THE SMELL OF WHATEVER Niko is cooking has me on cloud nine. The baby and my stomach are practically jumping, and I have no clue what it is, only that it smells good.
“Please tell me you don’t plan on doing one of those really awkward pregnancy photo shoots or want to do one of those stupid gender reveals,” Niko asks from his spot in front of the stove.
If I didn’t feel the same way about both of those things, I might be offended. It’s the new, trendy thing to do, but not for me. “Last time I checked, my name was Everly Hayes, not Beyoncé.”
I look at him and attempt to emulate one of Niko’s famous smirks that he’s always throwing my way, but I’m sure I look ridiculous. He laughs when I do it and then shakes his head at me. I ignore him and laugh with him as I step up beside him, looking at the meal he’s preparing for his baby and me.
“Besides, the only person I want to see me naked and pregnant is you. And we’ll tell who we want to know, not the whole damn world.”
He smiles and wraps his arms around me, a humming sound vibrating in his chest. “I really do like to see you naked.”
The feel of his lips against my skin is something I don’t think I’ll ever get used to. Warm and electric, I crave it every moment of the day. My once crush is my now boyfriend and creator of my growing baby bump.
“How did your mom take it? You never did tell me.” With his mom half a world away, I’d forgotten that we needed to tell her. Then again, I haven’t told my father or brother who the real father is yet because we are still trying to figure out how to tell Cameron. Mom won’t keep it a secret from them for much longer.
He draws in a sharp breath. “Yeah, that. I got chastised big-time in no less than four languages.” He runs his hands soothingly over my stomach, making me notice I’ve tensed up. “I was told to make sure I treat you right and take care of you and all the things I’d already planned on doing.”
“All the things you’d already planned on doing?”
He sways with me in his arms, a low chuckle against my ear. “Oh, I have many things planned, but I don’t know if you’re ready for them.”
I swat at his arm. “Tease.”
“Says the biggest one of them all.” He softly kisses down my neck. “She also said she’d come and help when the time gets closer.”
“How did she react when you told her who I was?” I ask.
“She was a bit shocked and worried. Time is moving fast on us, and we really need to tell Cam.”
I nod in agreement. “I know. My mom knows now, so that’s one less person.”
He looks down at me. “How did that happen?”
“The sonogram. I somehow didn’t notice the whole Callahan part.”
His mouth pops open, then snaps shut as he nods. “Oh, yeah. Plus, all the paperwork has my last name.”
“Well, you are responsible for all this,” I say, pointing down to the weird distended curve my stomach has become.
“Damn straight.” He smiles down at me.
“Maybe that’s how we should tell Cam.”
The smile leaves him, and he turns back to the pot, his arm still around me. “If we’re flippant about it, he’ll be more pissed off.”
“True.”
“Baby Callahan,” he says as he runs his hands around my stomach.
Niko drops down to his knees and pushes the hem of my shirt up. There isn’t a defined bump, more like my entire abdomen is sloped, and it’s definitely noticeable. I haven’t “popped” yet, but it’s been weeks since any of my clothes fit. That has resulted in many shopping trips with Mom, who has already spent way too much. She is even setting up one of the extra bedrooms as a nursery for when the baby comes to visit.
I smile as he nuzzles the bump and presses his lips to my skin. “How is Daddy’s baby today?”
Does he understand how much that melts me? How sexy that is?
Our bubble of happiness is interrupted by my phone going off. I glance over at it a few feet across the counter and turn back to Niko. The light atmosphere that surrounded him is gone, and his eyes are slits as he stands.
“Is that him again?” he asks, glaring down at the phone.
I nod.
“Jesus, Ev. There is something wrong with him.”
I let out a sigh, tired of this fight with not just Niko, but everyone. “I really thought he would have stopped months ago.” True, the calls and texts have slowed down, but I still receive one form of communication nearly every other day, a vast improvement from the half-dozen daily attempts the first month I was here.
“Obviously you are as addictive as I’ve been saying since that first night.”
“Says the man I haven’t stopped thinking about since I was eleven.”
He lets out a chuckle, but it quickly morphs. “Seriously, he worries me.”
“Think he’s going to take me away from you?” I ask, wrapping my arms around him, trying to get back to the lighter vibes.
“Yes.” Niko’s tone isn’t playful. He’s dead serious and the air changes as my smile fades. “I worry about your safety. We know he’s here. In Boston.”
I narrow my gaze on him. “How do you know that?”
His jaw clenches, and he looks away.
“Nikolas, you tell me.”
He grinds his teeth, making the muscle in his jaw jump. “Your dad hired someone to let him know if Tate’s name came up on any flights.”
“What? Why would he do that?” Mom hinted at something like this, but wouldn’t or couldn’t tell me.
“Because you’re putting blinders on when it comes to him. Cam listened to all the voicemails, read all the text messages. The guy is not stable.”
I shake my head, unable to believe it. “He’s an annoying gnat, nothing more.” They don’t know him as I do.
Niko stares at me, his jaw continuing its tick, and his brow furrows and un-furrows like he’s warring with himself on telling me something.
“He landed in Boston three days ago.”
All the light leaves me while a chill moves up my spine. “W-what?”
“It’s a round-trip ticket.”
“It could be for work,” I argue as I try and wrap around my head that maybe Cam was right. Why does he always have to be right?
“Maybe, but I’m pretty sure whatever brought him here, you are the real reason he came.”
“It’s all just so overwhelming,” I say, stunned. This is not where I thought my year would take me. I’m happier than I ever was with Tate while simultaneously scared out of my mind about having a baby.
“What is?”
“This situation I’ve gotten myself into.”
He blows out a breath. “You’ve been putting your head in the sand too long on some things, refusing to deal with them.”
