Sin City Baby

“No, let go of me.”

“I need you to stop fighting.”

“Levi, cut it out!”

“Calm down,” I said into her ear.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said as tears welled in her eyes. “I feel so lost.”

Her legs gave out from underneath her, and she collapsed into me. Everyone else rushed to my side as I slowly lowered her ass to the floor. Liam blew on the back of her neck while Logan and Luke took her hands. I held her as close to me as I could get while she sobbed into my chest. There she was. The scared Sam that had run because she was embarrassed. And with her world crashing down around her, she could no longer be strong enough for herself.

Which was fine.

Because we could all be strong enough for her.

“You aren’t doing this alone,” Liam said. “Regardless of who the father is.”

“That child is an Anderson. And you’re an Anderson, married or not. You always have been,” Logan said.

“You aren’t alone in this, so don’t convince yourself that you are,” Luke said.

“We’re taking care of you, Sam. Okay? Whatever you need to help you get through this,” I said.

We coddled her and cradled her until her tears finally dried up. My shirt was fucking soaked and her arms were wound tightly around my body. Her sobbing quieted, and her shoulders stopped jumping, and I felt her sigh into me before she wiped her face against the fabric of my clothes.

“You’re not alone in this,” I said. “Not with us around. Not ever.”

And for the first time since Sam had run from Bakersfield, she pulled us closer instead of pushing us away.

CHAPTER 17

SAM

I was woken up by a group text message from the guys. They were all asking me if I could meet up with them for lunch and promised they wouldn’t try to make me eat, which was good, because my stomach was already rolling with nausea again. I pulled myself out of bed and made my way to the shower, hoping a nice hot stream of water would do me some good. I stood in the shower until the water ran cold before climbing out and quickly drying off.

I pulled on some decent clothes, hoping that they would make me feel better. I grabbed my things and headed for the door, letting the guys know I was headed back to the hotel restaurant. I didn’t want to go anywhere else. I didn’t feel like going anywhere else. All I really wanted to do was crawl back into bed and sleep off the nauseous feeling in my stomach, but I needed to talk with the guys.

Now that they knew about the baby, communication between all of us would be imperative. Whether I wanted it to be or not.

I made my way down the stairs and drew in a deep breath. Meeting the guys for lunch solidified their role in all this. Made things much more complicated than I’d ever planned for them to be. Divorce or no divorce, they were all in this for the long haul.

“Sam.”

I closed my eyes and sighed at my father’s voice.

“Can you come into the kitchen, please?”

Suddenly, I wanted to run from the house and sprint all the way to the hotel restaurant.

I turned away from the front door and walked into the kitchen. My mother was sitting at the table, her lips pursed, and her hands folded neatly into her lap. Uh-oh. This wasn’t good. I choked down the bile rising up the back of my throat as my heart slammed against my chest. Then, my father ushered me to sit.

“You know when you’re with us you live by our rules, correct?” my mother asked.

“I know there are certain expectations I need to abide by, yes,” I said.

“Would you like to tell us anything then?” she asked.

“Why don’t you tell me what you’ve found?” I asked. “I’m late for lunch, and I need to get out of here.”