Yard Sale

“You okay, man?” Adrian asks, eyeing the crumpled-up water bottle in my fist.

“Fine,” I snap. Briar stares straight ahead at Cam and Mollie dancing to some female version of “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” pretending to be oblivious to our conversation. She’s been acting weird all fucking week, avoiding me like the plague, and whenever I can manage to corner her, she makes excuses about being tired, which I know is complete bullshit.

I can feel her slipping away from me, and I can’t do anything to stop it. So, here I sit in limbo, waiting for her to either try to leave me or to tell me what I did so I can fix it.

“Have you heard from my brother?” Briar asks him, to change the subject, I’m sure.

“Nope,” Adrian replies. He clears his throat and averts his eyes…his tell that he’s hiding something. All this time has gone by, and we’re all still keeping secrets like we’re in high school.

Briar’s face falls. She’s been worried about Dash. He’s been distant for a few months now, and no one—except for Adrian, I suspect—knows what’s up with him. Must be a Vale family trait.

“He’ll be all right,” Adrian tries to assure her, reaching over to squeeze her shoulder.

“If he doesn’t drink himself to death,” she mutters, swirling her untouched glass of champagne. Wanting to take her mind off Dash, I stand, holding out my hand for her to take. Wary blue eyes look up at me.

“Dance with me,” I say, chancing rejection.

“You…want to dance?”

“Come on, baby girl. It’s a one-time offer. Take it or leave it.”

Briar’s lips tip up in a reluctant smile as she puts her glass down, slipping her palm into mine. I lead her out to the dance floor, pulling her close.

“You look beautiful,” I murmur into her blonde hair as she lays her head on my chest. Beautiful is putting it lightly. She looks fucking lethal in her black and white striped summer dress with a slit clear up to the top of her thigh. I rub my hand across the exposed skin on the warm skin of her back, then I hear her sniffle.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, trying to pull back to see her face, but she burrows deeper into my chest, and I feel her tears seep through my button-up shirt. “Just fucking tell me, Briar. Are you leaving me?” I ask, point-blank.

She pulls back, glassy eyes searching mine, seeming genuinely confused. “Leave you? Why the hell would I leave you?”

“You tell me,” I say a little louder than I mean to, earning a few dirty looks from Mollie and Cam’s guests. “You’ve been avoiding me all week. What the fuck is going on?”

“I just—”

“Don’t feed me another excuse,” I cut her off, and she shushes me, leading me away from the dance floor and into the wooded area, not wanting to cause a scene. That right there should tell me that whatever she’s about to say isn’t good.

“Is it because we haven’t gotten married yet?” I ask, as the thought occurs to me. “Because I was just waiting for you to say the word. Set a date and it’s done. We can get married tomorrow, if that’s what you want.”

“No, that’s not it,” she says, shaking her head. “I didn’t want to do this here.” She twists her hands together nervously.

“Put me out of my fucking misery, Bry. The not knowing is killing me.”

“I’m pregnant,” she blurts out in a rush. I don’t react. I don’t speak. I don’t move. I don’t even think I’m breathing.

“I know you don’t want kids, and I don’t blame you, but Ash, you’re not your dad. And I know we’re young, but I’ve known that I wanted to be with you since I was fourt—”

“Briar. Shut up,” I say, cutting off her rambling. Her mouth snaps shut, and I feel a smile spread across my face. “You’re pregnant? We’re having a baby?”

“I found out last week. You’re not mad?” she asks before biting on that plump bottom lip.

“Why the fuck would I be mad?”

Briar’s jaw drops. “Are you kidding me? You’ve always said that you never want kids. That you don’t want to end up like John.”

“Briar…when is the last time I said something like that?”

“I don’t know,” she says, and I can practically see her mind trying to find the right answer.

“I haven’t said that shit since we got back together. Because that’s when it changed for me. You changed that for me. First of all, you wouldn’t let me fuck our kid up,” I say, and she laughs, wiping away the tears that stream down her face. “And second of all, you showed me a long time ago that I’m not my father.”