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"He doesn't have a line in the sand he won't cross," Dexter says, coming to sit back at my side.
Jude comes to sit at my other side. "You two hit the gym," he barks. "Your stress will bleed into Love and the baby. Get it all out before you come back around."
Issac and Vince blink at Jude.
Issac swipes a hand over his face and nods. He comes over, pulling my mouth to his for a quick kiss.
He looks at Dexter and says, "I love you like my goddamn brother. We're finally getting back to a better place, but I'm real fucking serious right now. Get rid of everything. Clean house. You got me?"
"I'll help," Jude assures him.
"I'll do another run through your room after the gym," Vince offers.
"Okay," Dexter says, running his finger over my pulse. His jaw is so tight it looks like he might crack a tooth as he grinds his teeth together.
Issac and Vince head off. I glance between Dex and Jude.
Jude stretches his arm around my shoulder, giving Dexter a squeeze. "Teammates," he says cryptically. "Remember that."
"Yeah," Dexter says, cuddling close to my side. "I got it."
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Dexter Clark
"Whatcha doing?" Jude asks, popping his head in the door to my room a few days later. He's been up my ass the last couple days, but I do appreciate the support. It's weird, but not unwelcome.
"Nothing important," I tell him. "Why?"
"Come on, I've got a surprise for you." He turns and walks away without another word.
Obviously I pop up, following him out into the living room. He heads for the dining room that we never use, and I do a double take. There's a shit-load of baby stuff laid out all over the table.
"This is to be treated as a real baby for the rest of the afternoon," Jude says, placing the doll in my arms. "She's filled with water, so be careful."
"Seriously?" I ask. "This is your idea of teaching me about babies?"
A wide smile crosses his ridiculously handsome face. "I don't have any extra newborns lying around, so this will have to do."
"I think you overfilled it," I say, jiggling the weird doll with water in its body.
Who the hell knew they made such a thing? Not me.
"Stop," Jude says, grabbing my wrist as I bounce around the doll. "Treat it like it's an actual baby."
I roll my eyes, but when he gets close to my back my breath catches. He smells delicious.
"All right, fold the top corner of the blanket down to the middle," he says, nodding to the table.
I follow his instructions, and he beams.
"Excellent. Now gently pick up the baby and place her with her head above the top fold. That's the only part of her body that won't be swaddled when we're done."
I follow his directions as he watches like this is an actual human being instead of a doll filled with water. I think it's a little ridiculous, considering a baby will move a lot more, but I keep my mouth shut.
"Now you're going to pull the bottom right corner up to the left arm." Jude's warm breath fans over my neck as he speaks. "Here, let me help this time."
He grabs my hand, helping me pull the blanket up and then showing me how to wrap the sides. His huge hand slides under the doll.
