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“Yeah, that they did.” Luke nodded.
“What did you do?” Andie asked, picturing the two men as younger versions of themselves punching it out in the front yard.
“I lost it, of course.” He shrugged as though it were hardly worth mentioning. “We fought, and she screamed. I was so pissed I think she was afraid I was going to kill him.” He paused for a moment, and she could see him reliving that memory in his head. “I think I might have if we hadn’t woken Logan. Jax was on the ground with me straddling him, and I was giving him everything I had, while Christy had an arm locked around my throat, trying to pull me off. But I felt nothing. Couldn’t feel my fists connecting. Couldn’t feel where he landed some blows of his own, and I sure as shit couldn’t feel her puny efforts to drag me away from him.”
Luke’s hands dropped to the table, and he braced his weight forward on his elbows and looked at her. “But my son’s crying stopped me in my tracks. I looked at Jax and then her. Both of them naked from the waist down, her hair and face a mess from sex and crying, him a mess from my fists… and I realized something.”
“What?” she asked, caught up in the drama of his story.
“I realized that neither of them mattered. None of us did, actually. Logan mattered. It never sank in until that moment that having a kid means you and your wants, needs, dreams, whatever, all take a back seat once you have a child. Logan didn’t ask to come into this world with a couple idiot kids who didn’t have the sense to use a fucking condom. That was on us, not him. But he was here, and from that moment on, my life was not only about me anymore.” He pushed up from the table and walked to the now infamous bay window to sit next to her, and Andie shifted in her chair to face him. “And it hasn’t been. There has not been a single decision I’ve made in the last nineteen years that didn’t start with me first thinking ‘how will this affect Logan?’ That’s how it’s supposed to be.” He put a hand on her knee. “That’s how it will be for you too. You’ll see. But don’t get me wrong. It’s a good thing. A great thing. Being his dad has sometimes been the only thing that’s kept me going.” When her eyes filled with tears again, Luke shifted closer to her until his legs were bracketing hers and he had both her hands in his.
“How this happened between us sucks. I know. And I’ve been a world-class dick to you—I know that too. But this kid? This kid is going to be just fine. He’s going to be amazing.”
“You don’t know that. How can you know that?” she asked as all the fears and endless possible tragedies paraded through her mind with one horror after another. “What if it’s deformed? I’ve had wine almost every week since you and I were together. And what about crib death? Or—”
“Shhh.” Luke squeezed his legs tight to hers and brought their clasped hands up to kiss the back of her cold fingers. “None of that is going to happen. So what if you’ve had some wine before you found out? You’re not the first person that’s happened to. And the baby is going to be healthy and strong. All you’re going to do by worrying is make yourself sick. So stop torturing yourself with those thoughts.”
“How are we going to do this, Luke?” Andie’s voice cracked on his name, and she looked at him and let all her fears and doubts show. “We don’t even like each other.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Luke’s smile was crooked, and he gave her the briefest of winks. “We liked each other pretty damn good for a while there.” When Andie blushed and looked down at where he still held her hands in his, he touched his fingertips to her cheek. “And if I hadn’t been such an ass that night, things would have went differently for us. We could be celebrating right now instead of panicking.”
She smiled at him and answered, “No. I’m pretty sure I’d still be freaking out.”
“Fair enough,” Luke replied.
“How are we going to manage this then?” she asked. “Doctor visits and birthing classes. Are you going to want to be there for all that?” Andie looked at him and hoped she didn’t look as desperate as she felt.
“Of course.” Luke scooted as close as he could get without pulling her into his lap and clasped their joined hands to his chest. “Andie. Of course I want to be there. This is my child, and the visits and classes and the birth… that’s all part of it. I wouldn’t dream of making you go through this alone. To be honest, it’s not even about you going it alone; it’s more about not wanting to miss out. I was a scared, dumb kid the first time around. This time, I know how important those things are and how fast time is going to fly by.” He brought their hands up and kissed her fingers again then spoke so she felt the damp warmth of his next words seep into her with the solemn promise of an oath. “I’m going to take every step with you, Andie, and I promise I’m going to be the best father I can be.”
With a sob of relief, Andie threw herself against him and clung. Somehow, she believed him. God knew she’d seen for herself the type of father he was already through Logan. That was a fantastic kid who was kind and hardworking and respectful, and if that didn’t speak to the type of parent Luke was, then she didn’t know what did.
“Thank you,” she sobbed in her watery, hiccupping voice. “I was so scared. I didn’t know how you were going to react. You know, I thought you were going to be mad at me or try to push me to get rid of it. I thought the least you were going to do was tell me it was my problem. And yet here you are. Being all wonderful and supportive.”
“Yeah, well,” Luke said as he shifted her to a more comfortable position in his lap before he settled back against the cushions. “I can’t blame you for thinking any of those things after the way I behaved that night. And ever since.” When she stilled at his mention of their night together, Luke paused for a moment to take a deep breath. “I never apologized for that night. I should have. Hell, I should have never acted like that in the first place. There’s no excuse for it. None. I panicked. I was ticked at myself for getting carried away, and instead of owning it, I turned on you.”
“You wanted me to take the morning-after pill,” she whispered into the hollow where his neck met his shoulder, and the words nestled there like a venomous cloud.
“I said that.” Luke gave a curt nod, owning his actions, and Andie respected him for not hedging or adding on clarifiers to soften or deflect. “I said a lot of stupid things I regretted the minute I walked out of that room. And that was at the top of the list. I can tell you honestly and with absolute truth that I’m delighted you didn’t.” He put a hand over her tummy, low where their baby grew within her. “I’m not saying this is going to be ideal or even easy, but my child is in here, and a part of me—a very large part—is thrilled.”
Andie placed her hand over his and looked up at him with her head still resting on his shoulder. “You have the most beautiful eyes. I wonder if the baby will get them.” She didn’t realize she’d spoken that aloud until he answered her.
“I don’t know. Yours are pretty incredible. I’d say the kid would be luckier to get yours.” Then Luke kissed the tip of her nose. Gently and with all the tenderness he’d been showing since she put that stick in his hand. It caused her breath to hitch, and her fingers tightened over his. When he trailed his lips up to brush them light as a feather across her forehead, she felt her eyes drift closed in surrender. He kissed at her temple then pressed harder, and she felt his hold on her tighten as he took a deep breath. The wave of tenderness she felt flowing from him overwhelmed her, and Andie wanted nothing more than to stay right where she was and let him hold her forever.
With a soft groan, his kisses got firmer. He trailed them from her temple to her ear then her neck. Andie clung to his shoulders and arched into his embrace as everything melted away under his lips.
“Jax.” She breathed the word just in time to stop him as he was about to kiss her open and waiting mouth. It worked. Luke jolted as though she jabbed him with something sharp.
“What was that?” he asked, pulling back to look into her eyes.
“Jax,” she panted out, trying to rein in the passion he ignited. “I’ve been seeing Jax since I got into town.”
“Oh.” Luke’s expression cooled, and the arms around her loosened. “I see. Well, I wasn’t aware of that. Logan never said anything about seeing him there.”
“Hey.” Andie hated to see the return of the cold stranger he’d been these last weeks. She laid her hand on his cheek and lightly kissed the corner of his mouth. “I haven’t slept with him. We’re just starting out and seeing how we fit and get along. I didn’t know what he’d done to you back then.”
“So?” Luke looked at her with a steely glint in his eye that told Andie he was not over the pain of his best friend’s betrayal. “Are you going to keep seeing him now?”
“Now that I know he slept with his best friend’s girl?”
