Collided: Dirty Air (Book 2)(5)

Johanna sends me a wobbly smile. “Sorry you got friend-zoned hard all those years ago. Who could resist the team captain of the hockey team?”

“I was hoping that you, the President of the United Nations Club, could, but now you’re pregnant with my brother’s spawn. I thought you’d want me for my wit rather than Lukas for his brawn.”

“Seeing as I’m a neurosurgeon resident…” Lukas cautiously comes down the stairs, a sleeping Elyse in one arm and a weekend bag in the other.

“I really dislike how you two gang up on me now. It used to be the other way around before Jo turned eighteen.” I cross my arms against my chest.

“Don’t be that way. Look at you, a big bad Formula 1 racer who recently won his first World Championship. You traded books for brawn after all.” Johanna pulls me in for a hug. Her bulging stomach makes it difficult, but she wraps herself around me, hitting me with her rose scent.

“I never traded the books,” I scoff. “The only thing that’s changed is how girls don’t meet me at the library anymore.”

“I really hope you settle down sometime soon. You don’t want those types of grid girls long-term because they prefer you for your name rather than your heart. Plus I can’t be your one friend of the female variety. You’re kind of needy.” She sticks her tongue out at me before she waddles toward the front door.

“What? Since when? This is the first time I’m hearing about this.”

“Since always, man. Just a few months ago, you drunkenly texted Johanna at 3 a.m. asking her to sing you a lullaby so you could fall asleep. Not that I’m complaining because your calls wake us both up.” He shoots her a smirk I can live without seeing ever again.

“Okay, gross. Save your bedroom eyes for the next time you want to get her pregnant. I hope you’re both aware of how those lullabies are the best thing I hear on the road. Even better than the pit lane on a race day.”

Johanna has the voice of an angel and the singing to match. I can’t help how lonely my drunk ass gets at night while spending most of my year on the road with my F1 team.

“You really need a girlfriend. I can’t be your only best friend forever.” Johanna laughs before she winces, rubbing her stomach.

“All right. You two need to go.” I grab Elyse from Lukas’s arms.

“Did you buy the car seat I told you about?” My brother eyes Elyse as I rock her body gently.

“Yes, Mother. I even made sure to drive my SUV because you hate my convertible.”

Johanna smiles at my brother. “I wish you had a convertible sometimes.”

“They’re not safe,” Lukas grumbles as he helps Johanna into his Land Rover. Somehow, in a few years, he went from a carefree guy to a new member of the safety patrol. It all began after he married Johanna, bought a house, and got her pregnant. Who knew picking the hot, quiet girl for a lab partner would lead to this? Lukas should thank me for thinking with my hormones and my need to pass biology.

I walk to my SUV, opening the door with one arm before placing Elyse in her car seat. The pink contraption looks out of place against the black leather interior. I fumble with the straps before getting her settled in, her pudgy face and blonde hair looking fucking adorable.

I place a soft kiss on Elyse’s forehead before closing the door.

I turn toward the two beaming parents. “I’ll meet you at the hospital once the sitter gets set up at Mama and Papa’s.”

“You fucking better. See ya.” Lukas waves before pulling out of his driveway. Johanna smiles at me from the passenger seat, a vision of calm despite the potential hours of pain she will go through.

I drop Elyse off with the sitter before rushing to the hospital with my parents. My dad relaxes in a waiting room chair while my mom paces the ten-by-eight space. Her boots click against the floor as she alternates between staring at the clock and grimacing at the door.

My parents look like a Barbie and Ken duo set, all blonde hair and light tan skin. My mother gazes at me with stormy gray eyes, panic evident in her rigid posture. Her blonde hair bobs as she walks back and forth in a motion that does nothing to calm her while my dad does the exact opposite, leaning his head against the wall.

“Why don’t you have a seat?” I point at the empty chair next to me.

“I don’t want to. I hate this waiting part because I want to hold Kaia and breathe in that fresh baby smell already.” She closes her eyes and smiles.

“You sound like a serial killer.” My comment makes her eyes snap open. Pa laughs to the point of coughing.

My mom glares at my dad. “Don’t encourage his jokes. You’re the one to blame for how he talks to me.”

“Someone had to teach him how to have a sense of humor.” My dad grins at me, his blue eyes shining under the fluorescent lights.

My mom fights a smile. After a few more minutes of pacing, she sits by my side, pulling my hand onto her lap like I’m a toddler instead of a recently turned twenty-six-year-old. “Remember when we tried to set Johanna and you up for prom?”

“How can I forget. Lukas nearly kicked my ass into tomorrow.”

My parents’ front lawn has some fond memories, including Lukas proposing in the same spot where he decked me in the face years prior.

“That was the moment I knew they would fall in love. They were like a movie, with the smart jock and the shy girl. He was only biding his time.”