“It’s not my blood,” I mumbled, unsure which of us needed the assurance most. I couldn’t look at Cole. I refused to look at my hand. I stared at his chest, rising and falling in short rapid bursts and tried my best to ignore the gore in my hair, or think about who the blood and bone had belonged to. Or how close I’d come to being shot.
My stomach lurched.
“Natalie.” Cole’s voice calmed. “I see Lacey. Ellis is with her. She’s on a gurney. It looks like they’re inspecting her leg. She seems fine.”
“Thank you, Jesus,” I said on a loud exhale.
Cole seemed to share my sentiment and fell on his ass next to me, releasing a long shaky breath, his hands now as bloody as mine.
The world spun. I barfed my drinks all over Cole’s lap.
“Say again?” I asked, my hearing still fuzzy.
I stood over Lacey’s bed, her hand in mine, her ankle in a wrap and properly elevated on a stack of pillows.
“I’m pregnant,” she whispered into my good ear, blinking at me through her one working eye.
“I don’t…” Pregnant? “I can’t…” Bittersweet elation filled my chest. “You’re gonna be a mom?”
Lips sucked between her teeth, she nodded.
“I’m gonna be an auntie?”
Lacey squeezed my fingers. “Best auntie ever.”
“Lacey.” Tears welled. “Lacey, this is crazy.”
“I know, right? Proposed to, caught in a gang shooting, nearly trampled to death, and impregnated all in the same month.”
“How did Ellis handle the news?”
“He wants to get married as soon as possible. Maybe a Vegas wedding next month. Or as soon as we can coordinate everyone’s schedules.”
“This is really happening, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
It was too soon. “He’s a very lucky man.”
“Nat Brat, you have to be there. You just have to. I can’t imagine doing this without you. If you can’t get time off, we’ll wait, but—”
I climbed into her bed and wrapped her in a full body hug. “I’ll be there. I’ll be there. Of course, I’ll be there. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Miss what?” came Cole’s gruff voice, sending my heart racing.
I raised my head off Lacey’s chest to find Cole, Martin, and a sheepish looking Victoria standing just inside the doorway, each holding a bouquet of flowers for my crippled, bruised, and newly knocked-up friend.
“Do they know?” I whispered, hiding our faces behind my hair.
Ellis barreled through the crowd, taking up half of Lacey’s room, then piled on top of me hugging us both. “I’m gonna be a daddy.” He kissed my cheek, then hers. “And we’re heading to Vegas so I can make an honest woman of my lady.”
Martin’s face lit up, and he made a move to tackle his friend. For as large as he was, Ellis moved like a gazelle, springing to action, hugging his friend away from Lacey’s injuries.
Victoria stared at the floor.
Cole stared at his buddies, blinking his eyes. I could swear he was fighting tears but, damn, his dimples were tuned to megawatt. His feet shifted on the hardwood before he came our way, then bent to drop the sweetest kiss on Lacey’s forehead. “Congratulations, beautiful. You’re going to be a great mom.”
He was so close I could taste his breath—coffee and caramel. So tender with her, I swooned. So dreamy, I sighed.
Oh, shit.
I bolted to the sitting position. Cole’s gaze sliced right through me, quick and razor sharp, on his way to join in the man hugs with his buddies. As much as I wanted to stay with Lacey and cry, hug, and celebrate, I could not share that stifling space with Martin, Cole, and especially Victoria.
“I’m gonna head out.” I lifted Lacey’s shirt and dropped a kiss on her belly. “Bye, baby. Can’t wait to meet you.”
Her long fingers raked through my hair. “We’ll talk tomorrow?”
“Of course.” I kissed her nose.
“Bye, Nat Brat.”
“Bye, Lulu.”
“Hey, Victoria.” I offered a pathetic wave as I passed.
I couldn’t hear if she responded, my traitorous heartbeat deafening, the need to flee hurrying my pace.
I made it to the hallway and halfway to the elevator when a hand wrapped around my arm. “Hey, Nats, can we talk?”
My chest deflated, a slow leak. “It’s Natalie,” I reminded him. “And I have to get home.”
“Listen.” Martin dipped his head, wrinkles deepening between his brows. “You don’t have to leave on account of me.”
I shrugged free of his grip. “I’m not.”
His sigh was more irritation than relief. “We can be friends, you know.”
“Sure.” I took in his freckled face, his full lips. Felt nothing. “We can be friends.”
“We’re gonna celebrate.” He nodded toward Lacey’s door. “Why don’t you join us?”
“You guys have fun. I have to do laundry.” Ten paces from the elevator. Nine. Eight.
A heavy hand landed on my shoulder. “Nats. No need to be a bitch. This is about Ellis and Lacey, not you. So we didn’t work out. No big deal. We have to get over it for our friends.”
Bitch? Bitch? I turned so fast I teetered and instinctively grabbed Martin for balance.
Chest to chest, we locked gazes, mine heated, his hungry.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful.” Snapping his arms around my shoulders, he dipped for a go at my mouth.
When my palm met his cheek, he jerked back, then shoved me away, hard enough that I slammed into the wall and bounced right back to where I’d started.
“You fucking cunt,” he growled. “You don’t know what you’re giving up.”
Then and there, I lost my shit. I slapped him again. He thought I was done. I landed two good strikes before he wrestled my hands behind my back and had me pinned to his chest.
“Stop hitting me.”
“Stop being an ass.”
Whiskey-laden breaths hit my face. “Tell me the truth. Why’d you break up with me?”
“I’m not attracted to you. Simple as that.”
I had wanted to be. The man was definitely pretty to look at. Great body, not that I’d ever seen all of it. Sweet job. Fun to talk with when he wasn’t being a dick.
“We can give it another
