Chapter 23

Today was a fucking fantastic day. I felt like Izzy did a couple of weeks ago before school right now. Nothing could bring me down.

Pulling into the parking lot at Bob’s Diner, I headed around back to where Annie’s text had said to meet everyone on the oceanfront side of the building. It was a great day to eat outside. The breeze was that perfect balance of sunny and a touch of cool without being cold, and the beach surrounding the outdoor patio was animated, the locals taking advantage of one of the warmer December days before the colder weather hit.

My friends had snagged a table right at the front center edge of the patio. Izzy was perched on Tucker’s lap while they fed each other fries, her hand rubbing small circles on her stomach. It was like she’d popped a few days ago, a definite bump showing where the baby was now.

It was weird and still a lot to take in.

My eyes fell onto Annie next, and like she felt my gaze, she looked at me. Her eyes lit up, and I opened my arms, a huge, beaming smile lighting up her entire gorgeous face when her gaze snapped to my wrist.

She leapt up, running to me, and jumped into my arms. “You got it off!”

“I did.” I chuckled, twirling her around before setting her back down. She grabbed my wrist, running her hand along my arm like she still couldn’t believe it was free. I barely could either.

“So you’re clear for practice again? And the game?”

“For all of it. Healed just in time, right?” I said as we headed back to the table.

Izzy hopped up, giving me a hug, the bump on her belly pressing against me. Again. Weird. “This is so awesome, Jet. It doesn’t hurt at all, does it? You can play?”

“I can.”

“Thank God, man.” Tucker bumped fists with me as he pulled Izzy back onto his lap, and I slid into the chair beside Annie. “I know Zane got benched, but it’s been hard trying not to retaliate. If you’d missed the championship game…” Tucker’s jaw clenched, his eyes hardening.

“I know. We barely made it through the semi-finals last weekend.”

“Is Coach putting you in or leaving Daniel? Since you just got your cast off?” Tucker asked, his brow creasing. “It’s pretty shit if he doesn’t play you, but Daniel did get y’all there through the playoffs.”

No shit. Talk about surprised. And thankful. I’d coached him in the position as much as I could during practices while he’d taken my spot. “I called Coach on the way here. He said if practice goes well this week and I’m not in any pain, the game’s mine on Friday.”

Annie wrapped herself around my arm, squeezing. “I’m just so freaking excited. I’m so happy for you that you get to finish the season. No thanks to certain assholes that shall not be named.” She scowled, her eyes drifting to a spot out on the beach.

I followed her gaze to where Zane was flirting with a couple of cheerleaders, teaching them how to throw a football. One placed a hand on his chest, an open invitation in the look she sent him as he wrapped himself around her back, and Zane smirked, his eyes eating up the promise. It was like watching the old version of Tucker, with a high dose of manipulation.

The twins rolled their eyes before sharing a look, and my eyes narrowed in suspicion as I watched Zane’s gaze shift to Izzy. It was all a front. The fucker still wasn’t letting her go. I just couldn’t figure out what his next move would be.

Not even mentioning to the rest of them that Zane was watching, I flagged down a waitress, and the four of us spent the next hour or so chatting and laughing as we ate. When it started to get dark, Tucker and I got up to toss our trash from the table.

“Fuck,” he groaned, seeing Lisa walking up from the beach with Larissa and Phoenix. “I’m ready to bail. You?”

I shrugged. I was honestly good either way, but then Lisa’s voice drifted over.

“I’m telling you, I’m so sick of the hype of those two. He’s the star quarterback. He could do so much better than that bitch.”

My hackles raised, now on high alert, because even without names, I knew exactly who she was talking about.

“No kidding,” Phoenix chimed in. “And poor Zane.”

“I know. He’s still so hung up on Izzy, and the way Tucker clings to her all the time even after she trapped him? Fucking cum basket must have a cunt made out of gold.”

Tucker stopped, his body turning to steel. I’d just held out an arm to hold him back when Annie’s voice blazed through the dusk air.

“You fucking bitch!” I turned to watch just as Annie stormed the last few steps, her fist snapping forward with a right hook that had Lisa’s whole body staggering to the side. “Don’t you ever say something like that about my sister ever again. Do you hear me, you cunt!”

