Tap (Men of Lovibond 1)

“Mmm. Yum . . . mee.” She smiles and black cookie remnants decorate her mouth and teeth.

I burst out laughing. “You have to get a picture of that, Bridg.”

“Good Lord.” Bridgette fetches her phone from her bag. “Smile for Mama.”

I push the plate toward Ava. “One left. All yours if you want it.”

Ava picks up the last cookie and holds it out to Lawrence. “Want it, Wren?” Wren. I like that much better than Law or Lawry.

“What a sweet girl you are. Thank you, but the last one should be for you.”

“Full,” Ava says. She holds it out to me next. “Unky Bou?”

I lean forward and open my mouth so Ava can feed me. Not bad. But I guess anything tastes good deep-fried and covered in powdered sugar.

“Likit?” Ava asks.

I gobble at her fingers and Ava bursts into laughter. “Cookie monster like. He may eat fingers too.”

Bridgette gathers the plate and wipes down the table. “You ready to go, Warren?”

“Whenever you are, baby.”

Bridge lifts a foot and extends it. “I think I need to get home so I can put these up. They feel like they’re twice their normal size.”

Swelling to the face and hands. Headaches. Blurred Vision.

All of those things were symptoms that happened prior to the seizure Bridgette had the day she gave birth to our son. We were too young and stupid to know something was seriously wrong. I’ve never been so scared in my life. I thought she was dying.

“None of the other problems are happening?” I don’t have to go into details about what I mean. Bridgette knows.

“Not a one.”

Warren grasps my shoulder and squeezes. “The doctor told us a little swelling was normal but said she should elevate her feet when it happens. We’re watching everything carefully.”

Warren has only seen Bridgette carry a perfect child full-term during an uncomplicated pregnancy. He wouldn’t be so at ease if he’d seen the things I had.

She comes over and wraps her arms around me. “My feet will go up the minute I get home. I’ll notify the doctor immediately if I have any problems or feel like something’s not right.”

“I know you’re cautious. I just—”

She grabs the sides of my face. “You definitely enjoy being a pain in my ass. But I wouldn’t have it any other way, pest.”

Bridgette moves on to Lawrence, embracing her the same way as me. It’s her way. “It was a pleasure meeting you.”

“The pleasure was all mine. Early congratulations on your upcoming arrival.”

“Thank you.”

I lift Ava into my arms and squeeze her lightly while rubbing my beard against her face. “Love you, Bebelle. Be a sweet girl for Mama.”

As per usual, she strokes my beard with the palm of her hand as we say goodbye. “Love you, Unky Bou.”

When Ava finishes with me, she skips over to Lawrence and throws herself into her arms.

“Bye, Wren.” Wren.

“I very much enjoyed meeting you, little missy. I know you’re going to make an excellent big sister when your baby brother arrives.”

“Best eva.”

I look at Lawrence when Bridgette, Warren, and Ava are gone. Her elbow is propped on the table, her head tilted so her hand can fidget with the knot on top of her head. Her eyes are wide and intently focused on me. I think she’s trying to figure out what just went down.

“I know what you’re thinking.”

“Enlighten me. I’d love to know what you believe is in my head right now.”

“You’re trying to make sense of what you just saw.”

“Maybe.”

Maybe, my ass. “You wouldn’t be the first to be confused by us.”

“No one understands your relationship, and you’re okay with that. I get it and I think it’s great.”

I can’t recall ever hearing that kind of response from anyone. I almost think she’s fucking with me. “Really?”

“Yeah. The dynamics of your relationship are fascinating.”

“Fascinating? I guess. Hard as hell? Definitely.”

People love to judge. Many haven’t been kind to Bridgette but I could never sit back and allow anyone to hurt her. She was my best friend. And I wasn’t the only one forced into a marriage I didn’t want.

“I would love to hear more but what do you say we grab some dinner first? I’m starving.”

“I could go for some food.” This girl is way more than I expected. Annoying, incessant texter she is not. Beautiful, insightful, and sexy she is. Yeah, definitely want some more Wren time.

Lawrence Thorn

Lucas Broussard, the world’s most interesting man, just became a little more intriguing. I would not have guessed in a million years my brother’s business partner would be so riveting.

I’ve never been married so I don’t understand the dynamics between a husband and wife. I certainly don’t understand the relationships between a divorcé and divorcée. But I don’t have to in order to realize Lucas and Bridgette are the exception to every rule.

This isn’t just kindness toward his ex-wife and the best friend who married her. It’s clear he truly loves them and their daughter. And their son, who will be arriving in a couple months from the looks of things. What drives this man to be like that? “I want to hear more.”

“What would you like to know?”

“Anything. Everything.”

Lucas laughs at my response. “Long or short version?”

“Long.” I think I’ll need it to understand.

“Bridgette was my best friend in high school. We did everything together, which helped make the move from Louisiana easier, that’s for sure.” I try to picture younger versions of Lucas and Bridgette hanging out the way I did with Ivy and Kelsey but I can’t quite conjure an image of him without that beard.

“‘I don’t know why you guys don’t date. You’d be perfect together.’ It’s all we ever heard from the other kids, teachers, parents. Everyone.”

“I can see where you’d begin to question the validity in it. A kid is impressionable.”

“Exactly. So I started wondering if I was wearing a blinder because I didn’t want to see how perfect we’d be together.”

“You obviously decided to listen to what everyone was saying.” It’s always a mistake to listen to others instead of your heart.

“I asked Bridgette if she wanted to give us a try, to see if everyone knew what they were talking about.”

“And she was willing.”

“No. She told me to never mention it again or she’d punch me in the nuts.” That’s a little unexpected. And funny. “I didn’t bring it up again but she did a couple of years later after we went to college. A couple of months in, we decided to give sex a try. Huge mistake. I don’t think we even had our clothes back on when we agreed it should never happen again.”

But it must have. “You married her.”

“We had sex that one time and she got pregnant.”

“Oh, God.” Worst-case scenario.

“We decided the best thing for our child was to marry and co-parent him together.” Amazing. Even as teenagers, Lucas and Bridgette chose to do what they thought was best for the welfare of their child over their own happiness. Far more than our grown parents ever did for Ollie and me.

Ava and the new baby were the only children mentioned today. I have that awful feeling in my gut that something bad must have happened.

“Bridgette was about halfway through the pregnancy when we found out our son had bilateral renal agenesis. His kidneys failed to develop, which means a death sentence within hours of being born.”

“I’m so very sorry.” I don’t know what else to say to that.

“Bridgette got really sick and developed eclampsia when she was almost eight months pregnant.”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“A condition pregnant women get. All I really remember is how badly Br

idg was swollen. She told me she had a terrible headache and blurry vision. I was a kid. I didn’t know what to do so I took her to the hospital. When we got there, her blood pressure was sky high. One minute she’s talking to me, the next she’s having a seizure. Scared the shit out of me. I thought she was dying.”

“How do you treat something like that?”

“They gave her medicine to stop the seizure and took her to surgery for a C-section. Eli died before she made it out of the recovery room.”

“Oh, no. She didn’t get to hold him.”

“Not while he was alive. But I did. And that’s where he died. In my arms instead of hooked up to machines that wouldn’t save him anyway.”