"Lunch. On me." Jackson wasn't going to relent until I agreed to get my ass out of the house. It had been a long two months and losing my father around the holidays had me in a funk.

"Fine, but I'm going to eat my fucking weight in lobster."

"Good. I wouldn't expect anything less of a street rat like you." He snorted and hung up on me.

I smiled, unable to help myself. The guy was such a prick, and yet, I loved him like a brother. He was the only one from my childhood that I kept in contact with. He needed a strong woman to come into his life, grab him by the balls and sling him around a little.

He needed an Ansley.

"I need an Ansley." I walked to the bathroom and checked my complexion in the mirror before sliding my hand down into my sleeping pants. The only action my dick had seen in the better part of two months was my own hand. I couldn't seem to find the desire to hit on one of the women at the hospital that I knew would put out.

My body ached with the need to feel soft skin pressed against me, to hear the soft whimper of a woman in ecstasy, and yet, all I could think about was Aiden's bitchy older sister.

Anger replaced need, and I walked to the bedroom, cursing under my breath. I was going to have to ask about her later that day when I saw Aiden. Even if it meant giving myself away a little. He knew something happened between us. The bastard was too smart to really pull anything over on him.

I didn't care. I needed to know what she was up to. Her fucking picture was off the website for Boston General, which meant she quit or lost her damn job. I prayed like hell it was the first of those two. If I were at fault for her losing her job, I'd be sick with myself.

After dressing in a few layers, I walked out of the house and made my way to my Mustang. The snow was too thick to drive the bike, and I'd freeze my ass off if I tried. From what I understood, my backside was one of my best assets. No reason to further fuck myself in this game of companionship.

I got in the car and turned it on, flipping the heater on high and shaking until the damn thing warmed up.

"A new year." I backed up and turned on the radio to the classic metal station. Motley Crew's Doctor Feelgood filled up the space around me, and I had to laugh. It was as if the Universe was slapping me in the face.

I drove to the restaurant, singing the song and enjoying myself as best I could. I would talk to Aiden, go find Ansley and make amends, and then come back home and get on with my life. She wasn't the woman for me, and I sure as fuck wasn't the type of guy she wanted long-term. It was better this way, or so I'd told myself three million times.

I pulled up to the valet at the fancy-ass restaurant Jackson wanted to meet at and got out, thanking the guy and walking to the door.

The hostess glanced up as I walked toward her stand. "Morning. How can I help you?"

"I'm meeting Jackson Barto." I slipped my hands into the pockets and glanced around her. She knew Jackson. Everyone did. He was the youngest billionaire in all of New York.

"Of course. He's already here." She gave me the once over as her cheeks burned pink. Normally, I'd have flirted a little to see if there was room for a mid-morning fuck in the broom closet, but something had shifted inside of me. It was terrifying. I was growing up.

"Hey, buddy." Jackson stood and offered his hand. He looked like a million bucks. Fucker.

"Hey, man. What gives?" I sat down and glanced around the five-star restaurant. "We couldn't do pizza and beer?"

"It's the first day of the New Year, asshat. I wanted to keep the tradition. We've been doing this for as long as I can remember. What's the matter with you?" He gave me a stern look. "You're not sleeping. You always get loopy without sleep."

I rubbed at my eyes as they burned. "Yeah. I don't know what's going on."

"Talk to me." He leaned back and picked up a glass of some dark liquid.

"Are you charging me for it?" I smirked and ordered a whisky on the rocks when the waitress came over.

"Not unless you cry. Then, yes, and you'll be paying for lunch too." He took a drink of his whisky and set the glass down. "You haven't been yourself since Boston. It's getting old. What the fuck is going on with you? This about your dad?"

I shrugged and leaned back in my seat. "I don't know. I think part of it is losing my dad, but most of it is about Ansley."

"Aiden's sister?" He lifted an eyebrow. I'd kept my problems to myself like I always did. Me talking about a woman who was almost three months in the past was probably a bit stupid, but she was the reason for my sleepless nights.

"Yeah." I thanked the server and drank half my liquor before growling and setting the glass down. "I don't know, man. Something about her."

"You fell in love." He laughed and leaned forward. "The great Doctor Parks fell in love? With an older woman? Shit. She must have been incredible."

"She was." I glanced down at my drink. "I can't shake her."

"Then go get her." He tapped the table near my hand, forcing me to look up. "She's probably not with anyone yet if she's the dominate female you said she is. Men are terrified of that shit."

"Men like you?" I smiled, giving him a little bit of grief.

"Fuck that and you. I'd take her down to the ground in an afternoon. No woman will conquer me. Not ever."

"You'll be pussy-whipped by the summer."

"Hundred bucks says I won't, but you will."

"Hundred on each. I'll take that bet." I extended my hand, and we shook on it before laughing.

