Page 138 of You Fall First

He frowns.

“Jo and me?” A hand flies up to rub the back of my neck. “Where? How? I don’t even do that crap.”

“Maybe not,” he says. “But Havenwood does.”

I heave a gust of air. “Now you really lost me.”

“They’ve been putting up posts all week. Pictures and reels about the fundraiser, and let’s just say you and Jojo gave yourselves away. Completely weirded me out, man.”

“But we didn’t …” I cut myself off to scour my brain for any picture I might’ve taken with Jo. Let alone a video. I come up empty.

“Yeah. That’s the point,” he says. “You didn’t pose for anything on purpose. But their PR team was hovering around, catching candids all night. And in every shot, you’re right there. Hand on her back, brushing up against her, making eyes at my sister like you couldn’t wait to get her alone. You were basically on top of her all night.”

“No way.” I drop my hand. Stiffen. “I’d never disrespect Jo like that. Or you.”

That earns me a sharp laugh. “Okay, fine. I might’ve exaggerated. But can you blame me? I felt pretty blindsided. And I can’t unsee it.”

I push out a breath. “Since when did you start checking Havenwood’s Instagram, anyway?”

“I don’t,” Dex says. “But Sayla does. She asked me to scroll and look at everything with a fine-toothed comb, or whatever. She thought maybe people could see her bump, but I told her it’s way too soon.”

“Hold up.” I take a beat, my brain processing the words. “What bump?” My eyes go wide. “As in …?”

His chin bobs. “Sayla’s pregnant.” The glimmer in his eye takes center stage for a moment. Dex is gonna be a father. A flicker of something like longing passes behind my ribcage.

“Wow. Congrats, man. That’s incredible.” I reach over to punch his shoulder. “Seriously. I’m so happy for you. I had no idea.”

“We told our parents. And I just told you. But that’s it. Next family dinner’s gonna be the big announcement to the rest of the crew.” Dex gives his head a shake, almost like he can’t believe the news himself. “Oh, and Sayla did puke on Jojo at the wedding, so she figured it out. But she promised not to tell anyone. I’m surprised she didn’t say something to you by now, given the way you two are all over each other.”

I lean forward, eyes pinned to Dex, zeroing in so he hears me. “We weren’t all over each other,” I insist. “I wouldn’t treat Jo that way, ever. And you’re selling her short, thinking she can’t be trusted.”

Dex works his jaw back and forth. “Yeah, well, she’s my little sister,” he says. “I guess I see her different, man.”

“She’s a woman.”

“Careful.”

“For real though. She’s all grown up, Dex. And yeah, I’m a bit older⁠—”

“Seven years.”

“Six and a half,” I shoot back. “Ish.”

“Not sure about your calculations there, buddy. But either way, Jojo is Paige’s age. How would you feel if one of your boys⁠—”

“We aren’t talking about Paige,” I interrupt, not unkindly. Just firm. “But if someone cared about her the way I care about Jo⁠—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Dex shakes out his hands and rolls his head around like he’s cracking his neck. “Let me stop you before you start detailing exactly how you care about my baby sister.”

“You need to know, though. Because I’m not just messing around here. Jo is important to me. She’s special.”

“You think I don’t know how special Jojo is?” He swallows. “How special all my sisters are?”

I take a beat. Fair enough. The man clearly adores his siblings, including the one they lost. His protectiveness makes sense. And the way he’s always made space in his life for his family is beyond admirable.

He never moved away from them, either. Honestly, I always wanted to be more like him, which is part of why I pushed so hard to get Paige and Dutton here.

So I can’t fault the guy for having questions.