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“Order up.”
Shit. Not so lucky after all.
I grabbed two plates, placing them on their table, and then headed back to the pass. The last two plates were Moira’s and her bitchy friend, so I had to lean over the table to place them in front of them.
“What’s that?” Moira asked, her voice higher than I’d ever heard it.
I pulled back and frowned. “Erm…your order?”
“No.” She stood, knocking over her glass of water in the process. “That.” Her arm was extended, her finger pointing at me. “What the fuck is that?”
“Moira!” the auburn-haired woman gasped. “Don’t curse, it’s unbecoming.”
“I don’t give a shit, Layla. Move the hell over.”
The auburn-haired woman—Layla—pushed out of the booth to let Moira out, and I stepped back, my eyes widening. This would have been the perfect time for Jan to have been on this shift with me, but she had a meeting at Aria’s school, so we’d swapped.
“Well?” Moira asked. “What the hell is it?”
“I don’t know…” I trailed off and followed her gaze, realizing she was staring at my small bump. “I…”
“He knocked you up?” Her face was pale, but when she looked me in the eyes, I saw the burning anger behind them. “You fuckin' whore!”
She dove for me, but I sidestepped her. “Stop,” I told her, holding my hand up in front of me. “Just stop.” I could tell she was gearing up to dive at me a second time, but I wouldn’t let myself be put in that kind of position again. I’d taken enough of that from the people who were meant to love me, so there was no way I’d take it from her.
“You trapped him!”
“No, I didn’t.” I shook my head. “I’m sorry he hurt you—we hurt you—I’m sorry, Moira.” I placed my hand on my chest, my fingers tingling to go lower and press against my bump, but I forced myself not to. “I really am sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave. This is not the time or place to—”
“Are you kidding me? You’re telling me to leave? You think because you stole my husband that you can—”
“She didn’t steal anything,” a deep voice rumbled from behind me, and a second later, a hand curled around my hip.
Moira’s eyes narrowed, her gaze flicking from Brody and me to her friends who were staring at us in shock. “Brody, please—”
“I warned you,” he said, his front coming flush with my back. “I warned you what would happen if you didn’t leave Lola alone.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I would.”
The silence swirled around them, and I closed my eyes, wishing I wasn’t the center of this, but I was. We’d caused this. No one ever said the road to happiness was one without any rocks blocking the way. Life was hard, full of hurt, anger, and heartbreak. It had made us stronger, but it wasn’t easy to navigate.
“I hate you,” she sneered at him.
“Good.” His hand gripped my hip tighter. “You’ll have the restraining order delivered within the hour.” I wanted to ask what he meant by that, but I was tired. And not just because I was growing a human inside me.
“Let’s go,” Brody whispered in my ear, and I nodded, letting him lead me out of the diner. I didn’t change my uniform, and I didn’t even get my bag. I knew Brody had a key to my apartment, and right then, all I wanted was to go home and curl up in bed.
“I’ll do it,” I told Brody when we stopped next to his car. It was now or never. There wouldn’t be a right or wrong time to tell him, so I figured just telling him would work as well as anything.
He pulled the passenger door open and glanced at me, questions burning in his eyes. “You’ll do what?”
I stepped closer, wrapped my arms around his waist, and looked up at him. “I’ll move in with you.”
“You will?” He flashed me a small smile, and I glanced at the light dusting of hair on his jaw.
“I will.” I lifted up onto my tiptoes, stared into his eyes, and whispered, “I’m taking a leap with you.”
