Liam sighed. “I had it in my head—in my heart—that she was going to be mine.”
“We both did, but there’s something you need to think about. If you walk away, I’m left with a woman who can only give me half her heart. The other half belongs to you. I couldn’t spend my life knowing I’d never be able to make her whole.”
“I’m not trying to leave you with half a woman, Macen. But I don’t see—”
“Then open your eyes. Raine is the one we’ve always needed,” Hammer insisted. “We not only have the chance to fix her, but us. You know it as well as I do. Goddamn it, surely you can feel it somewhere in there, just like I can.” Liam still didn’t say anything, and Hammer wanted to shake him. “Could you imagine never touching her again? Ever?”
Liam’s face twisted up as he tried to hold back. “No. I love her too much to leave her half empty.”
“Then don’t.”
After a long silence, Liam drew in a deep breath. “It could be worse, I suppose. I’ll have to be grateful that she didn’t fall in love with a complete asshole like Beck.”
Hammer couldn’t help but grin as he sighed in relief. Even Liam cracked a wry smile.
“I want you to know that earlier today, I didn’t just pull that question out of my ass. It had been rolling around in my head for days. I had to know if she would have been happy if she’d been pregnant.” Hammer scrubbed a hand through his hair. “Didn’t you want to know?”
“I was too afraid I wouldn’t like the answer,” Liam confessed.
“What if you’d gotten her pregnant? Would you have asked then?”
Liam reared back. “Of course. I’d want to know if she would be all right…” He sighed, giving Hammer a little grin. “You sly bastard.”
“You see, I had to know, not for an ego stroke. For her. And she gave us the honesty we asked for. She’s blown me away with how far she’s come.” Hammer couldn’t conceal his pride.
“That she has. But today came with a price I hadn’t expected.”
“We couldn’t shy away from hearing the truth, no matter how it stung. We just weren’t fully prepared for the fallout,” Hammer mused. “I seriously thought about taking Raine aside and asking her feelings about being pregnant. But in my head, you and I were in this together. No matter what she felt, it affected us both.”
“I understand why you wanted me there. Honestly, I do” Liam nodded. “But it caught me off guard and stabbed deep.”
“Not my intent, man. Hell, the two weeks I was counting the days of her cycle, I didn’t know if I was scared or happy with the possibility of being a father. It wasn’t until Thanksgiving, when fate decided for me, that I realized I wanted a family. And if anyone was going to be the mother of my children, I wanted it to be Raine.”
Liam gaped at him as if he were an alien. “Bloody hell, I never thought I’d hear the words family and father out of your mouth.”
Hammer shrugged and grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, well…the first time I have to change a dirty diaper, I’ll probably be singing a completely different tune. But hopefully you’ll be there to help me out.” Hammer held Liam’s gaze.
He wanted his friend back on board. Even if the train had a bad track record, Macen knew he’d never be able to make the journey with Raine half as meaningful without Liam.
“I vote we leave the dirty nappies to the wee one’s mum.” Liam grinned.
“Fuck yeah,” Hammer breathed out, then stood. “She needs us, man. Together. Through thick and thin. And I have a sneaking suspicion that we’re going to need each other even more. The girl’s a fucking handful.” Hammer sobered quickly. “I just hope we can get her back.”
They sat in silence for a long minute as Hammer wondered if he’d ever be able to prove to Raine that his words of love were sincere. He’d simply have to wait until Beck cooled her down and brought her back to find out. For now, one bridge was on the mend, and it relieved the hell out of him.
Macen stood and wrapped Liam in a brotherly hug, grateful to have another chance at a new beginning with his old friend. Liam slapped him on the back in return.
“We’ll just have to convince Raine that we’re her best options.” Liam chuckled.
“And grovel,” Seth piped up. “You two will be kissing ass till the next millennium.”
Hammer laughed. “God, I hope you’re right.”
Seth applauded like the sarcastic ass he was, then bowed. Straightening, he dusted off his palms. “My work here is done. Now let’s have another drink.”
Raine let Beck guide her into the sleepy little bar, decorated in early log cabin Americana. A startling collection of game heads were mounted to the walls. Their dead, glassy eyes stared back at her.