The Bromance Book Club (Bromance Book Club, #1)(23)

Still today, there was something about the sight of his petite wife swimming in his massive clothes that always turned him on. She probably only chose it tonight because it was easy, clean, and familiar. But for him, it held meaning and memory. She’d been wearing that very sweatshirt when she told him she was pregnant. He hadn’t been able to reach her for three days. She ignored all his calls and texts, and her coworkers at the coffee shop said she’d been calling in sick. When he finally went to her apartment and convinced her to at least open the door, he was prepared for anything. Or so he thought.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, hugging herself, hands hidden by the cuffs of his sweatshirt.

Gavin braced his hands on either side of the doorframe, his practiced speech replaced by panicked bumbling the instant he saw her face. “Just talk to me. OK? W-wh-whatever it is, just say it.”

She stared with empty eyes for a moment and then turned without a word. He watched from the doorway as she disappeared into her bathroom. Moments later, she returned, a white stick in her hands.

Every nerve in Gavin’s body erupted as if he’d been struck by lightning. “Wh-what is that?”

She stopped halfway across the small living room. Gavin walked in, shut the door, and crossed to where she stood. She held out the stick. He glanced down and saw a single blue plus sign.

“You’re pregnant?” he breathed, dots of light dancing before his eyes.

She snatched the stick back and resumed her cross-armed pose. “I’m pregnant,” she said, her voice firm, challenging, determined.

She’d barely finished the sentence before he kissed her.

“Are you ready to read?” Thea asked, interrupting the memory.

“Make room for Mommy,” Gavin said. Amelia scooted closer to his side, and Thea squeezed into a tiny bit of space between the girls and the wall. There was more than enough room next to him, but pointing that out probably wouldn’t go over well.

Gavin read as the girls snuggled against him, and every few lines he glanced at Thea. She obstinately refused to meet his gaze. When he finally finished a few minutes later, Thea sat up so fast that the bed shook. She told the girls to give her a kiss and that Daddy would tuck them in.

Ava was the hardest to get to sleep. She only wanted Thea and needed several stuffed animals piled around her to settle down. Amelia was easier. When he tucked her in and told her everything was going to be OK, she believed him. She looked at him with trusting, hopeful eyes, curled her tiny hand into his, and whispered, “I love you, Daddy,” before falling asleep. He could barely pry himself up to leave the room.

He closed their door with a quiet click, sucked in a steadying breath, and then walked back downstairs. He found Thea in the kitchen, writing something on her massive whiteboard.

She tensed when he came up behind her. “Are they asleep?”

He had to clear his throat to speak. “Yeah. They were tired.”

“So am I.”

He watched her re-cap her marker and replace it in the drawer. His eyes drifted to the corkboard and an embossed invitation stuck with a thumbtack. He had to blink twice to make sure he was reading it correctly.

“Your dad is getting married again?”

She slid away from him and walked to the kitchen sink. “Are you surprised?”

“What happened to Christy?”

“Crystal. He cheated on her with the new love of his life.” Thea filled a glass with water and used it to wash down the headache medicine she used whenever she felt a migraine coming on.

“When did all this happen?”

Thea shrugged and turned around. “Sometime last winter? I don’t remember.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed. “It didn’t seem important.”

“How’s your mom taking it?”

Thea pressed her fingers to her temple. “I really don’t want to talk about my parents right now.”

“Sorry. Right. Are you—” He gestured toward her forehead. “Are you OK?”

“Fine.” She swallowed and looked at the floor. “Gavin, we need to make some decisions.”

Her words were another slingshot that sent him back in time. Whether she realized it or not, she’d said the exact same thing the day she told him she was pregnant.

Thea let him kiss her but not for long. She planted her hands in the center of his chest and pushed him back. “What are you doing?”

Gavin pressed his hand to her abdomen, where his child—their child—grew beneath his fingers. “I’m happy, Thea.”

“That’s great,” she said with more acrimony than he would have expected. “But we need to make some decisions, Gavin.”

“What’s there to decide?” With his right hand still pressed to her stomach, he used his left to cup her jaw. “Marry me.”

An idea took hold. The words had worked back then, so maybe they would work again. It definitely seemed like something Lord What’s-His-Name would do, at any rate.

Gavin closed the distance between them. Thea lifted her gaze from the floor just in time for him to slide his left hand along her cheek. “What’s there to decide?” he said. “Marry me.”

Her head drew back from his touch, her face scrunched in confusion. “What?”