Lisa turned back, her eyes wide with her hand over her eye as her friends stood frozen in surprise, and I watched as their shock turned to white-hot rage in a matter of split seconds. All four girls lunged, arms flailing as fists flew, nails scratched, and hair was pulled.

Stunned for only a second, Tucker and I sprang forward together, and he shoved his way through, grabbing Lisa just after Annie yanked her head back by her hair, her fist already balling. I wrapped my arms around my girl’s waist, hauling her back before she could strike.

“Enough!” Tucker barked, and Lisa froze before sagging against his chest. Tucker instantly released his hold, and she stumbled back as he stepped away, his hands in the air. He turned on her, a mammoth against a deceitful, pathetic fox. She trembled under his furious gaze, blood dripping down her cheek as her eye swelled. “The fuck is your problem?! Because don’t even tell me you didn’t know the twins were sitting right there!” His arm threw out to where Izzy was still seated at our table, her face ashen.

Lisa pulled her shoulders back, facing off even as she shook. “They deserved to hear what I said. Truth hurts, huh?” She sneered at Annie, and I wrapped my arms tighter, hauling my girlfriend back again as she tried to lunge.

“Fucking bitch. Talk shit about me all you want, but my sister is off limits,” Annie yelled over my shoulder.

“Hey!” A manager called out from the doorway. “Y’all get out of here. Off the property.”

“Not actually on it!” Annie pointed to the sand under our feet. “But yeah, happy to freaking go.”

I didn’t set her down until we reached the parking lot, our nerves still rattled as adrenaline pumped through us. Tucker pulled Izzy to him as we came down from the high, treating her like a porcelain doll as he leaned back against his truck. She swatted his hand away. “Really, Tucker, I’m fine. I know how Lisa is. I’m just concerned about Annie.”

“I’m fine,” Annie huffed, her cheeks flushed as anger still rushed through her veins. I couldn’t even take her hand yet, she was so worked up. “See y’all back at the house?” she asked as I opened the car door for her. She gave me a look, but I gave her one back. She might be pissed, but I was still a gentleman.

“Yeah, sure. Meet you there,” Tucker offered, seeing our exchange. He helped Izzy climb up into his truck, and I ran around to my side, shutting myself in my car with Annie. I started it but left it in park, 21 Guns by Green Day coming through the radio.

Annie’s nails clenched and unclenched into her thighs a few times, and I just waited, giving her the minute she needed.

“Thank you for pulling me back.” She finally breathed.

The corner of my lips lifted into a grin. “AKA, you should’ve let me take them.”

Annie’s chin jutted out. “I had it.”

“That you did,” I said proudly.

Annie slowly turned to look at me. Her hair was half pulled from her ponytail, her bottom lip was starting to swell, and there was a long set of raised, parallel puffy pink lines across her cheek from where someone tried to scratch. But my girl had held her ground against three, drawing blood without any on her.

One of her eyebrows raised. “You liked watching that, didn’t you?”

I couldn’t help but smirk. “You were radiant. A blazing fire of protective glory.”

She snorted even as she blushed. “Corny much?”

“Still the damn truth.” I reached up, brushing my thumb gently over her bottom lip where it swelled. “This is gonna need ice.”

“Not as much as Lisa’s does.” Annie gave a devilish smirk. “Now, let’s go check on my sister.”

I put the car into drive. “Whatever you say, sweetheart.” I gave her a wink, a charge lighting the air between us, and she grabbed me behind the neck to drag me in for a kiss.

After ducking down an alley for a quick round of foreplay in the Mustang, Jet and I headed home. I’d heard Izzy telling Tucker she was fine after what went down, but Isaw and fucking felt what Lisa’s words did to my sister. Izzy was full of bullshit if she said she was okay, and I was definitely going to call her out on it.

Except I didn’t have to.

“Would you stop?!” My sister’s yell carried through the front door when Jet and I were heading up the porch steps. We exchanged a look and hurried in, the tension in the house hitting me like a wave.

