Hard Hit (IceCats 3)

“Hey,” I say, kissing the side of her mouth. Celeste wastes no time and openmouth kisses Jaylin’s cheek, much to her pleasure. She laughs loudly as she cuddles her hard.

“Look at you, looking all adorably perfect! Wanna meet your future boyfriend?”

I groan. “It’s a boy! Damn it, he’s gonna be like Nico, and I’ll be the one trying to hide Celeste away like he does Callie.”

From the chair in the corner, Callie laughs. “Yeah, even in college, he’s trying to keep the boys away.”

Nico points to her. “I’m succeeding.”

“For now,” she teases, and the room erupts in laughter. Well, everyone but Nico.

I walk over to check out the little dude. He’s all pink and wrapped tightly in a blanket. I glance at Celeste, who is watching him intently. “Aw, those Merryweather genes are strong.”

Aviva nods. “So strong. I do all the work, and he comes out looking just like him.”

Nico kisses her temple as he gazes down at his son. I’ve never seen Nico so happy in my life. I don’t even think he’ll want the Snickers in my pocket. “What did you guys name him?”

Aviva beams up at me. “Nicolas Vance Merryweather, but he’ll go by Vance.”

“That’s a mouthful,” I say, and then I instantly regret it. “Oh, wait. Dart isn’t here.”

“Unfortunately,” Callie jokes, and Nico glares.

“I will send you back to Nashville.”

More laughter ensues as all the attention goes back to Vance. He sure is cute. “I miss when Celeste was that small.”

“She was a darling baby,” Aviva says, and then proving he is nothing like Celeste, Vance lets out one hell of wail. “Oh, he’s hungry.”

Vance’s wail scares Celeste, and she covers her ears as she cries out, her face turning red and the tears quickly starting to fall. Nico’s eyes widen and I can tell he’s about to freak out, so I hand him the Snickers. “I’m gonna get her out of here.”

“I’ll go with you,” Jaylin volunteers as she follows me out.

“Thanks! Leave me with the new parents and the screaming kid!” Callie yells at us, but we ignore her, shutting the door behind us. Jaylin holds Celeste close to her chest as she heads down the hall. I’m unsure where we’re going, but I follow her into a bridge made of glass. You can see all of downtown, and I bet it is a spectacular view at night. Not that I’m thinking much about that; I’m wondering if Jaylin is about to break up with me. Yeah, we were good in the room, but was that all for show? Shit, I hate the way my mind works.

Jaylin stops midway as soon as Celeste has calmed down, and she turns to me. Her eyes meet mine, and without much warning, or maybe I didn’t realize we were doing this right now, she says, “I’m sorry I just left last night.”

My heart kicks into gear. Okay. Here we go. I’m either walking out of here without her or with her. Really want the latter. “It was a lot to take in with Lilly just showing up like that. We never really discussed what we’d do if she came back.”

“Exactly,” she says, pointing to me. “I think we just assumed she was gone and we were going to keep being us. Don’t get me wrong, I love us, but she freaked me out.”

“I know. I’m sorry about that. She freaked me out too.”

“Still, I shouldn’t have left things the way I did. I know you need to talk things out and be certain, but I got so emotional and started thinking I was losing who I am as a person.”

“I don’t think that at all,” I say, shaking my head. “If anything, I think you’re the best version of yourself when you’re with me.”

She smiles. “I agree with you, but I wasn’t thinking clearly last night. I was thinking Lilly was going to take my future from me or, at least, really fuck it up.”

“Never. I wouldn’t let that happen,” I promise, and she nods.

“I know, and I told myself that. As Aviva was having the baby, my mind kept floating back to you. How I wished you were here. How I wished it were me having the baby with you. How I wanted to spend my whole life with you and Celeste, no matter what.” My heart stops dead in my chest as she holds my gaze. “I know things will get messy with Lilly, but I don’t care. It will suck to trade weekends or whatever arrangement we set up. But as long as it’s we, then I’m there. I want to be there with you, every step of the way. I want to be at every birthday, every Christmas. I want a life with you two. If Lilly is in it, then she is—as long as you are mine and only mine.”