I swallow hard and take a second to respond. “Thank you.”
Birch raises his hand. “I’m with Rav on this one. I assumed you were Teller’s dad all along.”
“Same, honestly,” Hoot says.
I can’t help it. Laughter explodes from me. Fucking hell. “That’s great.”
“Oh, fuck! Your first time—the babysitter story!” Rav snaps his fingers together. “That was Teller’s mom?”
“Jesus Christ,” Z mutters. “Are you that fucking slow?”
“If you think about it, it’s kinda cool,” Rav says. “If Rock ever leaves us, we’ll have a spare.”
“That’s…” I don’t even know how to respond. “Heartwarming. Thanks.”
Sparky wiggles his hand in the air in a swimming-fish motion. “You must’ve had some super-swimmer sperm awfully young.”
Why didn’t I dismiss everyone when I had the chance?
Z snorts and rolls his eyes at Sparky. “You’re just jealous because yours swim in circles.”
Ignoring Z, Sparky lobs another question. “Does Hope know?”
I nod once. “She had the pleasure of telling us.”
“Aw, man. And she never seemed stressed about it either. And she still tolerates Teller’s annoying face up in your biz all the time. So that’s good.” Sparky shakes his head. “Wait, does that mean…” He stops like he’s rubbing his last two brain cells together really hard. “You guys found out back when we took that test to find out if we were the baby daddy of Inga’s kid?”
“Boy, you don’t miss a thing,” Wrath deadpans.
“Yeah, that’s how we found out,” I answer.
“Cool.” Sparky grins. “At least something good came out of that gross situation.”
“The something good was none of us fathering that bitch’s brat,” Stash says.
“Well, that too.”
“All right.” I drum my knuckles against the table. “Any other questions?”
“Are we celebrating?” Sparky asks. “This seems like a cause to celebrate.”
Stash side-eyes his buddy. “When don’t you want to celebrate?”
Grinder and his wise-old smirk stick around after I dismiss everyone. “More brilliant commentary to share?” I ask as he approaches. “Don’t you have a pregnant fiancée to hover over?”
“Nah, I’m proud of you.” He glances at Murphy, then Teller, still sitting in their spots. “Guessing you all got things sorted?”
“More or less,” Murphy answers. “I’m staying put for now.”
I stop and stare at Murphy.
Had he considered leaving over this?
One of the doors flies open, smashing into the wall, and the question I wanted to ask is forgotten. Sparky’s eager face appears.
“Easy, Sparky,” I warn.
“Oops, sorry.” He glances at the door. “Are you coming? It’s party time. No more ruminating over the past.”
“Ruminating, huh?” Teller smirks. “Willow leave out her dictionary for you?”
“I’m going to ignore your hostility.” Sparky lifts his chin. “This is worthy of celebration.”
Marcel glances at me, relief tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Yeah, it is.”
For the first time since we found out, it actually seems true.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Teller
I never got to go home after church. One person or another stopped to talk to me. Word about Rock and me spread. Eventually, a smaller group of us move into the dining room where Trinity’s fixing a table full of drinks and snacks for everyone.
“That’s some news,” Trinity says, handing me a cup of punch.
I accept the punch and take a sip. The too-sweet tang of something fruity mixed with the sharp burn of alcohol sears the back of my throat. I cough and set the cup on the table. “Wrath really didn’t tell you?”
“It wasn’t his secret to share,” she says without a hint of annoyance at her husband. At least that means one woman in Heidi’s life hasn’t betrayed her trust. “Do you feel better that it’s out in the open now?”
I roll my shoulders, noticing how much lighter I feel. “I do. It sucked. But I shouldn’t have put it off for so long.”
“You did it when you were ready.” Her voice rises above the chaotic chatter filling the room. “No one else can tell you how to feel about something so cataclysmic.”
“Your husband had a slightly different opinion.”
Her gaze shifts to somewhere in the crowded dining room behind me, probably landing on Wrath. “I’m sure he did.”
“Thanks, Trinity.”
She focuses on me again, her lips curling into a teasing smile. “Does this mean we can begin planning your wedding for real now?”
“That’s not what was holding up our wedding…” The protest dies in my throat. Is this why Charlotte and I have taken so long to set a date? Or was it our grief over our miscarriage causing the delay? “Maybe it was. I don’t know.”
“I just want an excuse to pull out my pink binder. Lilly and Z skunked me by getting hitched in California.” Her mouth turns down. “Then things got so messed up with Heidi and—”
“It’s been a rough year.”
“Right. But you two deserve to have the wedding you want.” She rubs her hands together. “I think Charlotte’s the first of us to want a white wedding dress.”
“She does?” We haven’t even talked about it.
“She’s going to be a beautiful bride.”
“That she is.” I grab my cup of punch off the table but don’t want to toss it in the trash in front of Trinity. I search the room for Charlotte but find Sparky sitting on top of the bar huffing on a giant water bong. He tosses a bleary-eyed wave my way.
“I think she’s in the kitchen,” Trinity says, pointing me in that direction. “Tell her not to go far.” She pats my shoulder and darts down the hallway. Off to get her pink binder probably.
Good. Trin’s right. It’s about time Charlotte and I tie the knot.
CHARLOTTE
Trinity doesn’t mention Rock and Marcel’s newly revealed relationship when she catches up to me outside of the ladies’ room. Nope, she’s on a mission to get us married a.s.a.p.
Music throbs through the crowded clubhouse. But Trinity herds me through the crowd, pulling Hope, Lilly, and Heidi along with us. We traipse up the stairs into what used to be Hope and Rock’s suite at the clubhouse.
“We haven’t been here in a while,” Hope says, picking up books and placing them on the shelves. She dusts off a windowsill and smooths wrinkles out of the bedspread.
“Well, no one will bug us up here.” Trinity climbs into the middle of the bed and opens her pink binder, resting it on her lap. “All right. Guest list.” Trinity studies a sheet of paper with columns of names on it. “Between Upstate, Downstate, Virginia, the guys out west.” She vaguely waves her hand in that direction. “That’s about fifty-five people. You probably need to invite some Devil Demons. Chaser and Mallory just had us at their big anniversary party,” she murmurs.