"You're going down." He shook his head. "Actually, you look like you're already down. If this chick means so much to you, go after her. You're not twenty-two with ten dollars in your pocket, Parks. You're a grown ass man. Go get what you want."

"Right. I wish it were that easy." I finished up my drink and asked for another one. "She's not interested in me, dude."

"So the fuck what? Make her interested."

He had a point. Why was I giving up so damn easily? She pushed back a little, and I decided to walk away from something brewing inside of me that felt like forever? No. It was about watching my dad give up his life for my mom. That shit left me cold toward wanting to persevere through anything related to love.

"Next subject." I picked up my menu and ignored his jabs. He just wanted to talk about me and my shit to stay off the subject of him and his.

We were bachelors, and though we both hated it, we pretended we loved it.

It was sick and old, but it was us.

* * *

"Happy New Years, man." Terrance's voice was a welcomed sound on the other end of the phone as I drove up to St. Marks. A quick visit with Aiden and I was headed back home to enjoy the rest of my day off before starting back to the grind the following day.

"You too." I pulled into the oversized parking lot at the hospital. Snow was piled up everywhere. "How are things there since I left?"

"Good. Weird without Ansley, but good." He cleared his throat.

"Where did she head off to? I never followed up with her."

"She's in Seattle now, which has Nolan stir crazy. He's been a bastard to deal with since she left, and it only got worse a few weeks ago."

"Why is that?" I got out of the car and pulled my jacket closer as the snow picked up. It was fucking freezing out there.

"She's pregnant, or so everyone thinks."

I stopped dead in my tracks. "What? Why would anyone think that? Was she showing?"

"Yeah. Unless she's taken to drinking beer in massive quantities. Otherwise, everyone thinks she has a baby bump."

"And Nolan thinks it's his?"

"Oh yeah." He laughed. "Who else would it belong to? She's a good girl. She's only been with him, or so everyone says. I swear I try to stay out of all of this drama bullshit. I'm not interested in getting involved in anyone’s lives here. Too messy."

"I hear that." I wrapped up the call with him and slipped my phone in my pocket as I walked into the hospital. A few people called out to me, welcoming me. I waved and continued my trek to Aiden's office.

Was Ansley pregnant, and if so... was the baby mine? A warmth I didn't expect swelled in my chest, the emotion of it almost enough to cripple me. I'd been through so much shit with my dad passing that any little thing seemed to bend me over. I had to go see a counselor soon or something. I was losing my grip and my mojo.

I knocked on the door and poked my head into Aiden's office to see him working furiously on something. "Hey, boss. You free?"

"Parks. Come on in, man." He stood up and lifted his hands toward the ceiling. "Good Christmas?"

"It was alright." I closed the door behind me. "I don't have any family left, so it flew by unnoticed if I'm being honest."

His face fell. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry. You should have come over to my place. We would have loved to have had you there."

"Aiden." I walked to the desk and pressed my fists against the top of it, leaning toward him a little. "Is Ansley pregnant?"

All color drained from his face. My heart contracted painfully. She was, and he hadn't said a fucking word to me. I was torn. On the one hand, this was his little sister. If she didn't want him to say anything, it was honestly respectful for him not to, but on the other hand... he was one of my closest friends, my mentor.

"Yes." He nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. "This isn't my conversation to have. You know that."

"Yeah, and I'm not going to come across this desk and beat your ass because of that one fact. It should have been your sister that said something."

"You assume it's yours?" He lifted his eyebrow.

"I know it's mine. I made love to her twice while I was there. There's no fucking way she went back to Nolan." I left out the part where I offered her the right to use my body for making the baby. He wouldn't understand that. Fuck, I barely understood it.

"Interesting." His expression tightened. "So, you fucked my little sister and left?"

"She forced me to leave, and I'm sure you know that shit too." My skin grew hot, and the need to explode rose sharply inside of me. "Where is she?"

"In Seattle, but she wants to raise this baby by herself."

"No. She doesn't." I turned and took a deep breath as I walked toward the door. "I don’t know what witchcraft bullshit she pulled on me, but I've fallen for her, Aiden." I glanced back at him. "I can't eat. I'm not sleeping. I haven't been with anyone since her. I have to see her. You owe me that much."

He stood stone still with a look of indecision on his face.

I locked gazes with him, unwilling to budge. I'd been his right hand for as long as I could remember. He was the only person outside of Jackson that I'd call family.

"Tell me where she is," I mumbled, my jaw locked tight.

"Alright. I'll text you the address. You have three days of leave to make this right. That's all I got for you." His arms slid down, and I could see the defeat on his face. "I don't know how she feels about you, Jacob. She won't talk to any of us about it."

"That's alright. I'll figure this out one way or the other." I walked out with a sense of purpose. I wanted her in my life, and if that baby was mine, I wanted to help raise it; beside her, or across the US from her.

Either way, resolution was soon to be mine.