I'm the one she talks to about her shitty family life.
Almost as if she can read my mind, Jules lays her hand on my forearm. "I'm sure she's going to talk to you about it."
I shake my head. "She doesn't owe me anything."
Except I want her to want my advice. I did knock her up after all, so one would say I'm at least the most important man in her life at the moment.
Jules opens her mouth to say something I'm sure is sweet but unhelpful to the way I'm feeling, when our attention is caught by a car pulling into her circular driveway. It stops right in front of the sidewalk that leads to the porch, and my jaw drops open as I recognize my sister, Simone, in the backseat.
I trot down the stairs as she steps out and the Uber driver pops his trunk.
"What are you doing here?" I ask in stunned surprise as I pull her into a big bear hug.
Simone laughs and squeezes me tight. "What? I'm not allowed to visit my brothers?"
"You're welcome anytime," I assure as I pull back and hold her by her shoulders. "You look great, sis."
And she does. My sister is the spitting image of Max and me, as well as our other brother, Malik. Dark brown hair with streaks of a lighter brown throughout that just occur naturally in our family starting with my mom. She has the same hazel eyes too, and she's tall like her brothers, although at five nine, she's still several inches shorter than me.
"Get out of the way, Lucas," I hear Jules say from behind me. I step back from my sister, and she and Jules hug like long-lost friends. They haven't met in person yet, but they are tight through phone calls and social media. They chatter constantly back and forth with Facebook texts and tweets.
When they pull apart, she turns to thank the Uber driver as he sets two large bags down in the grass that borders the driveway. He gets into his car and leaves and I pick up Simone's bags to carry them into to the house.
"Did you tell Max you were coming?" I ask her as we hit the front porch and Jules leads us into the house.
"Nope," she says, and even though her back is to me as I bring up the rear, I can hear the mischief in her voice. "Thought I'd just come and crash here and rattle your cages. Besides, Jules said I could visit anytime I wanted. It was an open door."
"True," Jules says with a laugh as I set the bags down in the foyer, figuring I'll take them to whatever room they put her in. She definitely has to stay here, as there's no room at my house since it only has two bedrooms.
Max sees us all through the glass back deck doors, eyes landing on Simone then going back to the grill. He quickly does a double take, his mouth falling open like mine.
Then he's in the house and has her in a hug, yelling out loudly but with excitement, "What the hell are you doing here?"
The kids all come running in, and when Max releases Simone, she gives him a pat on the chest and laughs, "I missed you too, Max."
Jules introduces the kids to Simone and she kneels down to give each one a hug as they meet their Aunt Simone for the first time. Annabelle is a little shy, but give her five minutes and she'll get over it. When Simone stands back up, Max says, "Seriously, sis...what are you doing here? I know spring break is over because I remember the gazillion pictures you posted on Facebook from Cancun."
"Oh, you know," she says evasively as she fiddles with one of her earrings. "Just wanted to visit."
Max and I both immediately narrow our eyes at her. Jules wouldn't know this because she just met Simone, but we grew up in the same house together. That fiddling and tugging on her earring meant she was lying. It was her giveaway, and she could never pull one over on us or our parents because of it. Simone, out of all of us, is the most genuine person. She's honest and truthful to a fault, and rarely lies, and when she does, it's usually to avoid hurting someone.
"Try again," I say as I cross my arms, glancing at Max's face. He's clearly worried, as am I.
"What?" Simone exclaims in fake affront. "Can't a girl take a little break?"
"That's not like you," Max murmurs. "Not to just up and leave in the middle of a school semester."
"Your last school semester," I tack on.
Simone's graduating from Dartmouth in May and then she plans on going to medical school after that. Our father is a doctor and she's always wanted to follow in his footsteps.
Sensing that this might be a good time for a little privacy for the Fournier family, Jules spreads her arms and jerks her head toward the back staircase that leads to the second floor. "Come on, kids. Let's go upstairs and get washed up for dinner."
Max shoots her a grateful look, and then turns a thoughtful gaze back to Simone. "You're here, Simone. It's a surprise. You've packed two huge bags. Do Lucas and me a favor and just tell us what's going on."
Simone's green-gold eyes go back and forth between Max and me, calculating what she should say. Her hand drops from her ear, so I know before she opens her mouth we're going to get the truth now.
With a sigh and a lowered gaze, Simone murmurs, "I dropped out of school."
"You did what?" both of us shout the exact words at her at the same exact time.
She winces in the face of our obvious anger and astonishment. "Do you think Dad will be mad?"
"And let me tell you why?" I snarl at her. "Fucking college is expensive. Dartmouth is really expensive. You dropping out is jeopardizing medical school. Should I go on?"
Simone shakes her head furiously.
"What's the deal, Simone?" Max asks softly. "Give it to us real."
With a frown, Simone gives it to us. "I don't want to be a doctor. Never did, and I just can't keep going on with this lie to Dad. I figured if I dropped out, that was the easiest way out of medical school without telling Dad I don't want to be a doctor."
"You can't be that dumb," I say, pissed as hell she'd do something so dramatic without talking to one of us first. Our family is close and we talk about everything.
Well, except women we knock up. I'm still keeping that just between Max, Jules, and me until after we see the doctor.
"Lucas," Max says in a low warning tone to back the fuck off. Then his gaze focuses on Simone. "Have you talked to Mom and Dad?"
She shakes her head, tears starting to glisten, and I groan internally. I've always been a sucker for Simone's tears. "They won't understand."
"You know they will," I chastise.
"But let's not worry about that now," Max says as he steps forward and gives her a squeeze around her shoulders. "We'll eat dinner and talk some more."
I follow them into the kitchen, although I'm not staying long. I want to make sure Simone is settled, and I know Max and Jules will talk to her tonight to figure out what is going on. So I'll hang around for a bit, but I'm not about to give up my plans to see Stephy.
Chapter 8
Stephanie
"How are you feeling?" Lucas asks as I stare at him in the doorway. He'd knocked, my heart rate accelerated, and I swung the door open wide.
And I'm not sure how the man can get more beautiful to me.
Sexier.
Safer.
Wait...safer?
But yes. As I look into those hazel eyes that have an obvious low-burning flame because let's face it, the sex is phenomenal and we're going to get to it, I also see other things in his expression. There's joy to see me, concern about me, and perhaps even some mischief brewing in his eyes and that causes me to have butterflies in my stomach.
Yes. Luc makes me comfortable and I feel safe in this friendship we've developed so far. I never talk about my parents, and yet I did with him. Bottom line, I've got a level of trust in him. He knows what makes me the way I am and yet he still wants to get to know me as we embark on this pregnancy together.
I love how he's standing at my apartment door and not entering until he asks the most important thing to him right now.