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“Go on.” I waved a hand. “Ask me twenty questions then.”
“Oh, I don’t have to guess. I already know Ina is the reason you’re grinnin’ like the Grinch after he stole Christmas.”
I nearly broke my neck as I jerked my head in Harley’s direction. Instantly, he smirked. “Ye’ve had that stupid grin on your face since both you and little miss country came back from your apartment last night, so give it up. Did ye fuck her?”
I shouldn’t have been surprised that Harley was wise to me. He knew me like the back of his hand.
“No,” I replied honestly. “We just kissed.”
“Just kissed?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “Look, long story short, she’s into me like I’m into her, but she’s scared. Sex is a ways off, and I’m cool with that. She wants to go slow.”
My brother looked and sounded astonished when he said, “Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously,” I answered. “I hafta do this right with her, Harls.”
“Fuckin’ hell, Date.” My brother whistled. “This isn’t just a ploy to fuck her … ye want her, don’t ye? Ye want to be with her?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I do. I don’t know when me priorities shifted, but it’s not just about sex anymore. It’s about a fuck load more than that. I don’t even understand how much more meself, but I want to find out. She’s important to me.”
He considered this for a moment. We watched our father enter the hangar to give Gavin a hand with the car he was working on. They worked together while chatting about a TV show they were both watching.
“Da will kill ye, ye know?”
“He won’t because he won’t find out until we both know things have a solid future,” I said pointedly. “We’re keepin’ it private, which means you have to keep your mouth shut.”
“Who am I gonna tell? JJ hates gossip, Ry and Dame are off-limits because of their women, Gavin is out ’cause he tells Bronagh and Alannah everythin’, and Aideen will announce it to the world if I tell her. You’re the only person I bitch with apart from Ina durin’ me cuppa pit stops at her desk.”
I smiled. “Don’t let on to her that ye know either. She’s worried Da will sack her.”
“He’d sack one of us quicker.” Harley chortled. “He loves her already, says she’s his work daughter.”
“I know,” I mused. “He’ll be fine with us once he knows I’m not gonna—”
“Date her?”
“Exactly.” I nodded as Gavin’s phone rang. “Me old ways of datin’ are done with. I have to find new ways for Ina.”
“I’ve got one thing to say to that.”
“Lay it on me.”
“Bagsy being best man at your weddin’.”
Both Harley and I laughed, but our attention jerked to our baby brother when he dropped his tools to the floor with a clatter. He was clutching his phone against his ear. A wave of silence washed over the hangar.
“What?” Gavin shouted. “Are ye serious, Branna?”
Harley and I made our way over to our brother instantly.
“What?” he croaked. “I’m on me way! Tell her I’m on me way right now!”
I shared a look with my father before we both stared at my little brother, who was so pale I worried he might collapse.
“Kalin is in labour,” he spluttered. “That was Branna Slater, she said Kalin asked her to phone me. Her water broke a few hours ago, and she’s in the hospital. She didn’t want to worry me in case labour took a long time, but she’s already nine centimetres dilated, which means she’s nearly ready to start pushin’ the baby out.” He looked at me, his body now trembling. “I can’t miss me son being born, Dante.”
I hadn’t heard him call me Dante since he was a little boy. He was scared.
Reaching out, I gripped his shoulder. “Ye won’t,” I said firmly. “We’re goin’ to the hospital. Come on.”
“I’ll hold down the fort here with the lads and Ina,” Harley said. “Don’t worry about a thing.”
Harley gave Gavin a hug, then we left. Our da followed us without a word. We were surprisingly quiet on the drive to the hospital, and with every passing minute, Gavin looked like he was about to burst with anxiety. After thirty minutes, we pulled into the car park of the Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital, and together, the three of us jogged into the lobby of the hospital. I looked at the sign and pointed towards the stairs.
“The labour ward is on the third floor.”
The three of us tried to head for the stairs, but a security guard stopped us.
“No visitors, no exceptions.”
“I’m not a visitor,” Gavin snapped. “Me missus is up there. She’s about to have our baby. I need to be there.”
The man confirmed Kalin’s name before he gave Gavin the go-ahead.
“Go.” Da patted Gavin’s back. “Be strong for Kalin and your boy. You’re goin’ to do great, son.”
