Chapter 59

Knox

Punching some dickhead’s teeth down his throat would be a very, very bad idea, but that thought was like dry grass in a bushfire, burnt up before it could even register. Every muscle quivered as I fought to maintain control, and that’s when Millie was put down. Her hair was smoothed back into place, but when this idiot went to straighten her top, someone let out a snarl.

Huh, that was Noah, not me.

“Step. Back.”

Noah bit off each word, and the red haze inside my head dissipated a little when the idiot did as he was told. That brought something unwelcome in its place. We had every eye on us, but I didn’t care. I didn’t know these people. Their good opinions meant nothing.

Just hers.

“Are you OK?” I asked, my voice ragged and hoarse.

“No.” Millie threw up her arms and let out a hopeless little laugh. “No, I’m not. I found out I was pregnant on Christmas Day, just in case anyone missed that.” Her smile was almost a snarl as she looked around the garden. “And right when I thought I’d be raising my child by myself, I found out I had not one, but three men wanting to be the daddy. These bastards.” She stabbed her finger in our direction, as if we’d committed some terrible crime rather than tried to step up and be part of our kid’s life. “They had to be perfect, right when I thought there weren't any perfect men left in the world.”

“Hey…” One of Millie’s twin brothers said, but the other shoved his elbow into his ribs.

“They had to be growly and protective, and sweet and sexy, and be really good at giving multiple orgasms.”

“Oh my goodness…” Heather said, putting her hand over her eyes.

“Whoo!” Jamie grinned like a loon as she pumped her fist. “Millie’s getting the good D.”

“So are you,” the first twin said, shooting her a sidelong look.

“Yeah, but no one cares, so shush.”

“Glad to know we’re good for something,” I told her, my jaw locking tight. Each word felt like it was dragged out of me.

“You’re good for everything.” I followed Millie’s shrug with my eyes, unable to look away. “Everything. You dealt with the surprise of finding out you’re dads by making me the nursery of my dreams, which is great, because the room I had in mind will take biohazard suits to clear out.”

“Bags not me,” Brock muttered.

“Nor me,” the quiet twin added.

“All of the crap I don’t want to deal with is shoved in there, layer upon layer. If I die famous because I become a world-famous supermodel or something, they’ll excavate it,” Millie continued. “Recording each section, pondering why someone would store all this useless shit in a room rather than do something with it.”

This wasn’t about the spare room, even I could work that out, but I stayed silent, waiting for this all to come out. Honestly, I was just glad Millie was talking, not running away.

“Because I’m messy, that’s why. I go to a party dressed to the nines to try and make the guy I was crushing on at school swallow his tongue.”

“That damn near happened,” Noah said.

“Then while I’m there, I tell him to be my wingman to help me get with the guy that rescued me, or his other friend with the cute smile.”

“You like my smile?” Charlie grinned down at her.

“With those dimples? Who wouldn’t.” Millie waved her hand negligently. “Certainly not me, because when solving the age old question of which guy to choose, I decided not to. I put the ho in ho, ho, ho and Merry Christmas to me, I went to bed with three hot firefighters who apparently have super sperm.”

“Our boys are good swimmers.” Charlie held out a fist for Noah and I to bump. Noah obliged him, but I couldn’t be distracted.

“And woke up pregnant.” When her hands slid down, mine moved without thought, covering hers. I needed to get close to her, to touch her, pull her close and stop the public display. Just stroke her back until she calmed down. “Weeks ago I thought I had a stomach bug.” This was said in a much smaller voice, prompting me to move closer. I glared at every single onlooker, making clear their role was done. “I thought I just needed some more antibiotics, but penicillin won’t fix this.”

“We will,” I promised her as her arms went around me and I closed my eyes. Just feeling her, in my arms, against my body, nothing else mattered. “That’s what the nursery was for. If you hate the colour?—”

“It’s beautiful.” Her voice was muffled, and she looked up at me. “A bit grey, but…” I shook my head, trying hard not to smile and failing. “Perfect, and I wish you knew how scary that was. The only people that have done anything like that for me before are blood relatives who can’t get out of it, or Jamie. When two girls forge a bond through discovering that you’ll bleed once a month for the rest of your life, of having your heart broken by stupid boys.” Noah flushed then, but Jamie stepped forward.

“Or breaking theirs,” Millie’s friend added, nodding to Noah. “Or crushing on others that you think are out of your reach.” Jamie looked back at her guys before focussing back on my Millie. “You’ve got a big heart, bestie. I’ll love you forever. Ride or die.”

“Ride or die,” Millie croaked out.

“But right now, I spend most nights riding your brothers?—”

“Oh my god, stop!”

“So now we’re both getting the good dick, maybe you can let them into that heart of yours.”

I’d faced down disciplinary committees that felt less nerve wracking than when these two women turned back to the three of us. Noah and Charlie stepped closer, ready to bear their inspection.

