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The man in front of me blinked. His expression had changed from disdain to surprise to maybe a little bit of sympathy—but now I’m pretty sure I just imagined all those emotions—because he was definitely tossing haughty contempt at me now.
Stepping close, he leaned his face down toward me, and he spoke quietly but succinctly. ?
??You just say no.”
I gulped, feeling my skin chill to a horrible dread. Glaring petulantly into his dark, nearly black eyes, I ignored the panic and fear over how much worse I’d made things for Duke by being with him, and I growled, “Well then, I guess I just fucked up, huh?”
Now if he could kindly step aside so I could go home and bawl over just how terrible I was, I’d really appreciate it.
From behind me, I heard bare feet shuffle forward.
Oh damn.
Then I flinched into the face of the man glaring at me as my one-night stand sleepily rumbled, “What in the Sam Hill is all this arguing about out here?”
“Did I just give you a death sentence by not saying no last night?” I demanded, whirling around to arch my eyebrows pointedly at him for putting me in this awkward situation. But as soon as I faced him, I shrieked, “Oh my God,” and lifted my hand to block my view of him. “Where are your clothes?”
Duke snickered. “What’s the big deal? It’s not like you didn’t see everything last night.”
I closed my eyes and groaned, wondering how my life had descended into this. Probably because I was a bleeding heart who couldn't say no. Oh, you’re dying? From cancer? And probably won’t ever get the chance to experience pleasure with a woman ever again? Well, okay. You can borrow my body for a minute. It’s alright. There, there now. And, sure, I’ll stay all night and cuddle, just because you need to feel whole again.
God, I was stupid. And what was worse; I didn’t know which man to believe: the one claiming I’d made everything worse or the one acting like everything was absolutely fine and normal. Because Duke did not look or act as bad off as everyone was saying he was.
When he yawned big and began to scratch his balls, I made a distressed, aggravated sound in the back of my throat and pressed both hands over my eyes. “If I had known being with me would make things worse for you,” I started, but his snort cut me off.
“Honey, it doesn’t get much worse than this. I’ll be lucky if I survive the month. Who the fuck cares if I get my rocks off a little before I go?” I blew out a relieved breath as he added, “Don’t let my overprotective worrywart of a big brother get the best of you. You did not make anything worse for me. And I really appreciate what you did, okay?”
Slowly, I removed my hands from my eyes and blinked at him. “Okay. But—”
“No buts.” He lifted a finger to silence my concerns. “Just tell me last night was great and give me a hug goodbye.”
I paused horribly, unable to say any such thing about the night before. Because it’d been awkward, uncomfortable, and embarrassing, and absolutely nothing about it had been great for me. But I couldn’t upset Duke with the truth.
For some reason, I glanced toward Loom. He lifted an eyebrow as if daring me to admit how I really felt.
I scowled at him and then stepped toward Duke to hug him. “Thank you for last night,” I said against his frail chest.
No matter what I thought about the actual events, it’d been a learning experience I wouldn’t soon forget. And even though he didn’t act like someone who was dying, I couldn’t leave him with any kind of negativity.
Duke sighed gratefully and hugged me back, murmuring into my ear, “Thank you. And just ignore Vaughn. I usually do. He’s only jealous because you did something for me that he couldn’t.”
I cringed over that bit of inappropriateness, but I had to admit, the derisive answering snort that came behind me from the man who must be big brother Vaughn was pretty satisfying.
“Take care of yourself, will you,” I ordered gently. “And keep in touch. For as long as you can.”
He nodded and kissed my cheek. “Of course.”
I touched his shoulder as I pulled away and whispered, “Bye.”
When I turned, I nearly ran into his brother again, who was still scowling and still hovering.
He didn’t get a goodbye from me. I merely glowered back and edged around him, muttering, “Excuse me,” as I left.
I never saw Duke alive again. He didn’t contact me, and I never contacted him.
Three weeks after that morning, I attended his funeral.
And a week after that, I sank numbly onto the closed seat of my toilet in my bathroom, blinking in shock at the positive results of the home pregnancy test quivering in my hand.
