Page 52 of Love Lies Bleeding

He shoves me out of the way and wraps his arms around her and I stand back feeling helpless, as my Cherry Blossom steps up beside me and glares an accusation at me.

Lexi looks up at Hunter and gives him a wobbly smile. “We’re having a baby,”

“I know that, Lex,” he says as if she’s telling him the obvious but my friend hasn’t quite grasped what she’s telling him.

“No, I mean my water just broke. We’re having a baby now.”

I see him gulp as his eyes go wide. “Fuck. We’re having a baby,” he shouts to the entire group, catching my eye and smiling with pride and not a little fear.

Lexi and Hunter are herded out of the house and I can’t help but let my gaze search for Cherry. I want to share this with her, it feels right.

“Are you going to the hospital?” I ask as I find her rushing around looking for her bag.

“Yes, of course.”

“I can take you.”

Cherry stops and looks at me with wariness. “Did you make things right with Lexi? Because I won’t have you fucking this up for them with your toxicity, Jake.”

“Relax, me and Lexi are good.”

“Fine. You can drive me, but don’t think this means anything.”

I hold my hands up in defense. “Okay, I promise not to mistake this as you forgiving me.”

“Good, let’s go.”

As I grab my keys, I hear Cherry shout to her mom and Frankie. “I got us a lift, let’s go.”

I’d hoped to get a few minutes alone with Cherry but endearing myself to her mom and friend is a good second. Cherry pushes her mom into the front seat and climbs in the back with Frankie, who is almost bouncing with excitement.

“Oh my God, do you think they’ll name him Frank?”

I snort but hide it with a cough when Cherry kicks the back of my seat.

“I think they’ll be more likely to name him after her dad or his.”

“I guess, so but it would be fun to have another Frankie around.”

I watch in the rear-view mirror as Cherry rests her head on her friend’s shoulder, and jealousy slams into my gut even though I know he’d never be interested in her or vice versa. It wasn’t that, it was the intimacy of her leaning on him and sharing her joy and excitement with him when I want her to share it with me.

I know I have no right, but it doesn’t stop the feeling twisting in my belly.

“The world doesn’t have the energy for two of you, my boy.”

I glance at Darla who gives me a soft smile. She has a grace about her and a silent strength that I wonder if others see as clearly as I do. Her eyes twinkle and in that moment, I hate myself for the part I’d played in her daughter losing her dream.

Now I sit in a car with the woman I’d hurt and the people who loved her, and I get the strongest suspicion that Darla knows who I am. That she can see straight through the mask of civility I wear to the damaged little boy beneath.

We arrive at the hospital, and I hang back a little, waiting for Hank and Vivian, wanting to give Cherry the space she deserves to enjoy this with the people who love her.

The waiting room outside Lexi and Hunter’s private room is full of laughter and chatter as we wait for news. Nurses and doctors come and go, each giving us a reassuring smile as they go in and out of the room. Hours pass and people talk and bonds are formed in the room. Bonds that I know will encircle their child with so much love and support and I find I want to be a part of that more than I ever realized. Until now, Lexi and her pregnancy have been almost ephemeral, unreal, and the baby hadn’t been real either but now I felt the strongest urge to protect him.

“Hey, I got you this.”

Blinking, I look up at Cherry holding a cup of coffee in front of me. “Thank you.” I take a sip and smile. “You remember how I take it.”

Her shrug is accompanied by a delicate blush on her cheeks. “Can I sit?”

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