“Everything cool?” Prodigy asks as I storm past him.

  “Fucking peachy.”

  “Slow down. Where’s the fire?” He jogs to catch up with me as I go off toward the pool to cool off.

  “Don’t start with me. Your sister already busted my balls.”

  “Take it easy on her.”

  “I get she’s your sister and you’re looking out for her, but if you were really a good brother, she wouldn’t be here on the back of that punk ass Creed’s bike.”

  “Hold the fuck up. You’re not going to take your bullshit out on me. You better pull your head out of your ass and wake up.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “Forget it.”

  “No. You’ve obviously got something to say to me.”

  “You fucked up. I heard about what you did. What she walked up on. Not fucking cool, man. Ember deserves better.”

  “And that’s Creed?”

  “I don’t know, but it sure as fuck isn’t you right now. You swore to me that you’d treat her right.”

  “Well, we can’t all be you, golden boy.”

  He grabs his crotch. “Suck my dick.”

  “Nah, it’s not big enough for me.” I shove him.

  “Your fight isn’t with me. Unless you want it to be.” He shoves me back.

  “Save it for the bedroom, boys,” Viking mutters as he approaches. “You’ve got eyes on you. Last thing Prez needs is you two making him look bad. Like he can’t control shit in his own house when he’s looking to get us away from the shit we’ve been contending with. He’s already pissed over that shit you pulled back in Arkansas.”

  “Creed isn’t part of our club.”

  “This isn’t about Creed. It’s about you acting stupid because you’ve always been on some fucking mission to ruin your life.”

  “I don’t need this shit.”

  “Yeah. Run off and stick your dick in another whore. That will solve all your problems.” He grabs me by the back of the neck and gives me a hard squeeze, digging his fingers in deep. “I shouldn’t be telling you this shit, because my wife will kill me for breaking her trust. She gave Ember a pregnancy test earlier. Do with that what you will, but get your shit in order. Man, the fuck up.” He pushes me into the pool.

  I sink to the bottom with his words floating through my mind. Ember could be pregnant and if she is, then that means it is mine. She only got with Creed last week.

  Fuck. Fuck me. I push up and take Prodigy’s outstretched hand.

  Viking’s lucky I’ve got bigger things on my mind than him being a dickhead.

  “Did you know?” I seethe at my supposed best friend.

  “Not until we got here, and she kept getting sick. Question is, what are you going to do?”

  “Give us both a beat to wrap our heads around this shit. Then I’m getting my babydoll back.”

  “May not be that simple.”

  “It will be.”

  “Don’t do anything stupid,” he calls after me as I stomp back toward the party and where I last saw Ember.

  She’s not where I left her, and I don’t see Creed. They must have gone back to their room. I lied to Prodigy. I’m not giving her another damn minute before confronting her. Dripping wet, I march into Big Daddy’s house, not giving a damn that his security is calling after me.

  No one is standing between me and my having this conversation with Ember.

  I raise my fist to knock on the door when it swings open. Creed has his bag slung over his back.

  “She’s all yours, man. Take good care of her or I promise you I’ll come back for her and if I do, I’ll make her mine, permanently.” He doesn’t stop to hear my reply. He takes off like a shot and I wonder if she told him she’s pregnant.

  I find my babydoll sitting on the edge of the bed staring at the floor. I kick the door shut behind me and when it slams, she jumps.

  Her sad eyes meet mine, full of remorse. Is she upset that Creed left or because it’s me standing here and not him? Maybe it’s both.

  “Where’s your man rushing off to?”

  “Not that it’s any of your concern, but he’s got a family situation.”

  “Way, I hear it. He’s not the only one. Were you going to tell me, or were you going to wait until I noticed?”

  “I’m not in the mood, Smoke.”

  “I don’t give a goddamn. Is it mine?”

  “Who else would it be?”

  “So you don’t deny it?”

  “You’ve got me. I’m pregnant with some random guy’s baby.”

  “Maybe you fucked T-bird? Or maybe you were seeing Creed behind my back all this time.”

  “Is that what you think?”

  “No.” I drop my wet ass down to the floor and lean my back against the wall across from her.

  “I don’t expect anything, you know. I mean, you don’t have to be involved.”

  “Don’t have to be involved,” I mutter. “Jesus, Ember. Do you hear yourself? What’s the one thing I’ve wanted all this time?”

  “Great timing, huh?”

  “Life is funny like that.”

  “I don’t want us to mess this kid up. My parents did a number on me.”

  “We’re not them.”

  “Maybe not. We aren’t good together. Think we’ve proved that.”

  “We were fucking great.”

  “Until we weren’t.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  “The truth?” her sad eyes meet mine. “I have no idea, but not this. Whatever we’re doing. I don’t want this.”

  “You planning to have this baby?”

  “Would you be okay if I said no?”

  My heart drops to my feet at the idea of her ending the pregnancy. “Fuck no, but I’d have to come to terms if that’s what you really wanted. Would fucking kill me, but I’d hold your hand through it.”

  “I wouldn’t. I couldn’t do that.”

  “Good. I’d hate to kill you after. You’re far too pretty to murder.”

  “That’s not funny.”

