AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Abbie shot me a questioning look, but I ignored it. Instead, I pulsed my fingers once against hers, a silent signal to keep her mouth closed, and miracle of miracles, she did.
Next to Darren, his son Kyle scoffed quietly and took a deep swallow of his beer, pretending he didn’t see my glare. I’d met Kyle a few times over the years—he was about the same age as me and Abbie, and he’d visited the Bay on weekends and in the summer—and he was a dick. Beside me, Abbie swept her thumb over the inside of my wrist, which she probably thought was soothing, but it only added to my heightened emotions as I registered the condescension in Darren’s eyes. Darren’s and almost everyone else’s looking at us around that table. And suddenly, I wasn’t only angry, I was riding a rush of protectiveness—possessiveness—for Abbie and my child.
“Nice to see you again, Kyle.” I nodded in Kyle’s direction, but the flatness of my voice didn’t match my polite words. “Keeping busy?”
Kyle shrugged in a phoney way that made my lips twist. “My property portfolio made a quarter of a million last year. Life could be worse.”
I jerked my chin and forced a tight smile. “Good for you.”
On Kyle’s other side, his mother Melody smiled uncertainly at me, then at Abbie and the baby. “So, things between you two are serious now?”
“We’ve always been serious,” I answered before Abbie could tell everyone I was her piece on the side.
“Abbie’s never been serious with anyone in her life, have you, Abs?” Kyle shot me a look like we were in on a secret, and I threw up a little in my mouth.
“Now, Kyle,” Nancy said, a whisper of impatience in her voice. “That’s not true.”
Kyle shook his head and set his beer on the table before cutting into his steak. “Never thought I’d see the day when Abigail shacked up with one man, not to mention a baby that’s not even hers.”
“Kyle!” Melody hissed.
Kyle looked surprised. “What?”
My blood boiled. Where did this arsehole get off degrading Abbie in front of everyone? In front of me? She was tough enough not to let comments like this bother her, but when I glanced her way, the expanse of skin beneath her collarbone was mottled with a gentle pink flush, and that impulse to protect her surged again.
I gritted my teeth instead of reaching over the table and decking the guy like he deserved. “Not that we owe anyone any explanations, but Abbie and I have been serious for a while. I met Seb’s mother more than a year ago, and Seb’s just come into my life. I wasn’t expecting it, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.” Abbie’s grip on my hand grew tighter, and I turned to make sure she knew my next words were for her. “And I couldn’t do it without Abbie. She’s fantastic with him. Caring and capable and confident. Watching these two together is one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen.”
Her honey-brown eyes widened a little, and her tongue slipped over her bottom lip. And although my irritation with her still flickered in my chest, it was nothing compared to the disgust I felt for her family or the urge I had to defend her. I clung to her hand and willed her to believe me.
Kyle snorted, and his mother hit his arm with the back of her hand. “I think what Kyle means to say is, we never imagined Abigail as the nurturing type. She’s never been what anyone would call maternal.”
“Or monogamous,” Kyle muttered under his breath.
I ignored the weasels on the other side of the table because Abbie was still lost in my eyes. My gaze traced the lines of her exquisite face, and something about this moment felt too honest to take for granted. I squeezed her hand again. “Abigail is the best thing to ever happen to me and to Seb. He adores her. We both do.”
I wish I could say the moment at the table solved everything, and I left all the emotional bullshit at Aunt G’s house, but the sideways looks and not-so-subtle digs about our relationship kept coming well into the afternoon, and by the time we got in the car to go home, I’d hit my limit. I was too pissed off and too wrapped up in my own stuff to put two civil words together.
“All right,” Abbie declared ten minutes into the silent drive. “I could do without all this”—she waved her palm at me—“energy. Are you going to tell me what your problem is or not?”
I flexed my fingers on the steering wheel. “Not.”
“My family are pains in the arse, and they were worse than usual today. I get that. I’m sorry.”
“That’s not it.”
“Then tell me what’s wrong.”
I clenched my jaw and concentrated on the road. There was too much to say, and I didn’t know how to articulate it yet. I couldn’t even get it straight in my own head, and if I tried to explain it out loud, I’d only make a fool of myself. I wasn’t up for more humiliation.
When Abbie realised I wasn’t going to answer her, she crossed her arms and looked out her window. “Fine.”
Seb slept for the entire half-hour drive, so the car was tense and quiet. When we got back to the loft, we unpacked and took Seb upstairs in silence.
By the time I was due to head down to the bar, irritation still churned under my skin, only now I was feeling foolish about it. Two hours of thinking had taken me nowhere other than back to a truth I’d known for years. Abbie didn’t think I was capable of being anyone’s partner, let alone hers. That was why we’d made the pact in the first place, and that was why she told her family our relationship was barely more than casual. Who’d believe that Will Kidd would settle down? And if they did, who in their right mind would believe that he’d managed to land someone as unattainable as Abbie?
“I’ll be back late,” I said as I collected my phone and keys and got ready to leave.
“No problem.” Abbie looked up from where she was sitting across from Seb in his highchair, spooning pureed pumpkin into his open, eager mouth. “See if you can find a better mood down there, will you? I’m not vibing with this one.”
