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At least I can give them some happy news this morning.
I’m sending them all a picture of Elodie when the chair next to me is pulled out. My head snaps up, thinking it’s Jack or Theo, but I’m surprised to see Axel sitting down instead.
“How ya doin, baby momma?” His black ball cap is pulled low over tired eyes as he wraps an arm around my shoulders and tugs me to him.
“Axel.” I hug him back. “We missed you yesterday. What are you doing here? I thought Jessie said the guys went home.”
“Yeah. They did. I talked to them this morning though. I just got in yesterday and missed the service. But I thought I’d check in. Are you back in town permanently? Did you and Sinclair figure your shit out? You know I’m always an option, right?”
I laugh him off. “Yeah. I know, and thank you for that. But you know Cooper has my heart. Even if we’ve still got a few things to talk about.” Just saying it out loud hurts, though, in a way I’m not sure will ever go away.
“You guys gonna talk soon?” Axe seems pushier than usual, but I’m so freaking tired, maybe it’s just me.
“I’m not sure, Axe. He’s still pretty mad.”
Axel’s hand, which had been resting on the back of my chair, begins playing with my hair, making me a little uncomfortable. “Do me a favor, baby momma. Can you tell Sinclair he’s got something of mine, and I want it back?” He tugs on my hair, pulling a little too hard on my scalp.
“I was never yours, Axe.” I try to laugh his innuendo off.
Axel lets go of my hair and taps the table with his hand. “Just tell him for me, okay?” He stands up and stares at me, waiting for an answer.
“Sure.” I hesitate at the uncomfortable vibes rolling off him. “I’ll tell him.”
“We could have been good together, Carys.”
Something about the look in his eyes puts me on edge, but I try to shake it off. I just need sleep. “Whatever you say, Axe.”
He laughs, then picks up my muffin and walks away.
That could possibly go down as my strangest conversation with Axel since I’ve known him. And I’ve had some strange ones during that time. Maybe we all need a little bit of sleep.
“Doyou think your brothers will be able to crack the flash drive?” Ford asks Rook as the three of us walk back into the hospital for the second time in twelve hours.
Rook glares back at Ford, annoyed. “Do you think I’d waste my time driving two hours if I didn’t think they could do something?”
“We should have known it would be encrypted. Axe isn’t stupid,” I groan, frustrated that we’re stuck until someone can get access to the drive. “He was always good with the tech stuff.”
“He knows how we operate, Sinclair. Nothing about this will be easy.” Ford’s entire demeanor changes as Jessie strolls into the lobby of the hospital, looking like unicorn glitter is about to explode from her body.
She jumps into Ford’s arms with a smile plastered to her face.
I look away while they kiss like they haven’t seen each other in months instead of hours.
“You guys should head up now. Jack and Theo just left, so it’s not too crowded.” She smacks Ford’s ass, and her smile grows. “And you should be quick about it, because I have another twelve-hour shift tonight. And once I crash, there’ll be no waking me up until I need to shower and get back here.”
Ford wraps his arms around her waist. “Oh, I can be quick.”
Rook coughs into his fist. “Not something to be proud of, brother.”
“Jealous, Rook?” Jessie counters before bouncing on her toes and kissing Rook and me both on our cheeks. “See you boys later.”
I watch her leave, then look at Ford. “Well, Jessie’s certainly in a great mood.”
“We haven’t wanted to say anything because it’s so early, but she’s pregnant. Today’s the first day of her second trimester. According to the doctor, the chances of complications go way down once you’re past the first twelve weeks. Add that to the fact she probably just held a brand-new baby, and yeah, Jessie’s on cloud nine.” Ford shoves his hands in his pockets like he’s embarrassed to be happy with everything else going on.
I clap him on the back. “Congrats, man. That’s amazing.”
“That’s one lucky kid,” Rook tells him. Then he adds, “Better you than me.”
