Gavin leaned down, pressing a kiss to my temple. “We’ll check in later, yeah? Text us if you feel worse.”
“I will.”
Then Cade. Always the last. He sat on the edge of the bed beside me, brushing a strand of hair from my face.
“You okay?” he asked, genuine concern softening his features until he looked so much younger than he usually did. His blue eyes sparkled, reminding me of Daphne’s.
The thought of her, of this moment with Cade at my side, had a scary premise showing up in my head. Was this the right time to tell him? To break the news that Daphne was his by blood and not just by association, since we were sort of together?
“You look like you’re thinking pretty hard,” he said softly. “Like you want to say something.”
My heart stuttered. I did want to say something. God, I did. But an even bigger part of me rejected the idea. Almost felt nauseous again at the prospect of getting the words out.
So instead, I said, “You were really good with her today.”
His brows lifted a little. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. All of you were. And…with me. Thank you.”
There was a pause. One where I almost said it—She’s yours. The words hovered on the tip of my tongue.
But I choked. Not now. Not yet.
“Goodnight, Allie.”
He stood, hesitated, then kissed my forehead too. His lips lingered just a beat longer, and then the guys were gone.
I stared at the ceiling. The future felt like a fragile thing, trembling at the edge of something bigger. Something uncertain. Luca and I had an appointment with the lawyer Gavin had tracked down for us in just a couple of days, so the annulment loomed in my head along with the truth about Daphne’s father. And I maybe had some kind of illness to deal with too—one that would have kept the guys from staying over even if we hadn’t already agreed we didn’t want to confuse Daphne with a hasty sleepover.
I closed my eyes, trying not to panic as I remembered against my will that the guys would soon have no more logistics tethering them to me. To my town. Once Luca and I were no longer married, and Cade and Gavin knew about Daphne, the only thing drawing them toward me was the ephemeral nature of our connection. That felt so fragile, especially since I had no idea how they’d react to Daphne’s paternity. Would Cade want to stick around, but Gavin want to back out? Would none of them want anything to do with us when faced with the reality of pseudofatherhood? It was one thing to play the fun uncle on a zoo trip for a day. Being around for Daphne every day, for all ofthe uglier parts of raising a kid…it was a bigger commitment than any of them were ready to face, I was sure.
It was a collection of silly insecurities bubbling up like that mysterious nausea in my stomach. I knew worrying wouldn’t help anything, and that the guys had given me no reason to think they’d just duck and run. They’d been so great, so kind and understanding. They made me feel cherished every second we were together. I’d think about everything tomorrow.
Tonight, I would let the feeling of being loved—fully, surprisingly, maybe temporarily—carry me to sleep.
30
LUCA
The lawyer’s office was much swankier than that of Jack Bloom, Private Investigator. Gavin had spared no expense, and I was grateful for it, even as sitting in the sleek office chair in a chrome and glass room felt like a harbinger of doom.
Well, that was dramatic. But I wasn’t looking forward to this very necessary, very easy process, because I still wasn’t sure that Allie would stick around once there were no more legal strings tying us to one another.
“Alright, you two,” the lawyer said, turning toward us from the computer monitor she’d just been staring down. “Ready to end this marriage of yours?”
Loaded question. For both of us, I was sure, since Allie didn’t jump to say yes either. Instead, we both nodded slowly, and the lawyer adjusted her sunny tone to something more somber.
“You’re good candidates for annulment, despite the big gap in time,” she explained, making a couple of clicks on her computer. “The alcohol element is a slam dunk. Shouldn’t be terribly hard to get you two set up.”
I sat there, half listening as she explained the process, how long it would take, what we could expect. My eyes drifted to Allie. She was looking down at her lap, not making eye contact with me, which made something sharp twist in my gut. I had this stupid hope she’d look over, maybe smile, maybe say this was all a little crazy and we should think about it longer. But she didn’t, and I knew she wouldn’t, and I knew it was stupid to want that at all.
When the paperwork was printed and placed in front of us, I stared down at the pen like it might catch fire in my hand. This was it. The end of whatever ridiculous Vegas mistake had tied us together—and the end of any tangible excuse I had to stay close to her. Soon, Cade, Gavin, and I would head back to our regular lives. Everything would change.
“Everything look correct?” the lawyer asked.
I nodded, barely able to make my head move. It was a lie, since my eyes weren’t even focusing on the words on the page.
“Then go ahead and sign where indicated.”