  “I’m not joking. Babydoll, said I’d hold your hand. Didn’t say what I’d do after.”

  “Don’t say shit like that.”

  “Then don’t ask me stupid questions.”

  “You’re ridiculous. I think we should table this conversation for when we go home.”

  “You saying we’re going home together?”

  “I’m saying we should talk about this when we’re back in Charleston, when I figure out how I’m getting back there since my ride kind of left.”

  “You’ll ride with me.”

  “That’s not a good idea.”

  “I’m not asking. You’re carrying my kid. That means you’re on my bike. Whatever little fun you had with Creed is done.”

  “This doesn’t mean we’re back together and that you can order me around like some sort of macho man. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

  “The fuck I don’t.” I reach into my pocket and find what I’ve been carrying around. I go to my knees and grab her hand, shoving the ring I bought for her onto her finger. “We’ll go to Vegas. Make it official.”

  Ember stares down at her hand. “You’ve lost your mind.” She slides the ring off her finger and throws it at me. “The last thing I’m doing is marrying you. I don’t want your ring or whatever half-assed attempt this is at asking.”

  I grab the ring off the floor. “Think you missed the part where I’m not asking.”

  Ember laughs. Cackling even. “That’s rich.”

  “Put the ring on.”

  “No way. You’re acting crazy.”

  “I’ll show you fucking crazy, babe.” I shove the diamond back on her finger.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “I’m not putting your ring on my finger. You’re being ridiculous.” I stare at Smoke, and he has this crazy glint in his eye that is freaking me the hell out. “I think you should leave.” I tuck the ring back in his fist.

  “Nope. Don’t think I will.” He lays the ring on the dresser and starts stripping out of his clothes.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  “I’m soaked, and these wet clothes are making my ass itch.”

  “There’s probably a cream for that. Maybe you picked up a rash from one of the whores you’ve been screwing.”

  “Ha. Funny.” He struts naked as the day he was born into the bathroom to hang up his wet clothes.

  “Whatever. I’m going to bed. You can sleep on the floor or in the bathtub.” I flip off the bedroom light, then pull the covers back.

  Smoke stomps back into the room. “Did you fuck him in here?”

  “What are you going on about?”

  He flips the light back on. “I said, did you fuck Creed in this bed, too?”

  “What does it matter?”

  “I’m not laying where he’s been with you. Holy shit, you fucked him while my kid is inside you,” he rambles on, pacing the length of the room like a freaking psycho. He has this crazed look in his eyes that’s kind of scaring me.

  “Can you go have your freak out in your tent or something?”

  “I can’t handle this.” He stalks toward me, and I shrink back against the headboard with nowhere to go. “Fuck, Ember. I’m not going to hit you. Have I ever laid a harmful hand on you?”

  I shake my head.

  “Did he wear a rubber?”

  “I don’t want to talk about this. Can you put some clothes on?”

  “Answer the fucking question.”

  “The first time, no. Every time after that, yes.”

  He glances at the ceiling and closes his eyes as he pinches the bridge of his nose. “You sure this kid is mine?”

  “I didn’t sleep with anyone else until I saw you with Angel, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “I’m asking, Ember.”

  “There was only the one kiss the one time with T-bird other than that it was only ever you, Smoke.”

  “Are you done with Creed?”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Everything.”

  “You saw him leave.”

  “You’re having my kid. I have a right to know what you’re doing and who you’re doing it with. If you don’t want to be with me, I want you to promise me that you won’t have sex with anyone while you’re pregnant.”

  “I think you’ve lost your damn mind. One second you’re trying to force me to marry you and the now you’re telling me who I can or can’t have sex with. Do you hear the bullshit coming out of your mouth? How can I take you seriously when you’re standing here naked?”

  “Promise me.”

  “No. I’m not doing anything until you put some damn clothes on.”

  He jerks the sheet off the bed, wrapping it around his waist. “I’m covered. Now promise me.”

  “Be so fucking for real right now.”

  He drops a knee to the bed. “I won’t tolerate you whoring around while you’ve got my kid in you.”

  “Oh whatever, Smoke. I could say the same about you. Do you know how humiliating it’s been for everyone to see you with a different whore in every state we’ve gone to? And now I have to face the same people who know what you’ve been doing while being pregnant with a cheater’s baby.”

  “Guess the same way Pam did it when Link did it to her. Ask her for some tips.”

  “You’re a real asshole.” I climb out of the bed, and he grabs me by the hand.

  “Where are you going?” he snarls, and I catch a whiff of his liquor tainted breath.

  “You’re drunk and I don’t want to be around you right now.”

  “So what? I had a few fucking drinks to cope with watching you giving my pussy up to another man.”

  I slap the fire out of him and shriek, “It stopped being your pussy the second you had Angel’s mouth on you.” Smoke seizes me by the shoulders and the sheet falls to the floor. He moves in as though he’s going to kiss me, and I turn my head. “You’re drunk.”

  “You don’t want me, babydoll?” He drops a hand to his junk, shaking his dick at me.

  “Not like this. You need to sleep whatever this is off.”

  “I fucked up.”

  “I don’t think we can come back from this,” I whisper, more to myself than to him.

