“Hey, what are you doing out here?” July asks, her voice three octaves higher than normal.
His eyes flare with rage. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“What? I came out to smoke. You know… the scenes were so hot I needed a cigarette,” she says, and I have to force myself not to slap my own forehead. God, I love my best friend. We hear someone chuckle, and we both turn to look as Mic, Wes, Z, and Jax walk up to where we’re standing.
“This shit’s not funny,” Wes growls, glaring at Mic, who holds up a hand defensively in front of him.
When Wes’s eyes meet July’s, they do one sweep then he looks at Sage.
“You mind taking the girls home? We’ll be there in an hour.”
“No problem, man,” Sage answers.
I don’t have it in me to meet Z’s eyes. I’m not ready to face his wrath quite yet.
“Do not fucking leave the house.” Wes points at July, and it only adds to my guilt. I’m always getting my poor bestie in trouble. What the hell is wrong with me?
“Give me your keys,” Z orders me. I jump at the anger in his voice and grab July’s hand. I turn to look at her, my nose tingling as tears fill my eyes. She hands the keys over, and I watch as Z storms off toward the parking lot.
“We—” July starts, but her man cuts her off.
“Do not fucking talk,” Wes says, and I hear July’s teeth click as her mouth slams shut. “I’ll deal with your ass when I get home.”
At that, I feel her hand tighten around mine as anger overtakes all her other emotions, but she holds it in check, not saying anything in response.
“Let’s go,” Sage tells us, and leads us away from the guys and toward his truck.
“Sorry about leaving,” July mumbles from the passenger seat.
“You know we wouldn’t be watching you guys if there wasn’t some fucked-up shit going on,” Sage replies, and it makes my brows furrow. Why won’t anyone tell us what the hell is going on? When we get to July’s, Sage shuts off his truck, and we follow him to the front door before she lets us inside. “Both of you, sit here,” he growls, pointing at the couch.
July turns her glare on her cousin like a laser beam, and he visibly flinches.
“First, we’re not going to leave again, and second, I’m older than you and this is my house. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to take my friend back to the bathroom so she can splash some cold water on her face!” she shouts, and then we turn and she tugs me to the hall bathroom. “Sit here,” she tells me, closing the lid on the toilet so I can take a seat, and then she grabs a washcloth and runs it under the water before handing it to me.
“Thanks,” I murmur, pressing it to my face.
“He’s not cheating,” comes her sweet voice, and I exhale, squeezing my eyes tight. With all the craziness of the last forty-five minutes, the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. But she’s right. Z wasn’t sneaking off with some other woman. He was sneaking off with his biker club brothers. So why couldn’t he just talk to me about it? Doesn’t he trust me? Does he think I’ll rat him out if he’s doing something illegal? I mean, I wouldn’t be happy about that, if that’s what he’s doing. But I love him. I’m carrying his child. I wouldn’t do anything to get him in any kind of trouble.
When we go back out to the living room, Sage is watching television. “The guys are on their way back.”
“Great,” she mumbles, and my nausea returns.
When the sound of their motorcycles rumbles outside, I nearly vomit right there in the living room.
The front door flies open, and my heart skips a beat when I see it’s Z busting in like he owns the place.
“How the fuck do you think it’s okay to take a pregnant woman on one of your crazy-ass adventures?” he roars at July, and all the blood drains from my face. I swallow bile rapidly, trying to keep from throwing up on the pretty white carpet.
“You’re pregnant?” she whispers, and I turn to see the look of hurt in her eyes. “How did that happen? I mean… when? Shit… I mean, why didn’t you tell me?” She shakes her head, completely overwhelmed by the news.
“I don’t know. I’m sorry; you know I love you,” I whimper then look up at Z, and a surge of fury ignites my veins. “And you had no right to tell her, you big, fat jerk. I’m pregnant, not incapable of making my own fucking decisions.” I stand up and shove past Z, whose glare softens when he sees my tears finally fall down my cheeks. “Fuck!” I scream when I get to the front door, when I realize I can’t make my dramatic exit to really drive home the guilt he should feel for telling my best friend my secret before I got the chance to. “You have my keys. Either give them to me, or take me the fuck home.”