With twin sighs, they settled down, her back to his front, his knees tucked up behind hers. Before long, he was asleep, his soft snores rumbling comfortingly in her ear. Lani lay awake, staring into the darkness, thoughts in a tangle.
Could they make this work? How could they make this work?
Geo twitched, his hand splaying low over her belly. As if in response, the baby moved, the sensation sharper than she’d ever felt it. She gasped, on the verge of waking Geo to tell him about it when she caught herself.
It’s not his child.
Does it matter? she argued silently. He’s invested, both in me and this pregnancy.
Sure. It’s easy to be invested when the baby is an abstract, not a living, breathing reminder of another man.
Geo’s not like that, she scolded her inner voice. He’s not the type of person who’d hold anything against an innocent child.
But he’d be gone so much. Would they ever get to bond? You don’t want your child to have a part-time father.
A father whose first priority—first love—would always be his job, his teammates. And besides, when had he said anything about wanting more? Could she really see him as a dad?
Try as she might, Lani couldn’t picture it. She and Geo would always want different things, and when it was time to move on, they’d both move on.
Eyes stinging, she stroked the back of his hand, whispering, “But damn, you do throw one hell of a party.”
Chapter Twenty-One
I wonder if anyone will show.
Geo gripped the steering wheel, his stomach in knots.
Next to him, Lani sat quietly, a container of cookies on her lap. In the backseat was a large cooler holding the variety of sandwiches she’d insisted on getting up early to make.
“They’ll bring the beer, so someone’s gotta bring the food,” she’d said jokingly.
He was just afraid no one would show up to eat it.
As he wound his way deeper into the pleasant Chula Vista neighborhood, his anxiety grew. He wanted this for Renae, wanted to show her that there were those in the community still there for her.
He glanced at Lani, the uncomfortable truth making him squirm. He wouldn’t even be here now if it hadn’t been for her gentle encouragement. If it’d been left up to him, he would’ve kept his head buried in the sand, would’ve kept on running.
And missed out on so much.
Reaching over, he took her hand and threaded their fingers together. No matter what happened between them, she’d touched his life in ways he’d never forget.
One last gradual curve, and Renae’s house came into view. Geo gasped, his hand tightening on Lani’s. Lining the curb on each side of the street were several large pickups and more than a couple of motorcycles.
Team guys milled on the sidewalk dressed in jeans and T-shirts, some in loud-patterned board shorts and tank tops, all of them boisterous and—he rolled his eyes—holding cases of beer.
“Told you!” Lani crowed with a triumphant smirk. “I think it’s going to be all right.”
As soon as they got out of the car, Matt jogged up, and he and Geo bumped knuckles before flowing into a back-slapping hug. “You really came through, man,” Geo said fervently. “Thank you.”
Matt grinned. “You’re welcome.” He turned to Lani, eyes widening. “Well, hey there, bartender lady. Remember me?”
“Well, of course I do,” she exclaimed. “And congrats on your engagement! Shane’s a lucky guy.”
“Nah, I’m the lucky one.”
Faces animated, hands waving, they were talking about some bar fight Shane had been in when Rhys snuck up behind Lani, finger to his lips. She talked on, oblivious, until Rhys reached out and flicked her on the earlobe.
“Ouch!” She whirled around. “Rhys, you asshole. You know I hate that!”
Cackling, Rhys feinted and dodged the playful punches she threw. “Too slow,” he taunted after each one. “Missed me. Weak.”
It was a game they’d obviously played many times before.
The warmth in Geo’s chest splintered into painful shards of jealousy. He gritted his teeth, not quite sure what to do with it all, just as a pretty brunette walked up to them.
“Now, children,” she said drily, and grinning, Rhys wrapped his arm around her waist and hauled her close.
“Well, hello, gorgeous,” he murmured. “Where have you been all my life?”
Geo immediately tensed, berating himself for putting Lani in the position of having to see Rhys’s new girlfriend. Racking his brain, he was feverishly looking for a way to extricate her from the situation when Lani held her knuckles out to Devon.
He could only gape in shock as Devon returned the fist bump.
“Help me with the food?” Lani asked, and before he knew it, the two of them were headed for the car, chattering, laughing.
His mouth hanging open, he stared in bemusement, dimly aware of a big white dude with a shaved head walking up to elbow Rhys.
“That’s some next-level shit right there, man,” he rumbled, “your ex and your current squeeze gettin’ all chummy like that. Can’t imagine the stories those two tell each other about you.” He gave a dramatic shudder. “Poor bastard.”
Rhys laughed. “More like lucky bastard, Grizz.”
Grizz barked out an incredulous laugh. “If any of my exes dared show their faces around my wife, she’d—” Like the thought was too horrible to contemplate, he shook his head, popped open a beer and gulped down half the can.
After he’d wandered away, Rhys crossed his arms over his chest and turned to Geo. “I didn’t realize you knew Lani.”
Fighting the urge to fidget under his steady gaze, Geo grunted, “We’re friends. Have been for a few months now.”
They both caught sight of Matt struggling to unload a tall ladder from a nearby pickup and jogged over to help him. As they set it up against the side of the house, Geo said quietly, “I’m lucky to have met her when I did. She’s, uh, helped me a lot in dealing with Cade’s death. I don’t know where I’d be without her right now.”
Rhys’s face softened. “Yeah, she’s a good person.”
“The best.”
“She deserves to be happy.” Rhys’s eyes bored into his. “I’d hate to see her hurt.”
“I’d never hurt her.”
I love her.
But Geo didn’t say that, and after a moment, Rhys smiled. “Of course she can take care of herself, but Devon would have my head if I didn’t at least attempt to warn you, so there, consider yourself warned.”