Page 58 of Hungry Hearts

“Hell no. I’m always careful.” Usually careful. Until Maia. Shit, what if I did get her pregnant? I can picture her round with our baby. It would have her dark hair and my eyes and Ruby would smother it with the best big sister attention.

Fuuuuck.Since when do I fantasize about making babies? Christ. I rub my hands across my face.

“What are you making for this kid?” Trey turns down another street lined with well-groomed trees and family homes.

“I got the design off the Internet. Made a list of supplies I need.” I hold up my phone.

“For what?”

He’s going to find out eventually since I need his garage and table saw to build it. “It’s a castle doll house.”

It’s scary how little Trey moves. Not a muscle in his face reveals what he’s thinking. His tone is flat. Unreadable. “What’s the kid to you?”

Nolan hasn’t said anything to the guys about my drunken crying jag when I thought Maia was married, and I haven’t mentioned being back with her. This wasn’t how I wanted to let the guys know about Maia, but since Trey is the least gossipy of the group—hypocrite, I know, sinceI’mthe spreader of all the juicy gossip on the guys—I tell him.

“I’m kind of seeing her mom.”

Again. No facial expressions to reveal his thoughts. How does Ella do this? “Kinda low, even for you, to use the kid to get into the woman’s pants.”

“That’s not why I’m doing this. It’s Ruby’s birthday and the princess castle doll house was on her list.”

“You fuck this chick once and she already has you doing shit for her kid?”

“I’ve been seeing her for a month and she’s never asked me for anything. It’s not like that. Her daughter is a pretty cool kid.”

Slowly, as if he has all the time in the world, Trey pulls to the side of the road and takes out his phone. He taps out a message, long for him, and sets his phone back in the center console.

My phone vibrates in my hand. I look down at it and see a message from Trey to our group chat.

BAX:Ryder’s got a lady friend.

I let out an annoyed sigh. “Seriously? You’re tattling on me?”

He lifts a shoulder. “Payback’s a bitch.”

Yeah, I was a dick when Nolan and Avery were hooking up, and I may have given Trey a hard time when he fell hard for Ella. The teddy bear she saw in him gave me great material to use against him. Not that it hurt his image. He’s still a scary looking beast, but he’s got a good heart and would never hurt a living creature unless they threatened someone in his circle.

DOC:For real?

SEALY:For fuck’s sake. Why am I the last to know?

DOC:Name? Age? Occupation?

SEALY:Knowing Ry-dog, he doesn’t have a clue. Blonde, big, fake titties, and an animal in bed is my guess.

DOC:That’s his usual MO. What’s different about this one, T?

Trey has resumed driving, not even glancing at his phone, but he now wears a shit-eating grin.

“You’re an asshole.”

“Still need my truck and power tools?”

He’s got me there. “Dickhead.”

When he comes to another stop sign, he picks up his phone, reads through the messages, and taps out another text.

“Fuck, man.” I reach for his phone, but he switches it to his left hand. I’m not about to crawl over his body for it. I have a little pride left.

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