Jayce and Emily had gotten engaged last night. It was unexpected, but the two of them seemed to be in their own little world. After six months of hiding my relationship with Summer, I planned to come clean with my brother. Even though we were an eight-hour bus ride apart most days, Summer and I had grown inseparable since the night of my brother’s graduation party. We video chatted for hours some days, and one of us was on a bus every other weekend, making the long haul for a visit. The I love yous we’d just exchanged cemented in my mind that I was long overdue to come clean.

I reached for my cell on the nightstand and checked the time. “Shit. I gotta run. My uncle asked us to meet him at his office at one, so I told Jayce to meet me at the Starbucks around the corner at twelve so I could tell him.” I held Summer by the hips and lifted her off so I could sit up. “What are you going to do today while I’m gone?”

She pouted. “Study for math. If I don’t pass this final, I won’t graduate.”

“I’ll help you when I get back.”

Summer laid on her belly on the bed and watched me dress. “I love when you tutor me.”

I yanked on a pair of jeans. “You like that it’s free. I might start charging you.”

“I’m good with that. So long as you accept sexual favors as payment.”

I sniffed a T-shirt hanging from an open drawer. I wasn’t sure if I’d tossed it there while getting undressed or if it was falling out because I’d grabbed something underneath and not bothered to fix the mess it made. Deciding it passed as clean, I tugged it on.

“That’s such a guy thing.” Summer scrunched up her nose. “Sniffing clothing before putting it on.”

I eyed her lacy black thong on the floor next to the bed and scooped it up. Cupping the thin material in two hands, I brought it to my nose and took a loud, exaggerated whiff of her panties.

She shook her head but smiled. “You’re gross.”

“Yeah. You think that’s gross?” I stuffed her underwear into my jeans pocket. “I’m keeping these until later, and I’m going to snort them like a fucking perv on the long bus ride home as some sort of demented foreplay before I come back and eat you.”

***

Jayce seemed distracted as we waited in line for coffee. “My treat,” I said when we got to the register.

“Thanks.”

He was quiet even when we sat down. “What’s up with you? You look like someone killed your dog.”

Jayce forced a smile. “Just tired, I guess.”

“New fiancée wearing you out already, old man?”

My brother stared down at his cup. “She’s pregnant.”

Not exactly the direction I expected this conversation to go. “Wow. Umm…congratulations.”

He raked fingers through his hair. “I really like her a lot.”

“You don’t love her?”

He shook his head. “No. I wish I did.”

“Then why did you ask her to get married?”

“It was an accident.”

My brows rose. “An accident? How, exactly, do you accidentally propose to someone.”

His head dropped into his hands. “I don’t know. She told me she was pregnant, and she was upset. Obviously, it wasn’t planned. She was crying and said she’d always dreamed of getting married and having kids but not starting a family so young and on her own. I would never abandon her, and I didn’t want her to feel like she was doing it on her own.”

“So you asked her to marry you?”

Jayce yanked on his hair. “Fuck! I hated seeing her bawl, and it’s my responsibility, too.”

“Maybe she feels the same way? She might be scared and not want to marry you either. What did she say when you asked her?”

He slumped farther into his chair. “Her face lit up, and she jumped into my arms and said she loved me.”

Shit. Jayce is a stand-up guy. As much as it seems ludicrous that someone could accidentally ask someone to marry him—it made total sense when it came to my brother. In fact, he was such a good guy that I knew the answer to my next question before I even asked. “Did you tell her you loved her back?”

He looked at me. Of course he did.

When he picked up his coffee to drink, his hand was shaking so badly that he sloshed it all over the place.

“It’s gonna be okay, bro.”

“How?”

“You’ll talk to her. Tell her you care about her and you plan to support the baby, but you’re not ready to get married.”

Jayce stayed quiet for a long time. He looked deep in thought. “Why can’t I love her?” He mumbled. “She deserves better than a guy who can’t give her his heart because someone still has a piece of it.”

I closed my eyes.

My fucking heart broke for so many reasons.

Chapter 25

Natalia

I woke to an empty bed.