  “I’ll make you see. We can find our way back to the good.”

  “There’s too much between us.”

  “You were pushing me away, and I was pushing too hard.”

  “I thought I couldn’t have kids,” I blurt my secret out. Not that it matters now that we both know it wasn’t true.

  “What?” His head snaps up and his expression sobers.

  “This whole time I’ve not been on birth control, and we weren’t being careful.”

  “So you lied about it? What the fuck, Ember? Would think you were trying to trap me, but you knew I wanted a kid. I should be pissed. Fuck me. You’ve left me speechless.”

  “I know it was a shit thing not to tell you.”

  “If you’d been honest, we’d be together right now, and I’d be happy. So goddamn happy. This shit is seriously fucked, and you know it.”

  “I’m sorry. I wasn’t honest with you.”

  “What do you want from me? I truly want to know, babydoll. I wanted to marry you and you shut that talk down. Wanted you to have my baby, and you said you were on the pill. Now I find out that not only are you pregnant, you were never on the pill. Fucking whacked.”

  My head is spinning. When he puts it out there like that, it sounds pretty dang nuts. I pick up the diamond ring from the dresser and slip it on my finger. “Let’s do it. Let’s get married.”

  “No.”

  “What?”

  “You lied to me. Played with my fucking head and my heart. I may be a man, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings. That my emotions don’t count. I’ve got to wrap my head around this bullshit.”

  “I know I screwed up. We both did. Let’s try to put it behind us. Like you said.”

  “You can’t just switch emotions off and on like a damn light. I seriously want to know what you expect me to do here, Ember. Why say yes now?”

  My shoulders sag in defeat. “I don’t know.”

  “And that’s the problem. You still don’t know what you want. How can I give you something when you don’t know yourself what that is?”

  “I thought this is what you wanted.”

  “Don’t want you to tell me what you think I want to hear. Tell me what’s in here.” He pokes me in the chest over my left breast.

  “I didn’t want us to breakup in the first place. That was your choice.”

  “You make me fucking crazy. Might as well reach into my chest and rip my heart out yourself with all the shit you’ve been doing.”

  “You’ve been doing a hell of a lot more than I have. Fucked your way across the fucking country.”

  “Wasn’t emotions involved. Was trying to forget that you moved on so easily.”

  “You told me to. Said you wanted me to screw other people and get it out of my system. I was scared.”

  “Of what?”

  “Losing you. And in the end, I lost you anyway, so I figured I might as well try.”

  “Well, you gave it a damn good go, sweetheart.”

  “I apologized.”

  “I forgive you, Ember. I just don’t know how I’m supposed to forget that you lied.”

  “I could say the same. I can forgive you for the past week, but how do I forget how easy it was for you?”

  “Easy? I’ve wanted to claw my own damn eyes out when fucking someone else because I hated the fact that it wasn’t your gorgeous baby blues staring up at me. Wanted to stab myself in the ears because it wasn’t your sweet moans I was hearing.”

  “Maybe we shouldn’t be together. This is toxic.”

  “I’m addicted to you,” he says and my heart cracks at the pain laced in his voice and that shines through his eyes that are filled to the brim with tears.

  “We’ve got to stop hurting each other, honey. We can’t bring a baby into whatever this is.”

  “I was a fool,” he whispers, stroking his finger along the apple of my cheek.

  “I was stupid and immature.”

  “Yeah,” he says, losing the grit in his tone.

  “What are we doing?”

  A faint smile crosses his lips, and they twitch. “Guess we’re getting married and having a baby.”

  “I think maybe we’re both insane.”

  “The best ones are.”

  “Are we really doing this?”

  “Yeah, babydoll. We are.” He rubs the pad of his finger over the ring. “Didn’t properly ask you.”

  “Since when have you ever been proper?”

  “Fair point.”

  “Now what?”

  “We get some sleep. I’d like to fuck you, but I’m too drunk to get it up for you.”

  “How romantic.”

  “I’ll make it up to you.”

  “How do you plan on doing that?”

  “You’ll see.”

  “That’s so reassuring.”

  “Nothing about us has ever been easy. We’re going to fight. Probably a lot, but end of the day I know it’s you I want to lay down next to.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Coming to, I crack my neck, feeling a warm body pressed snugly into mine. I don’t panic. I smile because I know I have my babydoll back in my arms where she belongs and where she’s going to stay.

  Strumming my fingers through her hair, I don’t want to leave the comfort of this bed, even if she laid in it with Creed night’s prior. She shifts slightly and traces the tattoos on my arm.

  “Missed this,” I tell her, meaning it. Only been apart a little over a week and it seemed like a lifetime too long.

  “Me too.” Her lips press to my neck. “I’ll probably check on a flight after breakfast.”

  “What for?”

  “To get back home.”

  “You’ll ride with me.”

  “Did you forget the part of our conversation last night where I told you I’m having your baby?”

  “Nope. Remember that part. The rest is a little fuzzy.” I grin as she scowls. “I’m teasing. Besides, we’re not going straight home.”

  “Why?”

  “Taking a detour. Vegas. Making this official before you can change your mind.”

 

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