me so closely that I can practically see her trying to figure out what every second of silence means.

“I swear I forgot, Sumner.”

Fuck. How can she not know I’d never think she’d do something like that? Goldie doesn’t play games, and neither do I.

“I know.”

“You believe me?”

“Do you even have to ask?” I squeeze her hand. “You found out today and told me today. I believe you.”