“Izzy, would you just—”

“No, Tucker. I won’t just.” Her hands were fisted on her hips, eyes blazing. Tucker stood by the other end of the couch, his jaw set, the two of them facing off in an argument I suddenly wasn’t sure Jet and I should be present for. Izzy’s head snapped to face me, and she threw an arm out. “Would you tell him I’m fine?”

I paused, trying to think of the best way to answer, knowing instantly she wouldn’t like my honest one.

“Well?!”

I held my hands up. “I’m sorry. I don’t even know what y’all are arguing about.”

Izzy rolled her eyes up, her breath in a huff. “We’re arguing about Tucker being overprotective. I’m fine.” She turned back to glare at him.

“But you’re not.” Tucker stood his ground. “I saw you after what Lisa said, and you were practically shaking after that fight.”

“He’s right, sis. I felt how you felt when it happened.” I pressed a hand to my chest. “You weren’t okay. Even now, look, you’re freaking out over something as small as us wanting to check on you.”

“Because y’all hover! Ever since I told y’all about the PTSD stuff. I’m not fucking broken! And excuse me if I was shaking because I was startled and worried for my sister, who just got in a major fight over something she should have ignored.” She threw me a withering look.

“Izzy…”

“Argh!” She threw her hands in the air. “I’m sick of that. And I’m sick of the fighting. Not everything has to be dealt with in a fight! Look at what happened to Jet. And now you, Annie. Cuz I don’t think for one second that Lisa’s done. You took the bait. Now, if y’all don’t mind, this breakable mess is going upstairs to take a shower and read in bed…alone.”

She brushed past Tucker on her way to the stairs, and he reached out gently for her hand, but she pulled away, quickly darting out of sight.

The silence that was left filled the space, pulsing around us.

“Do you need to go to her?” Jet touched the small of my back, and I shook my head.

“Not yet.” She’d meant every word of that. She needed space, and apparently, we were the ones making her feel overwhelmed.

I eased into the bedroom after making sure that Archer was tucked into bed, not sure what was waiting for me. Izzy hadn’t surfaced once the rest of the evening. Her small night light was shining faintly from the other side of her bed, and she was tucked under the covers all the way up above her shoulders with her Kindle propped against the nightstand, her fingertips holding it steady.

I didn’t even have to see to know that she was refusing to look at me.

I walked over to my dresser, one out of the matching set Daddy had made when we were just babies, and I fished out some pajamas, taking a record fast shower and brushing my teeth before crossing the room to my bed. I stared at Izzy as I pulled back the covers, sending all the emotional vibes I could through our tether to bribe her to talk. Even if she didn’t want to, we needed to.

I’d just crawled into bed when I heard her long sigh, and she set her Kindle on the nightstand.

“Go ahead.”

I immediately sat up, crossing my legs with a grin. “You’re mad.”

“A little.” I gave her a look in the dark, and she sighed, still tucked under her covers so I couldn’t see her face. “I’m more frustrated than mad. Ever since I confided in y’all about the PTSD stuff, it’s like y’all think I’m going to break at the slightest thing.”

“Won’t you? There’s so much on your plate.” The baby and Zane and Lisa? Passing out? Micah and Ryder? I ticked the list off in my head.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t handle everything. I’m figuring out how to cope. I’m not falling apart.”

“Really? Have you seen yourself, sis? I don’t know if you realize it, but you’ve been either on the edge of tears or crying for months now. You’re on overload.”

Izzy scoffed. “No, I’m on pregnancy hormones. You don’t know what it’s like. Half the time I know it’s stupid to cry, but it just starts pouring out. I’ve never cried so much in my life. Trust me. I’m over it.”

There was the faintest hint of a smile at the end there, easing my stress, and I laid down, getting comfortable now that I sensed the reticence leaving the room.

“Do you really think Tucker’s overprotective?”

There were a few silent beats before she replied, “No. He’s protective, yes, but in my head, I know it’s because a lot of crap has happened. It feels like it hasn’t been calm since we got together. Just one thing after another. My stress volumes would be high without the situation we’re in. Between that and hormones, I think I just snapped today.”