Maybe he’s right. I’ve put Tate out of my mind just as I have talking to Cam. Very ostrich-like—if I don’t acknowledge them, they don’t exist. “I’ve got a lot on my plate.”
“I understand, baby, but there are two big things you need to deal with.”
“I know. I’m going to tell him. Both of them. Soon.”
The doorbell goes off, then again and again.
“Shit! Cam’s here.”
Niko’s eyes pop open. “What? How can you tell?”
“That’s his ring, his sign.”
Niko shakes his head. “You two . . .”
“Go upstairs.”
He looks at me and nods before slipping down the hall and up the stairs. Panic fills me with each step toward the front door.
I blow out a steadying breath, then throw the door open. “What are you doing here?” I ask, quirking my brow at him.
“What, a brother can’t come visit his sister?” he asks in mock offense.
“Unannounced? Were you raised in a barn?”
“I was raised in the same giant house you were, kid,”
I roll my eyes. “It’s called a phone.”
Cam goes silent, his hand up to his ear with his head cocked. When I try to speak, he throws his hand over my mouth.
“Nothing. Nobody is here,” he says a minute later as he lets my mouth go. “So, you’re alone. Am I cramping your alone time?”
“That’s not it. It’s just what if I was unavailable.”
“Unavailable? Doing what, screwing your baby daddy?”
“Ugh, I hate that term.”
“You’re not screaming out in denial.”
I freeze. Shit. He was testing me. “I was so put off by your baby daddy terminology to process the rest of the gibberish coming from that mouth of yours.”
“Whatever. Besides, I think I should be offended you didn’t call to tell me.”
Shit, he’s right. I’ve been avoiding him some and should have contacted him.
“I’m sorry, Cam.”
“Uh-huh, feeling unloved right now.” He walks into the kitchen and over to the pan on the stove. “Sis, are you cooking?”
“Yeah . . .” I trail off, hoping he doesn’t ask what because I wasn’t paying attention to what Niko is making.
“Ooh, you making moussaka?”
What did he say?
“Um, yeah. You know it?”
He nods. “Crappy name, but Niko has a great recipe for that. Shit’s good.”
I step up to the stove and look in as I turn the burner off, not wanting to burn whatever is cooking. I’m not even sure what Cam said, but I play along with it. “Does he? I’ll have to hit him up to compare. What brings you by, brother dear? Not that I’m not happy to see your ugly mug.”
He purses his lips, his eyes narrowed. “Oh, you are lucky you are pregnant right now. Those are fightin’ words.”
“Seriously? You’re going to listen to what comes out of your sister’s mouth versus all the chicks swarming you?”
“You wound my pride,” he says.
I narrow my gaze on him. “Seriously, what’s up?”
“Well, a little birdie told me that you have something to tell me.”
My eyes go wide. “They did? And who is this little birdie?”
“Mom.”
My heart stops beating for a second, then kicks into high gear to catch up. He’s in way too good of a mood for her to have mentioned anything about Niko and me.
“What did she say?”
“Ev, seriously? What happened this week? A certain doctor’s appointment?”
“Oh! The ultrasound.”
“Seems there’s a pic of my niece or nephew. Mom wouldn’t tell me which.”
“No? Why not?”
He shrugs. “Not sure. She was a little weird.”
“Well, sad to say, I left the picture at work,” I lie. “But I am pleased to announce that you have a nephew on the way.”
He breaks out one of those megawatt smiles that gets all the women going. “Yeah? A boy?”
I nod. “Yeah, and I’m going to need your help.”
There’s no flicker in his smile, still beaming as he wraps his arms around me. “Always here for you, Ev.”
“Thanks, Cameron.”
He straightens and glances down at his watch. “Well, I was just swinging by on my way to the station.”
“You’re working tonight?” I ask as I wonder what all the crap was about when he first got here.
“Yup.”
“Niko, too?” I ask as I walk him to the door.
“We don’t have every shift together. Jesus, Ev.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if you did, the way you two are joined at the hip.”
“Brat.” He turns the doorknob, then looks back at me. “Oh, almost forgot, are you free next weekend? I’ve got Saturday off and wanted to see if I could take my little sister out to lunch.”
My mouth pops open. “Holy shit, are you asking me on a sibling date?”
He shakes his head and sighs. “Weirdo. And yes.”
“Love to.” I blow him a kiss.
He winks at me. “Text you later, kid.”
“Stop calling me that!” I yell after him. I can hear his laughter from the other side of the door, slowly drifting away. Peeking out the window, I wait until he’s in his truck before turning and running upstairs.
“That was the perfect opportunity,” Niko says as soon as I enter the bedroom. He’s sitting on the edge of the bed, leaning over with his forearms resting on his thighs. It’s then I see how draining on him the situation has become. “I’m tired of this.” I can only nod, but I’m still not ready. I may never be. “I know you’re scared.”
“I’m n . . .” I trail off and look to the window. “I’ve had so many changes this year, and the thought of one of my biggest supporters not talking to me . . .I don’t know if I can take it. I don’t want Cam mad.”
“Baby, he’s going to be mad, we know this. He’ll be way madder at me then he will you, though. But we have to make it right with him. That’s what’s important.”
“You’re right.”
“I’m tired of the lies.”
I nod and try and stop the shaking of my hands. “Me too.”
“They don’t do anyone any good.”
“He’s off next Saturday,” I say as I lock eyes with him.
“So am I.”
I swallow hard. “We’ll tell him then. On Saturday.”
He nods and pulls me into his arms. “It’ll be okay. Cam loves you.”
“He loves you, too. I don’t want that to stop.”
“Don’t worry about me.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” I tilt my head up and cup his face in my hands. “When you’re all I think about.”
He presses his lips against mine. “Good, because you are all I think about, all I breathe. Everything about me is all for you.”
I stare up at him, transfixed. All for me?