Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45202 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
And before I can ask him how soon, he’s kissing me until I forget about everything else but me and him.
18
DOMINIC
I’m pacing up and down the hallway of the hospital. Haven is in labor. The rest of my family is in the waiting room, but I couldn’t stand sitting there a second longer. I pull out my phone, wanting to call Lucy, but I know she’s with her mom this morning.
I take a deep breath. The waiting is killing me. I can just imagine how I’m going to be when Lucy has our baby.
“You doing okay, brother?”
My brother Gabe stops beside me. His long hair is in a ponytail, and he looks like he hasn’t slept in a week. “I’m good. How you doing?”
He shrugs. “I just came off an all-nighter. I had to work the brush fire out on Mutton Hollow.”
“Anyone hurt?”
He runs his hands across his face. “Nope, no injuries, but it was a bitch.”
“Go home and go to bed. King will understand.”
He just shakes his head. “Hell no. My niece is being born. I’m not going to miss this.”
I point to the coffee vending machine. “Coffee?”
“Hell yeah.”
I get two cups. Gabe practically guzzles his before I even take a sip. “Damn, I guess it’s a good thing it’s lukewarm. I thought you were going to scorch your throat.”
He just laughs. “I’m used to the heat.”
We stand and shoot the shit about everything and nothing. I finish off the cup of coffee and throw it in the wastebasket, and as I turn, I see Lucy coming through the door.
My smile is instant, and I start walking toward her. It’s not until I see her mom walking beside her that my smile drops and I slow down. Fuck. I want to pull Lucky into my arms and kiss her like I would if we were at the garage, but I know I can’t do that.
I stop before I get to them, and Lucy is frowning at me. Gabe comes to stand beside me, and he looks at all of us before reaching in and giving Luciana a hug. “Hey, Lucy. How you doing?”
She hugs my brother back. “Good, Gabe. How you doing? I was thinking of you when I heard about the brush fire. Glad you’re okay.”
I clear my throat. “Luciana. Ms. Raven. What are you doing here, is everything okay?”
Luciana points at her mom. “Yeah, we came to see a friend of Mom’s.”
I nod, and the silence is awkward. “Uh, what are you doing here? Everything okay?” she asks.
I smile. “Yeah, Haven is having the baby.” I look at Ms. Raven. “Haven is my brother King’s wife.”
Ms. Raven just harumphs with a nod. She’s never liked me, and it doesn’t look like her opinion has changed any. It’s obvious that Lucy hasn’t told her about us, and that’s like a punch in the gut.
I stand here, staring at Luciana, and her mom breaks the silence. “I’m going to go. It’s room three ten, Luciana.”
She walks away without another word to me, but my manners win out. “Bye, Ms. Raven. It was nice seeing you again.”
Ms. Raven just keeps walking, and when I turn back to Luciana, she has her arms crossed over her chest. We stare at each other, and Gabe clears his throat. “Uh, I’m going to go check in on King and Haven.”
Neither Lucy nor I say anything to him. I walk close to Lucy, and she holds her hand up. “What was that?”
“What do you mean?”
She rolls her eyes at me. “Really, Dom. What was that? When we’re alone I can’t keep your hands off me and what, in front of your brother, you want to act like we’re… hell, he even hugged me. I barely got a hello out of you.”
I’m angry. More because Gabe thought it was okay to hug her and I didn’t think I had the right. Forever I’ve dealt with the fact I’m not good enough for Lucy, and I thought I was over it, but one look at the disapproving expression on her mom’s face makes me feel it all over again. When I don’t say anything, her words are incensed with anger. “Are you ashamed of me?”
I gasp. “What? No, of course not.”
She points around the hospital. “Well, maybe we’re just not where I thought we were then.”
I shake my head, trying to make sense of what she’s saying. “What are you talking about?”
She lifts her shoulders. “I dunno, Dom. Your sister is having a baby, and you didn’t even think about calling me. I see you here at the hospital and you act like we’re fuckin’ acquaintances.”
I reach for her, wrapping my hand around hers. “I wanted to call you, but I knew you were driving your mom somewhere this morning. I wanted you here with me—hell, Lucy, I always want you with me.”