“Whaddya reckon, Splash?” Charlie said, the crack in his voice telling a different story than his smile. “Ready to make the jump with us? I’m ready to sign on for the ride or die crew.”

“Me too,” Noah said.

“Already there.”

Millie smiled at my intent look.

“And whatever else comes after that? Well, we’ll just adapt, right?” she asked. For a second, I thought Charlie had gotten through to Millie, but then her brows drew down, a wicked smile spreading across her face. “Have you got your phones in your pockets?” she asked.

“Yeah, why?”

We pulled them out, expecting that she’d want a photo or to make a call or something.

Not that she’d rush us, throwing us backwards and into the pool.

My arm shot out without thinking, dragging her with us, because that’s the way it would always be. In good or bad times, dry or wet, we’d be together, I swore. All four of us emerged spluttering to find we had an audience around the edge of the pool.

“Pool party!” Hunter shouted, right before he dive bombed us.

“I can change the nursery,” I told Millie.

Hours later, we sat in a secluded corner of the garden. She was wrapped in a beach towel we’d borrowed from Jamie, and she was sitting across my lap.

“You don’t need to. You listened to everything I said and made it perfect.”

So why didn’t it work? That went unsaid, but no one could accuse me of being slow on the uptake. I kept my mouth shut, just following her fingers as she traced the whirls of hair on my forearm.

“That was never the issue.” She turned around and stared at me. My eyes felt like they were soaking every inch of her in, down to where her hair had dried in chaotic spikes. She was beautiful when she was covered in soot and coughing up smoke, and she was doubly so now. “It wasn’t anything you did.” I needed to hear that so freaking much it took my breath away, but I couldn’t trust myself to speak, not when my tongue felt swollen and my throat was closing over. “It’s just… you’re asking me to trust you, trust us, when weeks ago I couldn’t even trust a guy to turn up to the date we set up on one of the apps.”

“No more dating app dickheads,” I grumbled.

“Deal.” She held out a hand and I shook my head, grasping it and giving it a squeeze. “But after years of being treated like crap, you’ve just gotta give me time to adjust.”

“Adjust.” I nodded, reaching for her and tucking her back against my chest. It was then that I could take a full breath. “Got it. Can I ask for something in return?”

I felt her stiffen and my grip tightened in response.

“OK.”

God, she couldn’t have sounded any more wary if she tried.

“Talk to us.” I rubbed my hand up and down her arm, trying to soothe her through the idea. “Push back. Say ‘no, I’m not moving in less than a week after telling you that I’m pregnant.’ That you need more time.”

“I’m not moving in with you less than a week after telling you I’m pregnant.” I admit, I felt my heart sinking as she echoed my words, but then she looked up at me with a little grin. “It's going to take longer than that to pack my shit up at my place.”

“And a biohazard suit?”

“And four biohazard suits.”

“Breaking out the PPE, are we?” Charlie appeared with a plate laden with food. “I am down. Now, your dad said these were your favourites.”

“I haven’t eaten little boys since I was a kid.” She plucked one of the small cocktail sausages off the plate and dipped it in some sauce, humming as she bit into it. “Yum.” Millie looked up, a little shamefaced. “Thank you.”

“And a drink.” Noah appeared with several glasses and a jug of mocktails. “I heard this amazing woman mixed the cocktails tonight.” Millie opened her mouth to protest, but he continued. “These are the virgin ones, so don’t worry.”

He poured everyone a drink with a flourish.

“So what’s the verdict, Mills?” I shot Charlie a dark look as he lowered himself down into a nearby chair. “What’s it gonna take to get you to shack up with us? My place is nice, but Knox’s is a lot closer to the beach.”

“Jesus, Charlie…” I muttered under my breath.

“I keep my place.” Hope spluttered, then threatened to catch alight in my chest. “Even if it's just as an investment property. I need to know I’ve got a bolt hole I can escape to if things go south.”

“They won’t,” I promised.

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.” Being able to openly stare at her now was a relief I never expected to feel, and yet here I was. “I really, really do. Whatever you need, we’ll make it happen. I think you’ll find we work very well as a team.”

I didn’t mean for my voice to get lower, to feel my cock begin to stir, but hey, if she was going to wriggle on my lap like that, something was bound to come up.

“Yeah?” Her fingers skimmed the line of my jaw. “So we could maybe put off the moving in stuff and make sure we’re really working well together, do some team building exercises?”

“You heard the lady.” Noah dropped his glass down on a low table, then stood up, stroking his fingers along her throat. Her head tilted back to stare into his eyes. “I think this conversation needs to be continued elsewhere.”

“Take me home, boys,” Millie said, throwing her arms out. “I think I’ve worked out how this whole why choose thing works. We just need to keep choosing each other, right?”

“Every day.” I moved in, my lips drawn to hers. “In every way. I will always choose you.”

Now I needed to prove it.