Chapter 49

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Lola

“You look beautiful today.” Jordy squeezes my hand, looking down at me, as we move together on the dance floor to Wade and Kali’s first dance.

Being this close to him again has joy overwhelming me. His touch lifting my spirits. “Thank you.”

We’re having a baby.

“How have you been?” His deep voice I love so much is full of concern.

Sick.

Awful without you.

Pregnant.

“Busy,” I reply.

Throughout today, I’ve done everything I can think of to avoid Jordy. I even swapped our name cards on the dinner table to ensure we weren’t sitting next to each other.

It hurts being this close to him, yet at the same time, feels wonderful. I feel like I’m losing my mind.

I don’t just miss him; I miss us. I've never felt so intrinsically connected to another human the way I do with him.

For four weeks I’ve hurt. Everywhere.

“With everything that’s been happening in your life, between the press and this,” he looks around, “you never stop. Please tell me you are sleeping.”

He’s not the first person to ask, which means I must look dreadful. I guess the expensive concealer for dark circles I bought isn’t working like it promised.

“I’ll sleep tonight.”

“You sleep better next to me.” Jordy pulls me closer. His signature scent wafts up my nostrils, flooding my brain with dozens of memories of our time together.

“I do.” He’s hotter than an electric blanket. I slept like the dead when I was wrapped in his arms. His strong heartbeat like white noise for my soul.

“Stay with me tonight. To sleep.” His dark eyes beg me to say yes.

“I can’t. We’re all staying here tonight.” If I changed my plans it would look suspicious.

Jordy leads our movements, maneuvering us as if he’s trying to hide me behind him. His hands wander north, from my waist to my face, and I feel like he’s going to kiss me. I wish he would, to put us out of this misery, but all he does is hold me there.

“Are you free next week?” I ask hopefully. By then I will have had my ultrasound and can show him the sonography photo. I figure if I have proof he will believe me.

Will he want to be part of the baby’s life?

I haven’t even considered that until now. He’s still young, only twenty-four, as am I, but I’ve always wanted to have a family. Does he?

Our secret fling was fun and exciting when we were sneaking around, but our situation has gotten a whole lot more serious, and he might run a mile.

“Tell me where and when, and I’ll be there,” he replies, his handsome face breaking out in a megawatt smile.

I worry he’s misread my words. “We need to talk.”

“Talk?”

“Yes,” I confirm.

A shadow of annoyance crosses his face at the same time he drops his hands from my jaw as if he’s upset that I’m suggesting all I want is for us to have a chat when, in fact, what I want is so much more.

“I get it. You won’t reply to my texts. You’ve barely spoken to me today and you’ve been actively avoiding me, and now you want to meet up to talk .” Fingers up, he wraps air quotes around his last word. “When you’ve had plenty of opportunities to talk to me today.” Stepping back, I can feel the irritation bouncing off of him. “I tell you what, let’s not do this. And don’t worry, I won’t make a scene, because I know you don’t want anyone knowing about us. Trust me, I got the fucking memo.”

“Jordy.” Unwelcomed tension coils in my gut when I reach for him, but he pulls away.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been patient, understanding, all while I’ve been so fucking desperate to see you, to make sure you’re okay, but you’ve had this fortress around you that is impenetrable. You let me inside briefly, and you shared things with me, and now you’ve kicked me out of it and, fuck it… whatever.” Trailing off, he doesn’t finish what he is about to say. “Have a nice night, Lola.” He storms away, not giving me a second glance.

I throw my hands to my chest and turn to face the wall. Oh my God, I can’t cry here. Not now. I’ve done enough of that already.

Running my hand across my brow, I suddenly feel faint and have to make my way to the wall so I can lean against it.

That’s not how I intended for that to go.

Why didn’t I tell him I miss him?

Why didn’t I tell him that I've been building my fortress higher to protect him from me, the drama of being Wade’s sister, Miranda’s daughter, and the paparazzi circus that came to town? Most of all, protect him from Wade, who doesn’t know I’m having a baby with his best friend.

Wade needs time to adjust to my news. I’m not sure if he can take any more emotional drama.

“Lola, what’s wrong? Are you okay? What happened? Are you crying?” Piper appears in front of me. Daryl invited her as his plus one, and I’m so relieved she’s here today because I need her.

“I’m pregnant,” I blurt out.

Piper goes as still as a statue then asks, “Really?”

“Yes.” I dart my gaze around the dance floor to ensure we are far enough away from everyone.

“Can they call me Aunty?” Piper points at her chest. The air that was thick with sadness is now replaced with her excitement.

“Shhhh.” I place my pointer finger over my lips.

“And?”

We often have this weird way of knowing what we are asking without asking the actual question. “It’s Jordy’s.”

“And he just walked away?” She looks back over her shoulder.

“I didn’t tell him. I was waiting until I had the ultrasound next week to show him a photo, and today is not the best time to tell him.” I hold my arms out to the side and gesture to the wedding day celebrations.

“You have to tell him, Lola.”

“He thinks I don’t like him. When that couldn’t be further from the truth because… I think…” I can’t get the words out as my chest closes in.

“You love him.” Piper finishes the words I can’t.

“I do, but it’s complicated with Wade and stuff.” It feels good to finally confess how I feel to someone. Saying it out loud confirms I am so in love with him, but like Jordy said, all I’ve done is push him away and I bet he hates me now. He sure sounded like he did.

“I don’t think any of that matters now.” Piper claps her hands together in excitement, unable to contain herself as she bundles me in her arms and tells me in my ear, “You’re going to be a brilliant mom.”

“Thanks, Piper.” That means a lot.

“And I agree. Wait until you have the ultrasound, then tell him. Give him time to cool off tonight, then we can figure out how to tell Wade.”

“Hide all the knives.” I chuckle.

“You’ve seen him on the ice. He’s better with his fists.”

Oh, shit. I’m doomed.

“Jordy’s face is too handsome to mess up.” Piper laughs, still holding on to me because she must sense how much I need her comfort.

It’s the most handsome face I’ve ever seen.

I hope Wade doesn’t mess it up when I tell him because he’s going to find out eventually.