Proving Paul's Promise(17)

“Are you going to break my heart?” I look into his eyes because I think I might find the truth there, if there is such a thing.

“No,” he says. His voice is strong and clear.

I hear a voice through the crack in the door say, “Ask him if he promises!”

“What the f*ck?” Paul says, tossing his head back. He opens the door, and Pete and Sam fall into the room. They land on top of one another.

“Don’t you have better things to do?” Paul asks, staring down at the two of them in a heap.

They look at one another. “Not really.” They start to lumber to their feet, and Paul walks out of the room.

Sam wraps his arm around my shoulders. “Ask him if he promises,” he says.

“What does that even mean?”

“When Mom died, we asked Paul if it would all be all right and he promised it would. It was,” Sam says.

Pete goes on to say, “And when Dad left, we asked again if it was going to be all right, if we’d make it by ourselves. And we did…because Paul promised we could.”

Fuck. My gut clenches. “I wouldn’t want him to waste a promise on me.” I try to laugh it off, but they don’t think it’s funny.

“Sometimes, all you need is a promise so you can keep going,” Sam says. “If you need a promise, ask for it. He’ll say yes or no.”

“I don’t need a promise.”

“Yes, you do.” Sam stares at me.

I break free of him with a shove and walk back out into the living room. Cody and Garrett are side by side, talking to Matt and Sky. Their daughter Mellie runs through the room, and Matt sticks out and arm, scooping her up and flipping her upside down as she squeals. Her shirt falls down, showing her belly, and Matt blows a raspberry there. “Daddy!” she squeals.

Matt visibly melts every time he hears that word. He grins and hugs her so tightly that she squeaks.

I look at Seth, but he just smiles and shakes his head at their antics.

I sit down beside Garrett, and he leans over and presses his lips to my forehead. “You okay?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I say, leaning into his kiss. “I’m fine.”

“That was kind of hot,” Garrett says. “I might get Cody to reenact that carry-you-off scene with me later.”

Cody shakes his head. “Something tells me it wouldn’t have the same effect.” He grins.

Probably not. He’d have to be a tatted-up, sexy blond hunk of man meat named Paul Reed to make it work. Paul settles at my feet and pulls my foot into his lap. He spends the next hour picking on his brothers while he draws tender circles on my inner ankle. I have never felt such an intimate touch. I’ve had sex with men and not felt this close to them. What the f*ck is that about?





Paul

I like Cody and Garrett. I don’t particularly like that their baby could be growing inside Friday, mainly because it makes me jealous as hell, but I like them as people. They’re funny and kind and so obviously in love. They’re going to be good parents. Would it be terrible for me to admit that I hope the insemination didn’t take? It probably would, so I keep that to myself.

On the one hand, I am really happy they have a chance at building their family. But on the other, I wish it were my f*cking baby inside her. I want to see her get fat and cranky with my child growing in her body. I want to share those moments with her, and I don’t know if I can do that when she’s pregnant with somebody else’s kid. I doubt there are any rules around that, no book I can read to tell me what’s right and wrong. I want to win her, but I don’t know if I can play the game while she’s growing a life.

Cody and Garrett shake hands with me at the door, and Garrett pulls me into his chest for a quick man hug and a thwack on my back. “Take care of her, okay?” he whispers.

“You got it,” I say back. I want to take care of her every day. All day.

He hugs Friday and says to her, “Remember, no orgasms.”

What? I look from him to her and back, and her face colors.

Garrett just smiles, and he leaves hand in hand with Cody.

“Did you like them?” she asks as the door closes behind them. She leans against it for a second and takes a deep breath. My brothers all left one by one with their girls, except for Sam, and he just went to bed. Matt and Seth had to carry Joey and Mellie to the car because they fell asleep in Hayley’s bed.

Hayley pops her head out of her room, scrubs her eyes, and toddles over to me. She looks up at me, sleepy-eyed. She’s so damn cute in her frilly jammies that it makes my chest ache sometimes just to look at her. I force myself to stop and take mental pictures of her so I won’t forget these moments. I stop time in my head—click!—and try to remember the frame for a while. She won’t be this little forever.

“You going to tell Friday good-bye, too?” she asks.

I shake my head. “Friday is going to spend the night.”

“You having a sleepover?” Her little brow furrows. She blinks her big blue eyes at Friday and grabs on to my leg.

“Friday is going to stay here for a while. She’s going to sleep in Matt’s bed, since no one is using it.” I run a hand down her silky blond hair. “That okay with you?”

She nods but looks up at me skeptically. “She’s not going to sleep with you?”