25. Luke

Chapter 25

Luke

T ime literally stopped in that moment and faded into a blur. The cheers of the crowd became nothing more than a dull roar. It was like being underwater—I couldn’t breathe. My mind and body felt hollowed out.

Pregnant. Keke is pregnant.

The word echoes in my head, and I feel like I just jumped out of an airplane. Freefalling.

All I can hear is the pounding of my own heart and that singular word racing through my mind. My bidders pull me off the stage and kiss me. I barely register the sensation. Past them, I see Keke running off in the distance. She glances back at me before slipping away into the backstage chaos.

I politely turn the two women away, the thrill of the auction and the crowd’s energy meaning nothing now. “Sorry, I have to go,” I manage to say, my voice sounding distant even to me.

It feels like I’m in a dream, detached from reality as I push my way through the throng of people, adrenaline surging through my veins. I grab my clothes off the stage and pull them on as I try to catch up to Keke but the crowd won’t let me through, and some of them actually play keep away with my clothes. Several of the bidders grope me as I attempt to get backstage.

I’m going nowhere fast.

“Hey! Calm down! Let him through!” Whitney shouts into the microphone, her voice cutting through the chaos. She’s like a general on the battlefield, rallying the troops to restore order. “Back it up everyone! Clear a path! Now!”

The crowd parts before me, and all of those too-friendly hands seem to vanish. I nod my gratitude to Whitney before bolting into the backstage area.

I don’t know if shell-shocked is the right word but I’m certainly struggling to process what the hell just happened.

Keke is pregnant. I am the father.

Holy shit. I’m about to become a father. Of another human being. Me. Of all people.

The weight of it feels like something that will take days to process, so I push it out of my mind for now. I need to find Keke and talk to her first. We need to figure out what this means for us.

I finally make it backstage but Keke isn’t there. Seb spots me right away. “Hey, Luke! What just happened? I was on the phone with Nelly, and none of these guys were paying attention.”

I don’t see Lucas anywhere, but I’m certain he’d seen what just went down—he had been watching me with eagle eyes on the catwalk.

“Long story. Have you seen Keke?”

“No. Is she okay?”

“She will be.” I keep moving, thinking maybe she went to the venue’s employee area, she had a mock office set up back there. I make my way through the halls but find Whitney instead.

“Luke, we need to talk.”

“Do you know where Keke is?” I ask, ignoring what she just said, my heart racing.

“No, but?—”

I lunge past her.

“Lucian Smith, you stop moving this instant, or so help me God, I will end you.”

Her words freeze me on the spot. “What the hell, Whitney?”

“Before the show started, Keke told me about the pregnancy. I know you heard her.”

“I did.”

“You need to be clearheaded about this. It’s already hitting the gossip sites.”

My stomach churns at her words. I know I need to be sensitive about the situation, but this isn’t just gossip to me. This is my life now. My world. I’m not about to let some gossip website change a damn thing. “My kid isn’t gossip.”

Whitney swallows hard, the reality of the situation evident in her eyes. “I know that, but for the team’s sake, we need to come up with a plan to manage this.”

“Manage this?” I cut her off, frustration surging within me. “No, Whitney. This isn’t something to be managed. I need to go home and celebrate. I need to tell Keke it’ll all be okay, and put her mind at ease. Managing problems is your job. Not mine.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Are you really ready to be a dad, Luke? Have you thought this through?”

“I just found out three minutes ago. Do you think I’ve thought any of this through?”

Her lips form a straight line. “No, I don’t. That’s the problem. You never think anything through. You just do whatever you want, consequences be damned. That’s why I had to call her in the first place, but you shot that all to hell, didn’t you?”

“I don’t need a lecture right now, Whitney?—”

“Maybe not, but you’re getting one. Luke, you’re the lovable goofball of the team, the guy who nails all the hot girls. You’ve never settled down with anyone. Are you sure this is the life you want?”

I take a deep breath, her words sinking in. “Without a doubt, yes. This is the life I want.”

