While Fiona was cleaning up in my bathroom, I headed into the kitchen for a beer. I popped the top and was standing at the sink, staring out into the darkness of my backyard when her arms slid around me. Fiona’s tits pressed against my back made my dick respond beneath my sweats. When I turned to face her, leaning against the counter, I couldn’t help but notice how beautifully mussed she was. She’d slipped on the shirt I’d taken off earlier, only doing up a few of the buttons in the middle, so I had a perfect view of her sexy lace panties beneath.

I’d have been happy with Fee wearing nothing but my shirts every day for the rest of my life. The only downfall for her was that she’d never be able to leave the house. Not as long as there were other men out there to admire her mile-long legs and all that silky hair and skin.

She pulled the beer from my fingers and took a sip before passing it back and hopping onto the island in front of me. The childlike way she crossed her ankles and began swinging her legs back and forth, while also looking like a walking wet dream, only made her that much more endearing to me.

I moved in her direction, setting my beer down beside her and placing my palms on her knees to spread her thighs wide so I could fit between them. I couldn’t get enough of her. If she was within sight, my hands constantly itched to touch or caress her. Finally having her how I’d wanted her all my life didn’t lessen my desire. If anything, knowing just how amazingly she fit me only made it that much stronger. I felt like I was finally whole.

That was why I had a tendency to be pushy. I wouldn’t admit it to her, but I still had that niggling voice in the back of my head that this wasn’t going to last. When you spend so long craving a person, finally being with them is almost too good to be true.

The feeling ate at me, but I couldn’t bring myself to discuss it with Fiona. I was too scared that she’d use my deeply rooted concerns to put that goddamned wall back up between us.

But I had to admit, hearing her tell me she loved me went a long way in soothing my worry.

Once more, she picked up my beer and took a healthy drink.

I laughed and asked, “You want one of your own?”

“Nope,” she responded with a huge grin. “Yours are better.”

My chest instantly warmed. “Yeah? How’s that?”

“Don’t know,” she answered with a shrug. “They just are.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me closer. The playfulness melted from her face as she said, “I’m sorry for earlier tonight, when I got mad at you on the phone. I just… I was overwhelmed, and you were right. What that woman said really bothered me.”

I slid my fingers up her bare legs and tensed. I hated the blame she laid on herself. Fiona was usually such a confident, caring person, but the shit that had gone down with us had dented her self-confidence. And I was to blame for that. If I’d been more of a man and hadn’t cut her from my life, not just once but twice, she wouldn’t question every one of her actions when it came to me.

“First off, stop apologizing. Especially for being yourself,” I demanded. “If you ever feel like I’m running over you, I expect you to lay into me about it because that’s who you are, Fee. You stand up for yourself. I don’t want you to ever change that. If you change yourself because you think it’ll make me happy, I’ll be pissed.”

I felt some of the tension seep from her body, and a sense of relief washed over me. “So does this mean you’re giving me permission to bitch you out?” she teased with a small smile.

I returned her grin and answered, “Hell yeah. If it means I get to see that fire in you more often, then have at it, baby.” My top lip quirked in that smirk I knew turned her on.

It was easy to tell that she was getting riled up again, and I had every intention to act on that when my cell phone suddenly rang from the bedroom, interrupting the moment.

“The hell?” I muttered, looking in that direction.

Fiona followed my gaze. “Who could that be? It’s really freaking late.”

I disengaged from Fee and started down the hall to the room. By the time I reached the door, the sound had stopped and started again. The hair on my arms stood on end at the persistent ringing. Pulling the phone from the pocket of the jeans I’d discarded earlier, I looked at the screen and my entire body locked tight. Two calls back-to-back from my brother.

Sliding my thumb across the screen, I lifted it to my ear. “Gray? What’s going on, man?”

“Deac,” he choked. “Fuck. Deacon.”

My blood ran cold at the sound of his agonized voice. “Talk to me, brother. What’s wrong?”

“It-it’s Lola. We’re at the hospital. She… she went into labor.”

Oh shit. Oh no. It was too early.

I raced through the room, grabbing whatever clothes I could find as I spoke, “Where are you? Tell me where to go.” From the corner of my eye, I saw Fiona rushing around, grabbing pants from her bag and quickly yanking them on.

“Northwest. Just… Christ, I don’t know…. Just get here. I need you.”

