Too Sweet (Hayes Brothers #3)(21)

“Yeah, I think they’re Noah’s for the time being, bro.” I pat his back. “If you want another kid soon, those boobs won’t be yours for a long time.”

“God, you’re such men.” Thalia rolls her eyes, joining us with Noah cocooned in her arms. “Take him, will you?” she pleads, elbowing Theo’s ribs. “I need to pee really, really badly, and Cass is talking with your mom.”

“Yeah, sure.” He sets his beer aside, scooting little Noah into his arms, cradling the nine-week-old boy to his chest with surprising ease. “I guess I should practice, right?”

Logan and I exchange a dumbfounded glance before we stare at Thalia.

“You’re pregnant?”

She whacks the back of Theo’s head. “You can’t keep your mouth shut to save your life,” she huffs, elbowing him again for good measure. “We were supposed to wait!”

“Wait for what?” I ask. “Why is this family suddenly keeping secrets? First, Logan with Cass, now you with the pregnancy. What’s that about?”

“It’s your birthday, Nico. We didn’t want to steal the spotlight. We’ve been trying since Theo got jealous that Logan beat us to the punch. It was a bit of a shock when we finally saw two pink lines yesterday.”

“Spotlight?” I scoff, pulling her into my arms. “You’re weird, you know that? Congratulations. Dibs on godfather.”

“No fucking way!” Logan booms, shoving me aside and pulling Thalia into a tight hug. He doesn’t pass up the opportunity to glare at me over the mass of her curls. “You’re Noah’s godfather; Theo’s godfather to Josh. My turn.” He pats Theo’s back, grinning from ear to ear. “Don’t you dare have a daughter first. That privilege is mine.”

“As evident by your son in my arms,” Theo coos, running his finger down Noah’s cheek. “He looks like his mommy.”

No, he doesn’t. He’s Logan’s miniature carbon copy, but Theo’s been winding him up since the kid was born.

Logan wraps his arm around Thalia, courageous because he knows Theo won’t punch him while holding the kid. “See, baby? He looks just like you.”

“Men,” she mutters again, beaming from ear to ear, then rushes out of the room, suddenly remembering she had to pee.

The news about baby Hayes number three travels around the house like a zap of lightning. Within minutes, Mom’s tearful, hugging Theo and rubbing Thalia’s still-flat tummy.

They’re engulfed by whispered congratulations, so I leave them to enjoy their moment and entertain the crowd for a while, taking a minute here and two there to answer calls. Work never stops.

Another hour passes, and still no sign of Mia.

“Where’s your girl?” I ask Cody, finding him in the hallway. The line sounded much more casual in my head.

“She won’t make it. Her dad flew in with a surprise visit earlier today. They’re having dinner.”

I guess Aisha’s not as close with her father as Mia since she’s here—hanging on Toby’s arm—celebrating my birthday. Fuck knows why. I don’t even like the girl.

“She won’t eat dinner all evening,” I say. My back straightens while my body and mind rebel against the words piling on the tip of my tongue. Grinding my teeth, I force the next sentences out because they’ll benefit me. “If you want her, make an effort. Call her. Pick her up. Spend time with her.”

Cody smirks, chugging from his beer bottle. “No way she’ll ditch her dad. He only flew in for one day. Until he leaves tomorrow, she’s unavailable.”

“Daddy’s girl?”

“Big time,” he chuckles. “And he’s not my biggest fan, so I’m shit out of luck tonight.”

“Why? What did you do?”

“Mia invited us to dinner so we could meet the guy before the season started,” Conor supplies, stopping beside us. “And Cody here, the genius...” He pats his head, “...had one too many drinks and told Jimmy his pit crew sucks. Jimmy’s the—”

“I know who he is,” I cut in, the muscles on my back petrifying. My unwanted crush on Mia suddenly becomes even more disturbing. The pit crew reference is enough to know who her father is. “He’s a friend of mine.”

We met a few years ago at the Country Club. He’s the reason the triplets and I got into F1. I manage his money, and whenever he’s back in Newport, we play golf.

And now I want to fuck his daughter...

EIGHT
Nico

SATURDAY.

Five.

Holy shit.

It feels like I’m counting down to something. An event of epic proportions. A paradigm shift of sorts, but the truth is I’m counting up.

Up from the last time I saw Mia.

Five days.

In desperate need of a distraction, I send a quick text to the Hayes group chat.

Me: Who’s free tonight?

Shawn: Birthday afterparty? I wish, but Jack is flying to Chicago in an hour, and Josh has green goo pouring out of his nose.

Theo: Too much information, Shawn. And not tonight, Nico. Thalia’s been sick all afternoon. I think she threw up half her insides. Morning sickness my ass. It’s not just mornings!

Shawn: Too much information, Theo.

Me: You all should be glad people don’t need a license to have kids.