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“Nope.” Mick smiles cheerfully while Rachel winces and mouths an apology at me.
I roll my eyes, shaking my head and rushing out the truth. I say it so fast, I’m surprised they keep up with me, but once I’m done, I scan their faces and know they must have heard it all.
“Wow.” Asher’s head jolts back.
Liam cringes, running a hand through his hair. “That’s messed up, man.”
“What are you gonna do?” Ethan’s face is etched with concern.
I shrug. “What can I do? I just have to wait and find out if one, she’s keeping it, and two…” My face bunches. “If I’m the dad.”
“What?” Rachel’s face puckers. “But… you’re in love with her.”
“I never said that,” I snap.
Mick snorts. “You didn’t have to. It’s obvious.”
“Which means you being the biological father or not makes zero difference.” Rachel moves into my line of sight, forcing me to look at her. I could just shift my head, but her gaze is kind of magnetizing. She looks so full of fucking certainty right now. “This isn’t all about the baby. I mean, sure, I’m not saying raising someone else’s child would be easy, but if you love her…” She lets the sentence dangle, obviously hoping I’ll agree with her. I clench my jaw and look at the wall, but she keeps talking anyway. “Which you do, by the way, whether you deny it or not. You can’t just throw that all aside because of… of DNA.”
I glance back in time to see her eyebrows pucker.
“You want to be with Caroline, and you’re hurting because she lied to you. But I get why she did it.” Her lips curl into a grin. “She wants you. She loves you. And she knew you’d never give her the time of day unless she did something drastic.”
“Well, that’s true,” Mick murmurs, her nose wrinkling. “And you’ve got to admit, it’s kind of cool that she did; otherwise, you never would have known how great and amazing it is to be in love.”
I poke out my tongue like I’m going to gag. “Amazingly painful, don’t you mean?”
“It doesn’t have to be. You’re the one sitting here moping and being all angry and sad. All you have to do is call her. Forgive her. Tell her how much she means to you.”
“Tell her you don’t want to lose her,” Rachel continues for Mick. “Tell her that even if the baby’s not yours, that doesn’t matter, because you love her and this baby is a part of her, so you’ll love it too.”
“What if it’s Ben’s?” My stomach roils.
“Then it’s Ben’s, and you’ll co-parent. You’ll make it work.” Liam shrugs like it’s simple. “Besides, she still might decide to abort the pregnancy.”
Rachel frowns. “But I want to see Casey be a baby daddy. Can you imagine how cute he’ll be with a kid? Talk about adorable.” She starts to beam.
With a groan, I scrape my fingers through my hair. “It’s not that easy.”
“Yeah, it’s gonna be really hard.” Ethan nods. “But you just have to make a choice. It really comes down to if you want to be with Caroline or not. If you think you can move on and be happy without her, give that a try, but…” He tips his head. “Speaking from experience, the love thing is kinda cool.”
“Only kinda cool?” Mick jumps off the end of the bed with an indignant frown. “Boy, you better talk that shit up right now.”
He grins. “Being in love is a solid nine out of ten.”
Her lips part like she’s insulted, but she’s fighting a grin already. Looking at Rachel, she shrugs. “Looks like someone’s not having sex for a month again. Thought he would have learned his lesson the first time, but maybe he’s just really stupid.” She winks at Ethan while Rachel starts to laugh.
“Being in love with you—” Ethan jumps off the bed, grabbing her shirt and pulling her close. “—is a solid eleven out of ten.”
Caroline’s a twelve.
The thought whistles through me as Mick flicks her fingers, demanding more. “That’s better. Keep going.”
“It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“Because I am…” She waves her hand in the air.
“A pain in the ass?” He scratches his chin.