I couldn’t recall ever hearing my confident, fearless big brother tell me he needed me. “I’m coming now. Just hold on, brother. I’m coming.”

Fiona whipped off my shirt and tossed it to me as I disconnected the call. “What’s happening?” she asked as she slipped on her bra and a T-shirt.

“Lola went into labor,” I answered, frantically searching the floor for my socks and shoes. “Grayson’s losing his mind. Fuck! Where are my goddamn boots?” I shouted, losing hold of my calm as my brother’s tortured voice echoed in my skull.

Fiona was suddenly in front of me, her hands on my cheeks, forcing my face to hers. “Breathe, honey,” she instructed calmly. “It’s going to be okay.”

I shook my head as best as her grip would let me, worry clenching my gut painfully. “It’s too soon,” I whispered. “She’s barely six months along.

“And Lola’s a fighter,” she stated in a decisive tone. “There’s no way in hell that she’s going to let anything happen to her or that baby. And the doctors will take care of her. I promise, baby, it’s all going to be okay.”

She let me go, bent to the floor, and retrieved my socks and boots that I’d kicked off after coming home hours before. I put them on, and we were out the door in a matter of minutes. She insisted on driving, knowing I was too racked with concern for Grayson and Lola to be careful on the icy roads.

I kept her hand firmly in mine, needing the connection with her to keep me grounded while we made our way through the hospital to the waiting room we’d been directed to. When we stepped in, Grayson was there, pacing the floor like a caged lion while our parents stood in a tight huddle with Sophia and Dominic. All eyes came to us the minute we walked through the waiting room door, Grayson’s entire frame deflating in relief at the sight of me. Seeing that moved me in a way I’d never experienced. I let go of Fiona’s hand and, after a brief greeting with my folks, moved to my brother, slapping him on the back before pulling him into a brief hug that was no less meaningful despite it being short.

When he finally pulled back, he looked ravaged. He shifted to Fiona and gave her an embrace before looking at me again. “Have you spoken to the doctor yet?”

Grayson shook his head. “No, not yet. They kicked me out of the room because I was losing my goddamn mind and making everything worse.”

I didn’t think there was ever a time in my life when I’d seen him at such a loss. Even though my relationship with Grayson had gotten better the past couple of years, it still wasn’t what I’d consider to be great. But at that very moment, I’d have given anything to take his pain away.

“It’s going to be all right,” Fiona told him gently, giving him another hug. He held on to her like she was the only thing keeping him on his feet. In the past, seeing something like that would’ve set me off. Each familiar embrace, even when they were no longer together, was like a dagger to my heart. But just then I saw it for what it truly was: two friends comforting each other.

Feeling utterly helpless once they broke apart, I asked him, “Is there anything I can do? What do you need? Just name it.”

“Just….” He shook his head, struggling to find the words. “Can you just stay here?”

Christ, he was killing me. “Absolutely.” I clapped him on the shoulder. “Anything you need, I’m here.”

Fiona glanced between us, and I noticed her eyes growing glassy with unshed tears. I was just about to ask if she was okay when she offered, “How about I get everyone coffee?”

Grayson, still in a fog, simply nodded and turned his gaze to the window that led to the parking lot. I moved a few feet away with her, still making sure to keep my brother in my line of sight. “You need me to get anything else?” she asked in a quiet voice. Even with her obvious concern for Grayson and her fear for her friend, Fiona was trying to take care of the rest of us around her.

I held her arms so she was facing me. “Are you okay?”

She sniffled and cleared her throat. “I’m fine. It’s just that seeing him like that… it’s really hard.”

“I know. I just….” I shook my head and squeezed my eyes closed as tightly as possibly. Finally opening them, I admitted on a whisper, “I don’t know what to do. Fee, how do I help him?”

Her face crumpled as if she could feel my agony. Fiona wrapped her arms around my waist, pressing her cheek to my chest. “Just be here for him, baby. That’s all you can do.”

“He’s never—” I choked as I tried to speak. “He’s never needed me before. I don’t know what to do.”

She pulled back, holding my face in her hands and smiled up at me. “He’s your brother, Deac. He’s always needed you. And you need him. You’ve got this, honey.”

I pulled her back in and held her tightly. “I love you.”

“And I love you,” she exclaimed softly. “Around the world and back again.”