When Amber had called me panicked and crying last night, my heart had frozen for too many beats, thinking something was wrong with the baby. And while it had started again once she’d reassured me she and the baby were fine, my gut had clenched when she’d told me Gran had taken a fall.
We’d only just brought her home after a night’s stay in the hospital. Miraculously, she hadn’t broken a bone, especially considering her osteoporosis. But she was bruised and sore and still stubborn as hell. I owed the nurse big, though, for finally getting the truth out of Gran. She’d had a dizzy spell, and apparently, this hadn’t been the first time.
“I’m moving in.” Since waiting in the ER for news, I’d racked my brain, trying to figure out what to do for the best. For Amber, for Gran, and in some ways, for me too. Moving in would mean I wouldn’t get late-night calls, for a start, and these guys were my family. I wanted to be here for both of them.
“You are?” Wide-eyed, Amber focused on me, a hitch in her question.
“Yeah. I’ll collect a bunch of things tomorrow. It won’t take long to settle in.” There was no way I could let her do it herself. Me offering to do this wasn’t even about me doing a good deed or the right thing. I loved Amber fiercely, loved her unborn baby too. Being a dad had never been at all in my plans—even if I fell head over dick for a guy. But an uncle… nowthatI could get on board with.
A loud sob escaped Amber. She clamped a hand over her mouth, her tears gushing freely over her tired face. “Really?” Her shoulders shook, her eyes wide and red.
I stood quickly and made my way over to her, kneeling at her side. I grinned at how she blubbered, but only because this girl rarely cried, so it was only right I teased her hormonal state. “Hey… really. It’s all going to be okay. Promise.” I scrunched my nose. “The tears are freakin’ me out, though.” My words earned me a laugh. “Don’t laugh while you’re doing that. Think of the snot, and I know you peed yourself last week. To be clear, I won’t be cleaning up piss puddles.”
“You’re a dick.” She rubbed at her eyes and smiled. “You know I’ve heard that peeing only gets worse after I’ve had the baby.”
“Really? You know how gross that is.” My brows shot up, deliberately comically high to get a rise out of her. “Please let me know if you need me to get those TENA things from the store. I have no shame in telling everyone they’re for you.”
She reached out and pinched my nipple.
“Ouch.”
Her smile softened. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” She reached out and took my hand. “My brother’s the biggest dick in the world.”
I snorted a laugh and squeezed her hand. “Do you need to call Ryan and tell him what’s happening?”
She shook her head. “There’s no point. It’s not like he’ll jump on a plane.” The words were so matter-of-fact that I couldn’t help but grimace. It didn’t help that I expected she was right. “But seriously, Nate, thank you. You’re the best big brother ever.” Sorrow shadowed her words. I hated them as much as I cherished them. That she felt abandoned soured my memories of Ryan. I hated how those seven years of friendship—some of the happiest of my life—were tainted.
“We’ll all get through this. More than that, we’ll rock it. You need to just focus on that growing alien of yours and let me figure out things with Gran, okay?”
“She is not an alien.”
“The last scan didn’t prove anything,” I jested, standing and pressing a kiss to her forehead before retreating to my seat.
“P-lease, you’ve just been watching dodgy sci-fi shows again.”
I gasped, flipping her off. “Screw you, ET’s mum. There’s nothing dodgy about anything I watch.”
She narrowed her gaze at me, her lips twitching, and I dreaded to think what she was going to say next. “You know it’s important to clear your search history before loaning out your laptop, right?”
An honest-to-God dip in my stomach followed as I racked my brain. Amber had borrowed my laptop about four months ago after hers had shit itself.
“Who knew monster and alien gay porn was a thing.”
I burst out laughing, despite my heating cheeks. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Uh-huh. Sure thing.”
CHAPTER2
RYAN
DECEMBER
Adrenaline racedthrough my veins as I pulled up into the underground parking lot of my condo. “Fuck.” The one word punctured the air in my Audi R8. I inhaled deeply before exhaling and shaking out the tension, cracking my knuckles and stopping my hands from shaking.
I’d been ten seconds away from exiting my car to head into the discreet gay bar when I’d spotted the guy with the camera across the street. He appeared a little too casual to be anything but suspicious. Spotting him stopped me from destroying everything I’d worked hard to avoid.
Somehow, I’d pulled away slowly, as though the snarling, mocking shadows hadn’t been chasing me every yard I’d moved away. Once in the clear and on the highway, I’d taken the risk and pushed hard to get back home.
