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“At least they’re protecting him.” I shrug, trying to see the positive in the shitty green chaos that is my life.
“It’s industrial,” she repeats.
“Meaning?” I ask with a raised brow.
“Meaning it’s not going to come off for a while.” Her bottom lip trembles, and my heart freefalls, so without thinking, I tug her toward me.
“It’s okay, sweetheart, just a bit of fucking paint.”
She clings to my shirt as sobs rack through her, and all the while, I stroke her silky blonde locks in a motion that comforts me as much as her. “I’m pregnant,” she blurts out, making my body still.
Oh shit.
And just like that, her sister is pushed to the back of my mind. I’m determined to not let a damn thing upset our perfect life.
Chapter
Seventeen
COLE
Tia was desperate to get out of the apartment while Harper is at school, so she joined Jace and me at the gym. We have Mia with us, who was asleep in the office with Lucas until she started fussing, so much so that Jace became angsty. It took his mind off the ball, and Stone, the fighter we’re training, did a roundhouse kick on the side of his face and sent him to the ground with a crack I felt in my gut.
Luckily, Jace is a powerhouse in his own right, and it takes more than a swollen jaw and a fall to knock him out. He batted away Tia’s attempts to stick an ice pack on the side of his face and stomped into the office, returning a few minutes later with Mia in her buggy, announcing he was taking her home for her afternoon nap.
Tia narrowed her eyes at Jace, but he shook his head and told her to stay, so she kicked her legs up onto the chair with a grin and began reading TL Swan’sThe Takeover, a book she’s been enthralled in ever since.
Stone lands a series of solid punches to the boxing pads I’m holding, the force so strong I stumble. Jesus, the man is one hell of a built motherfucker with a punch so tough I swear he could break steel. My lip quirks up at my own analogy.
“Should have called you Steel. Stone is too pussy for you.” I laugh toward him.
Sweat oozes from the dude, and his blue eyes narrow toward me. “Pussy, huh?”
I already regret my words but don’t have time to rethink it. He takes one step back, and before I can even calculate his next move, he lands a solid punch to my gut, and the pain sears through me and I choke on thin air. The son of a bitch laughs, swiping away the sweat from his forehead.
“Fucker,” I grunt out, trying to straighten without wincing, and drop the gloves to the floor while I bend over to catch my breath.
My stare locks onto Tia, and a sliver of unease creeps down my spine when I watch her eyes roam over Stone’s solid form.
The guy is built as wide as he is tall and is covered in tattoos he got in an attempt to cover a multitude of scars. I’ve often wondered what happened to the man for him to have received such torture but never dared to question it.
But right now, I couldn’t give a shit less about his scars, what I care about is my girl’s eyes are on another man.
What the actual fuck?
Without giving it another thought, I surge forward, slamming my fist into his chuckling mouth, catching him off guard.
He stares back at me unmoving and eyes wide, then he glances over his shoulder toward Tia, and every muscle in my body locks up tight at the fact he’s giving her attention, but only for a few seconds before his stare freezes over my shoulder. I sense Lucas watching us, and his eyes drill into the back of myhead, the heat from his judging stare has my jaw clenching. Jealousy is rife in my bloodstream and boils so furiously I feel like I’m becoming unhinged, and my chest heaves.
Was he eyeing up Stone too?
Do they both want him?
My feet remain frozen, unable to move, and an atmosphere of uncertainty ripples through the air as none of us make a sound. No one acknowledging the fact I struck one of our fighters when I shouldn’t have. And worse, it was done out of sheer jealousy.
Stone moves first, unwrapping the bindings on his hands as if he’s about to leave. And with that thought, I spring forward. “Stone, dude I shouldn’t have—”
He holds his hand up and looks up from his hands to face me. “I got it, man.” A low strangled chuckle escapes him, a sound I’ve never heard from him before. “We’re all good. I have somewhere to be, but we can do another session on Thursday, yeah?”
