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“Thewholesummer. Since we’ll be married by the end of it, Rory needs as much help as she can get,” Cole reiterates, and it stings as hard as the first time. “You think you can handle that?”
Maybe I hadn’t been as convincing as I thought. The reluctance in Cole’s gaze tells me so.
I shrug indifferently. The alcohol in my system has loosened my limbs, helping in my attempt to appear disinterested.
“Shouldn’t be a problem. I mostly live up here anyway.”
Eli raises a brow. “So does that mean you won’t be coming back down for the engagement party?” he asks, sounding almost too eager.
Bitch.
“When did you suddenly become my personal calendar? Of course, I’m coming.”
“So, it won’t be an issue if Hailey does come back?”
My hands stretch out, halting the what-ifs and maybes. “We don’t know anything for sure, but if…” I lift a shoulder, stalling.“Ifshe does come back, I won’t be the one to make a scene. I’ll keep my hands to myself and be on my best behavior.”
My two friends share a less-than-enthusiastic response, and it hurts. Wounds me, really. Do they have so little faith in me? So what if my track record is less than stellar? At least they can say I’m not a buzzkill which is what they’re currently being.
I look back down at the dance floor.
Coach told me that I needed to start being more responsible, so I do theresponsiblething and wink down at the cutie who’s been eyeing me since I first sat down.
I’m watching the brunette run her hands through her hair as she sways her hips for me in her too-tight outfit when a grainy sound drawls from Cole’s lungs.
It’s so unlike him that it draws my full attention back to the table. Cole doesn’t get shaken easily.
“There’s one other thing,” he rasps.
I chance a peek at Eli, and his posture is as attentive as my own.
It must be something monumental for my friend to look so empty but full at the same time. His eyes are diluted but also happy, if that’s possible.
“Before Rory left, I walked in while she was packing, and I didn’t mean to see it, but I did. She left her bag open, and it was right there…”
A hot chill breaks over my skin.
“What did you find?” Eli asks, stealing the question right from my mouth.
“A kid’s toy, a stuffed animal. A rabbit,” he drops specifically.
My nose wrinkles. “You’re acting all nervous over some dumb toy?”
A humorless laugh bubbles from his mouth. “It wasn’t just some dumb toy,” he says, offended. “It was something you give to a child…a baby.”
“So what? You think Rory’s, like, pregnant?” I ask, doing nothing to hide my shock.
Cole’s voice cracks and it matches a thing that I wouldn’t compare to a laugh. I’ve never seen him act so reserved in my life.
He blinks and then his neck cranes to me and then Eli and then back. “Am I about to be a dad?”
I hear the hiss that pushes past Eli’s lips; neither of us has the answer to such an unexpected reveal.
When my thoughts start to outweigh the conversation, I head downstairs. Cole has put somewhat of a damper on the vibe for the night. Not that it isn’t exciting or happy news, just…unexpected.
Great, awesome. More grown-up things.
As soon as that brunette from earlier spots me, her eyes shine with both her drunkenness and her excitement. She doesn’t speak to me and so I reward her by letting her grind her ass against the swell underneath my jeans.