I’d left my phone somewhere in the living room, and there wasn’t a bedside alarm clock. The blinds were drawn, but the slats were open, and since no light was coming in, I guessed it wasn’t yet morning. But where was Hunter? I waited a few minutes to see if he’d just gotten up to get a drink or use the bathroom, but he didn’t come back, and the apartment had no sound of anyone moving around. Unable to fall back asleep, I wrapped a sheet around my naked body and went to look for the man whose arms I’d drifted off in.

All of the lights were off, but the city from beyond the sliding glass doors illuminated the apartment enough for me to see that Hunter wasn’t in it. Finding my phone, I checked the time—four-thirty in the morning. We’d only fallen asleep a couple of hours ago. Perhaps Hunter was an early riser gym rat?

This girl wasn’t, so I decided to head back to bed and get the answer when I woke back up in a few more hours. I was almost at the door to the bedroom when movement from the balcony caught my attention. Hunter was sitting outside.

I watched him for a few moments as he stared off into space. He looked deep in thought, almost troubled. Eventually I walked to the door and slid it open. He turned at the sound.

“Hey. What are you doing out here?” I asked.

“Just getting some fresh air.”

I pulled the sheet tighter around me. “It’s freaking cold.”

“Didn’t even notice.”

“You looked lost in thought. Anything you want to talk about?”

Hunter’s eyes met mine. He seemed to deliberate for a moment, but then he shook his head and looked away as he spoke.

“No. Just couldn’t sleep.” He stood. “Come on. Let’s get you back to bed.”

He was quiet as we walked back to the bedroom and even quieter as we slipped back into bed. Just like last night, he lay on his back and pulled me to him so my head rested on his chest. I listened to his heartbeat for a while, and even though I found it soothing, I still had an unsettled feeling.

Turning over from my side to my belly, I put two hands on Hunter’s chest and used them to prop up my head so I could see his face while I spoke.

“Do you have trouble sleeping often?”

“Sometimes.”

“Is it trouble falling asleep or staying asleep?”

“Both.”

“Is it because you have a lot on your mind?”

“Maybe.”

“You know what I heard helps with that?”

“What?”

“Giving more than a one-word answer,” I said sarcastically.

Hunter’s lip twitched. “You know what I heard helps?”

“What?”

He did some ninja-like move that flipped me onto my back, and suddenly he was hovering over me. “Strenuous physical activity.”

“Umm…how often do you wake up? Because if that’s the case, I might not be able to walk by Monday.”

The cloud that had shadowed his eyes only a few moments earlier seemed to lift. “Would you think I was a total dick if I admitted I’d love for you to burn every time you sit down on Monday?”

“You want me in pain?”

“No, I want you to remember what it felt like for me to be inside you.”

I was certain that wouldn’t be a problem. I raised my hands over my head and arched my back, hoisting my breasts toward his face. “Do your best, Mr. Delucia.”

***

Hunter had a few hours of work he needed to do, so I went down to the Italian grocery store I’d spotted at the corner to pick up something for lunch. We’d stayed up until after the sun rose and finally fallen back asleep until after ten. I’d woken to Hunter’s erection prodding me from behind as we spooned. The man had an insatiable appetite for sex.

I picked out all of my favorite finger foods to snack on for lunch—black olives, stuffed grape leaves, fresh mozzarella and tomatoes with basil, marinated mushrooms—rather than just a boring sandwich or something. By the time I got to the cash register, my handheld basket weighed a ton, and I’d managed to ring up eighty dollars worth of crap.

Hunter had given me a key to get back in, but my hands were too full, so I used my foot to knock. He came to the door with a pencil behind his ear, a pair of low-hanging sweatpants, and no shirt. Damn. All these good Italian snacks—and him.

“Sorry. I didn’t want to put everything down to use the key because one of the bags is starting to break. I think the olive container spilled because my hand is holding the groceries in.”

Hunter grabbed the two bags from my left arm and attempted to take the other.

“No, I got this one. I don’t want it to break.”

In the kitchen, Hunter peeked into the bags. “What is all this stuff? I thought you were going to the deli to get lunch?”

“This is lunch.”

He furrowed his brow and reached into one bag. “Cannolis?”

“It’s dairy. One of the four main food groups.”

Pulling another item from the bag, he held up a container of rainbow cookies.

I pointed. “That falls into breads and cereals.”

He lifted a brow.