I wait for her to come up with the answer, so I don’t have to give it to her.
Her mouth drops open, a gasp escaping her. “Holy shit. Dallas is the father?”
“Yep, and I don’t know what to do.”
“I take it, you haven’t shared the news with him?”
“Nope.”
Her gaze lands on me in expectation. “But you’re going to before you leave, right?”
“Not exactly. I was, uh … thinking about, say, never?”
“What?” she screeches. “Have you lost your mind?”
“It’s for the best.”
“You can’t do that.” She leans forward to take my hand in hers. “Don’t see this as me being unsupportive, but that’s fucked up. And that’s coming from a girl who faked a relationship with a douche bag for months.”
“It’s for the best. I’m going to raise this baby on my own.”
“Why?” She shakes her head, rolls her eyes, and sighs at the same time. “And I suppose you want me to keep quiet?”
My voice cracks. “Yes. Please.”
“If I do what you’re asking, I’ll be hurting Dallas. I’ll be hurting the man I love. It’ll ruin my relationship with everyone in their family if they ever find out.” Her eyes start to water.
This is the first time I’ve ever doubted my trust in her.
“What they don’t know won’t hurt them. If the truth does come out, I’ll tell them you had no idea.”
Stella turns around at the same time my attention goes to the door when it opens. Hudson is staring at us with a bloodthirsty expression on his face.
“Excuse me for interrupting,” he huffs out. “I was searching for my bride-to-be.”
Did he hear our conversation? The look on his face confirms he heard something, but how much?
“I wasn’t eavesdropping … at least, not at first,” he goes on. “Some words of advice: when you have a conversation about fucking someone’s life up, you might want to lower your voices.”
My heart thuds in my chest. “Hudson, please,” I beg. “Please don’t tell him.”
He moves into the room, closing the door behind himself, and thrusts his finger my way. “Don’t you fucking dare ask me to keep this from my brother.” His piercing stare goes to Stella. “And please tell me you weren’t going to agree to it.”
Stella’s eyes swell as she throws her arms out toward me. “She’s my best friend!”
“And he’s your soon-to-be brother-in-law who deserves to know!” he yells. “That’ll be my niece or nephew. Did you even wonder how keeping this to yourself would hurt me and my family?”
Talk about a fucking loud mouth.
“Keep your voice down,” I hiss in warning.
His face hardens, almost appearing sinister, and sweat builds along his forehead. “I swear on everything that I will hate you if you do this. You don’t pull shit like this on a man, especially one who is as good of a father as Dallas. He’s not some piece-of-shit, deadbeat dad.”
I squeeze my eyes shut in an attempt to not only stop the tears, but to also block out the view of Hudson’s disgust. “It has nothing to do with him. It’s what’s best for me.”
“Bullshit. It’s you being selfish.”
“Hudson,” Stella snaps. “Enough!” She pulls herself up from the floor and helps me to my feet. She doesn’t release my hand until I’m stable. “What are you so afraid of, Willow? What’s the worst that could happen?”
Fear does the Macarena in my stomach. I can’t tell them the truth. “Everything,” I release. “He’s a grieving widower who regrets touching me.”
Stella’s face softens. “This secret will add to his hurt when he finds out later.”
“That’s if he finds out.” I peek over at Hudson, the anger still manifested everywhere on his body.
He locks eyes with me and shakes his head. “Un-fucking-believable. You fucking do this to him, Willow, and I will never speak to you again.” His glare goes to Stella. “Good memories of our engagement night, huh?” He turns his back on us and slams his hand against the wall before opening the door and storming out.
“He’s going to tell him, isn’t he?” I ask.
“I’m sorry,” Stella replies. “I shouldn’t have pushed you, but you have to tell Dallas before Hudson does. Maybe this baby will bring some joy into his darkness.”
“I’ll tell him. Just give me a few days, okay?”
She nods. “As much time as you need. I can’t say the same for Hudson though. You know how close they are.”
“Fuck!” I scream, grabbing the ends of my hair and pulling it.
“That’s what put you in this situation.” She smiles when I flip her off.
“I need another fucking cupcake.”
Chapter Two
Dallas
I open the fridge with more force than necessary and snag a beer. My brain pounds when I pop the cap off, take a long yet unsatisfying drink, and set it aside for something stronger.
Nothing will be potent enough for me tonight.
But that won’t stop me from trying.
Maven is at my parents’, so I have no responsibilities tonight.
To say surviving the party was a challenge is an understatement. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make it through and good thing I didn’t have to do it sober. I should be glad my brother found happiness, but I’m an asshole living in a dark hole, avoiding the sunlight. I’m only happy I managed not to stand up and object to him asking Stella to marry him.
Marriage isn’t the answer, I wanted to scream out. Don’t let yourself get wrapped up in someone so much, you don’t know who you are when they’re gone.
I pat myself on the back for keeping my mouth shut. The glass bottle feels chilly when it grazes the bare skin of my neck.
Then, I saw Willow. Hudson gave me a heads-up that she was coming, and even if I had tried to argue about it, nothing would’ve changed. She’s Stella’s best friend … and the only other woman I’ve slept with since Lucy died. Hell, the only woman I’ve slept with other than Lucy.
I decided I was going to talk to Willow and make things right between us. The problem was, I wasn’t expecting my chest to ache at the sight of her walking in … or my hands to grow sweaty as I wondered how her skin felt underneath that black dress.
Is it still as soft as it was that night?
Does she still smell like strawberries?
Taste as sweet?
My plan to make shit right went out the window. All I thought about was asking her to come home with me and let me make up for my asshole behavior. I haven’t touched anyone in months, haven’t had the desire to, but seeing Willow made my heart race and my dick stir. Hell, it was a full-time job stopping myself from staring at her every three seconds.
I asked her to breakfast, and she looked at me like I was scum beneath her shoes. I had done a shitty thing, but I’ve tried to man up to it on more than one occasion, and she keeps shooting me down. So, I’m still a lonely asshole who only gets turned on at the thought of his dead wife and a woman who hates him.