The Goal (Off-Campus #4)(72)

But right now, it’s not God and Pastor Dave passing judgment on me—it’s my closest friends.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell us sooner?” Garrett.

“You’re seriously keeping this kid?” Logan.

“Sabrina fucking James?” Dean.

I tighten my grip around my beer bottle and scowl at Dean. I blame him for this little powwow. Two seconds after I told him and Allie the news, he’d sent an SOS to Garrett and Logan ordering them to get their asses home. They’d been at the dorms with their girlfriends, and now I feel like a jerk for spoiling their nights.

“Guys, why don’t you let him talk instead of shouting questions at him?” Allie speaks up in a cautious tone.

I can tell she doesn’t want to be here for this, but Dean dragged her into the kitchen with us, latched his hand onto hers, and hasn’t let go since. I don’t get why he’s so pissed about this. It’s not like he’s the one about to become a father. And I know for a fact he’s not still into Sabrina, because he looks at Allie like she hung the damn moon. The two of them hit a rocky patch after Beau’s death, but the last couple of months they’ve been disgustingly in love.

“Tuck?” Allie prompts, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear.

I take a terse swig of my beer. “I don’t have much else to say. Sabrina and I are having a kid. End of story.”

“How long have you been seeing her?” Logan demands.

“A while.” Their frowns tell me they don’t like my response, so I add, “Early November.”

Logan looks startled. Garrett doesn’t, which makes me narrow my eyes at him in question.

“I suspected,” he admits.

The other guys swivel their heads toward him in accusation. “What do you mean, you suspected?” Logan echoes.

“It means I suspected.” Garrett glances across the table at me. “Saw you holding her hand at Beau’s memorial.”

When a flash of guilt passes through Dean’s eyes, I know he’s thinking about how he got piss-drunk in his room instead of attending the memorial service for one of his best friends.

Logan turns back to me. “So it’s serious with you two?”

Laughter sputters out. “We’re having a baby. Of course it’s serious.”

Or at least I’m planning for it to be. Sabrina still needs time, though. Time to fully get a handle on this pregnancy stuff. Time to lower her guard and realize she can trust me. Time to lower that guard even more and realize that she loves me. Because I know she does. She’s just too scared to admit or acknowledge it, to me and to herself.

“Why didn’t she get an abortion?”

Dean’s question elicits a gasp from Allie, frowns from the guys, and an angry scowl from me.

“Because we decided to keep it,” I say harshly.

Everyone flinches. I’m pretty sure they’ve never heard me snap at anyone before. Usually I don’t, but Dean is treading dangerously close to I’m-going-to-beat-him-senseless territory. I get that he doesn’t like Sabrina, but he will damn well show her respect, even when she’s not in the room.

“Hey. Let’s relax, okay?” Garrett proves why he’s our team captain by speaking in a calm, pacifying voice.

Though, I realize, he’s not Dean’s captain anymore, because Dean got kicked off the team back in January. I think failing that drug test was one of the catalysts for his dragging himself back to the land of the sober. That, and Allie.

“This is Tuck’s life,” Garrett goes on. “We have no right to judge his decisions. If this is what he wants, then we’re going to support him. Right?”

After a beat, Logan nods. “Right.”

Dean’s jaw tightens. “This is going to ruin your life, man.”

It’s getting harder and harder to control the anger simmering in my gut. “Well, it’s my life to ruin,” I say coldly. “You don’t get a say in it.”

“What about Harvard?” he pushes. “Is she still gonna go?”

“Yes.”

He shakes his head. “Does she get how time-consuming law school is?”

“Of course.”

Another shake of his head. “So she’s dumping all the responsibilities on you?”

I instantly come to Sabrina’s defense. “No, we’re sharing the responsibilities.”

More head-shaking.

Swear to God, if he doesn’t stop doing that, I’m going to rip his blond head right off his neck.

“Dean,” Allie warns.

“I’m sorry, but I think this is crazy,” he announces. “That girl is colder than ice. She’s judgmental. She’s—”

“The mother of my child,” I growl.

Dean growls back. “Fine, whatever. Go ahead and destroy your life. What do I care?”

My mouth falls open as he marches out of the kitchen. Seriously?

There’s a long silence, and then Allie gets up too. “I’ll go talk to him,” she says with a sigh. “Ignore him, Tuck. He’s just being a dickhead.”

I don’t answer. I’m too pissed to talk.

“For what it’s worth, you have my support. I think you’re going to make a great dad.” Her hand rests lightly on my shoulder before she heads to the door.