Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“No. I wanted to walk.”
“Walk,” Dell repeated, brows furrowing. “Look,” she said, slipping a pacifier in her kid’s mouth in his crib thing as she passed without even breaking her stride. “I grew up with a bunch of tough guys,” she said, meaning Cillian and his brothers. “And I know it can be like extracting teeth to get one of you to open up about anything, but I just want to say that, you know, I’m here if you want to talk about something.”
“Don’t worry. Detroit already offered an ear,” I told her.
“Sure. Yeah. That’s great. I love seeing men support each other emotionally. I’m just saying that if it’s something you don’t want to talk about with the guys, I’m here. Or Morgaine, even.”
“Appreciate it, babe. But I’m fine.”
“You’re not,” she countered, making me turn back, surprised she was pressing that much. Dell wasn’t a pushy person. But, I guess, she had started to see us all as her family, so she felt more comfortable calling us on our shit than she used to. “I’m really kind of sick of people telling me they’re fine when they’re not,” she grumbled, collecting up random towels she always seemed to have perched on her shoulder under the baby when she was holding him.
“Who else is telling you they’re fine when they’re not?” I asked, keeping my tone casual even though I knew exactly who she was talking about.
“Nyx,” she admitted. “Did you see her at the bar last night?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“Does she still look like she hasn’t slept in a month?” she asked.
“Pretty much,” I told her since it was the truth.
“She won’t talk to me,” Delaney said as she followed me into the kitchen. “And the more I try to push, the more she leaves me on read.”
“You worried about her?” I asked, putting on a pot of coffee since I was pretty sure sleep was going to be a pipe dream now that Dell was riling me up again.
“Yeah. Which is so weird because I’ve never had to worry about her before. She’s so strong, y’know? So independent. And I guess, with her upbringing, that’s to be expected. But I wish she would learn that she can let people in and lean on them. Burdens are a lot less heavy if you have someone else helping you carry them.”
“What do you think she has going on?” I asked.
“I have no idea. That’s the worst part. Like, it’s not work. I asked my brothers. They said everything was status quo. I’ve never known her to struggle with money. She’s not rolling in it, but she’s always been stable. The only thing I can think of is she’s, I don’t know, sick?”
Fuck.
I hadn’t even considered that.
I felt like even more of a prick to have said what I’d said to her if something was going on with her health-wise.
“Or, I don’t know. Maybe it’s something with her mom. Or… or… maybe she’s pregnant?” she asked, and it felt like her words kicked me in the gut.
Surprisingly, though, it wasn’t panic I felt.
Which shocked the shit out of me.
I’d have thought an unexpected kid would fill me with dread and anxiety. Somehow, though, the idea of my baby in her belly… yeah, that made all sorts of sense to me.
The thing was, I’d been careful.
We never fucked without protection. And, sure, that shit wasn’t one hundred percent, but it was close.
“No, that’s stupid,” she said, shaking her head. “She’s been on the Pill since she was, like, sixteen. She keeps them in a little candy dispenser in her bathroom,” Dell recalled with a smile for her friend’s quirk.
And, sure, one method of birth control could fail, but I really doubted two of them at the same time could.
That sinking feeling inside, you know, the one that felt a lot like disappointment, yeah, I pushed that shit aside.
“I dunno. Maybe I’m being paranoid,” Dell said, sighing.
“Don’t think you are,” I said, shrugging. “If anyone knows Nyx, it’s you.”
“Which is kind of crazy because, like, I do know her. But I still feel like I don’t know much. If that makes any sense.”
“It does,” I agreed. “Nyx seems like someone with a lot of shit locked away.”
“Exactly,” Delaney said, nodding. “Like I know how she lost her virginity. With details. But I don’t really feel like she’s ever been really vulnerable with me.”
The closest I got to seeing Nyx vulnerable was when Dell was in the hospital in Vegas and Nyx felt responsible.
That was the only time I’d seen her worry and cry and lean on someone else for comfort.
“Look, way I see it, Nyx seems like someone who takes a long time to let someone in. So don’t stop trying. Eventually, you will catch her in the right minute and she’s gonna spill it to you.”