“You’ve seen the show Friends , right?”

“Of course,” I reply, crossing my arms, wondering where she could possibly be going with this.

“Well, you’re Joey.”

“What’s your point?”

“Do you know why they never did a Joey-becomes-a-dad storyline? It might’ve been a ratings grabber, but they didn’t do it because it wouldn’t have worked for his character. Do you follow me?”

“I’m about to become a dad, and you’re quizzing me about a TV show?”

“Fine. Let me put this another way. You’re not prepared to be a dad, Luke.”

Her honesty hits me hard. Whitney isn’t cruel, she’s straightforward, and hearing this from her means something different than if it came from anyone else.

I might need to reassess but I refuse to back down. This is fate binding me and Keke together, and I’m not about to let anything stand in our way. Obviously, Keke’s birth control failed. Our child was meant to be, and no one is going to convince me otherwise.

I shake my head. “You’re wrong, Whitney, and I’ll prove it. I just need time.”

Whitney sighs. “Okay, but you need to understand the gravity of this, Luke. This is?—”

“I’m about to tell the woman I love that I’m excited to raise a child with her! Do you think the gravity isn’t understood?”

She folds her arms over her chest. “The auction raised close to a quarter million dollars for the shelter, and now it’s all over the websites. More eyes are on you, and on Keke, than ever before.”

“That’s good, right? It means more awareness for Happy Harbor.”

“Sure,” she says slowly, “but?—”

“Then I did my job, and Keke did hers,” I interrupt, determination seeping into my voice. “Right now, we need to figure out things as a couple. Me and Keke. I need to get home.”

“We need to come up with a game plan to dispel the rumors that maybe it’s not your kid.”

“It is my kid.”

“I know that, but for the team’s sake, we need to get ahead of this?—”

“No.” I have to put my foot down. I realize Whitney’s top priority is the team, but my priorities have shifted entirely. “I need to get home to celebrate this news with my child’s mother. Everything else—the auction, the shelter, the team—that’s all just icing on the cake now. If I lose the icing, I still have the cake.”

Whitney frowns, the gears in her mind grinding away. “Alright, just… be careful. This is big, Luke. Don’t rush into it without thinking it through.”

I nod, but all I can think about is Keke, and the fact that I’m going to be a dad. The truth is, I’ve already fallen for her, and want to spend my life with her. A baby is a bonus.

I dash out of the venue, the cool night air knocking some sense into me.

As I speed home, I question everything I thought I knew about myself. Could I really do this? Arguing with Whitney about it was one thing, but the reality of it is another. The question gnawed at me as a sense of responsibility settled over my shoulders.

It’s always been something I’ve avoided, preferring to make light of anything too serious, always bringing the good times with me. Hearing I was going to be a dad flipped a switch in me. That kind of responsibility brings new purpose, and now, the world looks different.

If I lost my job, I’d survive. I had enough money in the bank and if I ever needed anything, I had my family to lean on. Hell, I could even volunteer at the shelter for the rest of my life, if I wanted to. I had everything in place to live a good life, and I wanted that good life with Keke.

The drive home felt both agonizingly long and exhilaratingly short. I didn’t know much about kids, other than I’ve always wanted them. Being the youngest in my family and living far away from everyone meant I was out of my league when it came to that kind of thing.

But I’m more than willing to learn.

A haunting question comes to mind. Does Keke want to keep the baby? The thought sends a shiver down my spine as images of her dance through my mind. Her laughter, the way she challenges me, the warmth in her eyes when she looks at me—it all comes rushing in, reminding me why I fell for her in the first place. It’s real, despite the facade of our fake relationship.

I want her to be the mother of my children. I want her for life.

Am I good enough for her? For our baby? No, probably not. But I’ll work hard every day to prove I’m trying to become the man they deserve.

I take a deep breath as I pull into my driveway, steeling myself for the conversation ahead. Keke is probably angry, hurt, and scared.

This is no longer a game. I need to step up and be the man I know I can be, the man she needs me to be.