“That makes sense. So how are y’all, without the drama?”

“Good. Great.” I could hear Izzy’s smile. “He’s been so supportive, and I told you about the trust fund he mentioned, so a lot of our stress has died down in the past couple of weeks. Even if the parents never get on board, we’ll be able to raise her and go to school. It won’t be what we imagined for college, but at least our dreams won’t be completely gone…”

I frowned, sensing there was something she was holding back. “Izzy?”

“Tucker hasn’t bonded with her. He doesn’t know if he can.”

Well, I wasn’t expecting to hear that. “He said that?”

“Yeah. A few weeks ago. After the last Lisa drama. Anyway, yeah, he um, he says he wants her, but it’s more because I do than because he really does. He doesn’t know how to connect with her yet.”

I took a beat, processing. “Don’t hate me, but isn’t that a little bit normal? At least for guys? It’s gotta be different for them.”

Izzy sighed and rolled onto her back. “Crap. Left side,” she muttered, turning back with a grunt. “I miss laying on my stomach. And yeah, I know you’re probably right. I’ve been trying to tell myself that, but it still worries me. Because what if he never gets attached to her?”

I didn’t have an answer for that, so instead, I lied, hoping it would be true. “I’m sure he will. Just give it time.”

“You’re right.” She sounded like she was convincing herself. “Okay, enough about me,” she said, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen. “How’re things with you and Jet? We haven’t dished in a while. What’s the latest orgasm count?”

I barked a laugh. “Oh, my God.”

“What? I wanna hear. Spill the tea, sis.” She adjusted her pillow to prop her head, and I couldn’t help but smile, loving this moment we were sharing. Knowing how different things were going to be in a few short months. I shoved back the pang of sadness and forced my smile back in place. “Jet and I are good. The orgasm count is still at two, unless you want to count foreplay, then I’ll say four. Nothing like your six.”

“Eight.”

Fuck. Seriously, is Tucker a machine?

“Okay, eight. But really, it’s great. We’re trying more and more positions. There’s this one where he lifts one of my legs over his shoulders…” My toes curled just thinking about it. “I swear it makes me come so fast. Everything hits just the right spot.”

“Mmm…I know what you mean. That’s me when Tucker pulls my hips into his lap. That big O hits in like ten to twenty seconds sometimes.”

My eyes widened. Jeez. “Are things still just as good now that y’all know you’re pregnant? And showing?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t they be?”

“I, uh…” My brow furrowed, frustrated that it was even something I had to bring up.

“Annie?”

“Yeah. Sorry, uh, it’s been a little awkward for me lately, honestly. Ever since the pregnancy thing came out, that’s exactly what Jet’s started doing.”

“Huh? He came out?”

I laughed. “Oh, God, no. Not like that. I meant he pulls out, and I hate it. I miss the connection of him finishing in me. It feels so much less intimate now.”

There was a quiet minute before Izzy said, “I’m sorry. I feel like that’s kind of my fault.”

“Don’t. I wasn’t trying to play the blame game.”

She exhaled a long sigh. “I know. I still feel it, though. Y’all wouldn’t be having this problem if I hadn’t gotten knocked up. Have y’all talked much about it? Does he know it bothers you?”

I nodded. “Yeah, but I’m not going to force him to finish in me if he’s not comfortable. He waited so long for me to be ready; I don’t feel like it’s right for me to pressure him.”

“Okay, I can see that, but what if you did something to help make him more comfortable? I was on the pill, too. Granted, it’s my own fault for not realizing the new one needed time to work, but what if you switched to something that was even more effective? Something that would help y’all not worry.”

I raised my brow. It wasn’t a bad idea.

“I’ve been looking into IUD’s. For after the baby comes… I mean, I do not want another one anytime soon, and the IUD is supposed to be really effective. There are others, too, of course, but it’s something to consider.”

I nodded, now dying to look it up. “Thanks, sis,” I said into the dark, reaching out for my phone on the nightstand.

“Anytime.”

Only a matter of minutes passed before I heard the deep rhythmic patterns of Izzy’s breathing, telling me she was asleep, but my eyes burned into the night, reading up on everything I could.