Unfinished Ex (Calloway Brothers, #2)(56)

“And we’re back in Nags Head, North Carolina. Many of you have seen the footage by now, and you can rest easy. My team and I are okay.” She pulls her hood aside, revealing a bandage on the right side of her head. There’s also an abrasion covering the entire right side of her face. Yet she’s still on TV. “Just a few bumps and bruises. Louisa’s second eye wall has passed, and we’re in the outer bands.” She holds up her anemometer. “Still over thirty miles per hour but going down steadily as it moves inland. Louisa threw us for a loop, becoming a hurricane for a brief period of time before making landfall. And while back to a tropical storm, that doesn’t mean she didn’t cause a lot of damage. Chris, let’s pan around and show—”

My doorbell rings. Heisman wonders why I’m not moving off the couch. But I ignore it until her feed ends and the XTN anchor starts talking.

She’s amazing. I get it now. What she did back then. Why she left. Even though she went about it the wrong way, I understand it. And I’m not without blame. I was always telling her there were so many places around New York City where she could work. I scoured the internet, pointing out jobs. I sent her emails with links to openings at small stations in towns not much larger than Calloway Creek.

I laughed when she brought up dreams of chasing tornadoes. I was a damn fool.

I also understand this time will be different. Because I’m giving her the chance to do what she loves and still be with the man that… Fuck, does she love me?

The doorbell rings again. I’m sure it’s Tag, Coop, or my parents. I race to the door and open it, not wanting to miss if Nicky comes back on. But I’m surprised to see who it is.

“Hey, Jaxon,” Calista says with a sad smile.

“Calista.” I pause to listen to a voice on the TV. “Hey, uh, did you and Eric break up or something? He didn’t say anything. Listen, I can’t really chat, there’s a storm.”

“I heard. So Nicky’s covering it?”

“Yeah. I don’t mean to be rude, but…” I leave the door open and walk to the end of the hall where I can see the television.

“Can we talk for a minute?” she calls after me.

“Can’t it wait? The woman I love is risking her life here.”

The second the words leave my mouth, I realize what a dick that makes me sound like. After all, Calista and I were sort of a thing a month ago. But she’s with Eric now. And if his new demeanor is any indication, they are the happiest of couples.

She comes in and shuts the door. “The woman you love?”

“Yes. I never stopped. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, well, the woman you screwed trying to get over the woman you love is pregnant.”

Suddenly, my attention is no longer on the television. “Come again?”

She sits. “I’m pregnant.”

“Is it mine or Eric’s?” Okay, stupid question since she’s standing in my living room.

Heisman immediately snuggles next to her as if he could possibly understand the situation.

“It has to be yours. I should have gotten my period weeks ago but didn’t think about it until I ran into a nurse friend of mine after school. One conversation led to another, and I realized how late I was. I took like twenty tests a few hours ago. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”

I resisted all night, but now I go for my bottle of whiskey. I toss back a shot when something dawns on me. “You haven’t told Eric.”

She shakes her head. “I needed to be sure first. He and I… It’s great, but it’s still new. I’m just not sure what I want. And I thought you should know first since you’re the father.”

I look at my ring. Father.

I shake my head, wondering how this became such a clusterfuck of a day.

My phone pings with a text. It’s only one word.



Nicky: Yes.



My brain isn’t even functioning right now after the bomb that was just dropped.



Me: ??



Nicky: Yes to everything. Bicoastal relationship. Me spending vacations and whatever weekends I can in New York. You coming to Oklahoma on your time off. Yes, Jaxon. I want it all.



I drop my phone. Because… fuck.





Chapter Twenty-two



Nicky




“Great job,” Chris says. “Some of us are heading out for drinks. You’ve definitely earned one. I hear they gave us the day off tomorrow.”

“Well, we did work for almost forty-eight straight hours.” I smile at the thought of having a Sunday off.

“Complaining about the working conditions?” someone says behind me.

I curse inwardly when I see Barry. “Me? No. I, uh—”

“Kidding, Forbes.” He tosses out a charming grin on his way by.

I turn to Chris. “Did he just smile at me?”

Chris seems as surprised as I am. “That’s as good of an endorsement as I’ve seen him give anyone. Take the win.”

We walk to the elevator. “Thanks for the invite, but I think I have to pass. I have a bit of a headache.” I gently touch the right side of my face. Henri did a great job covering it for my spots on the nightly news, but now, with the makeup off, it’s red and angry and still a little swollen. And I might also be using it as an excuse to get home.