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Rowdy proposed to me!
He kissed me!
Holy moly, what a kiss.
“Stop.” I cover my eyes.What a freakin’ mess!
“It’s not good if you’ve taken to pacing and talking to yourself.” Lili’s compassionate smile greets me as I take in her t-shirt and cutoff jean shorts, looking more like a hot teenager than a momma.
My lip trembles with relief at the sight of her. “No, not good at all.”
Hugs and a few tears later, we’re sitting on the couch facing each other. She has a glass of red, and I have an iced tea with extra lemon and no artificial sweetener.
“First things first.” She eyes my glass. “Why am I the only one drinking? I thought this was an emergency calling for commiserating over libations.”
“It does. Only…”
Her gaze flits to my growling stomach and back to me. “Only?”
I set my tea on the coffee table and scoot to the edge of the cushion, ready for a quick departure if her reaction to keeping this secret from her turns bad. Which I fear is the only way it can go. “Let me preface this by saying I wanted to tell you, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to put you or Donovan in a tough spot by keeping a secret from Gabriel.”
Her brow puckers, and she takes a drink of her wine. Setting it aside, she mimics my position on the couch. “Noted. There’s nothing you could tell me that would make me have to take sides between you two. Except maybe—”
“I’m pregnant.”
“—that! Oh…” She stands and walks away and then back to me. She takes a deep breath, visibly shaken by my news. “To be clear: you’re pregnant withGabriel’sbaby?”
“Yes! Who else’s would it be?”
“Rowdy’s?”
“No! We aren’t… We haven’t… It’s not like that,” I settle on, finally finding the thought I need to convey.
“And it’s not Austin’s?”
I rear back. “God, no. But he did knock up the woman he cheated with.”
“What?”
“Yeah, he told me the day I fell down the stairs. It might be why I fell down the stairs. I was pretty messed up. Not because I wanted him back, but because he was living our future with someone else. It’s a hard blow to take.” I sit back. “Turns out I was pregnant too. I just didn’t know it.”
Contemplative, she sits next to me, leaning back. “Wow. Give me a sec. It’s a shocker.” She takes a large gulp of her wine. “You sure you don’t want a sip?”
I drank too much when I was first pregnant, not knowing I was. I have no intention of having another drink while this precious one is still inside me. “I’m sure. But I could eat.” I rub my stomach as it rumbles in response.
She smiles. “Obviously.”
We order food as she processes my news. Once the waitress leaves, I turn to Lili. “I feel I should get all the news out, give you a chance to digest it all at once instead of hitting you over the head again and again.”
“Whoa, that bad, huh?”
“Maybe not bad, but shocking.”
She sits up, bracing herself. “Go for it.”
“Well, first Cap and the guys found out today. Not by choice, I kinda got sick in front of all of them, and, well, they figured it out. They promised not to tell Gabriel. Cap too, but he’s upset with me for keeping it from him. Understandably.”
“Cap will forgive you. He needs time to process.” She pats my leg. “Do youplanon telling Gabriel?”
