Page 108 of Mended Hearts

“You answer your phone after a text like that, Leigh. Are you trying to kill me?”

“Sorry,” I whispered into his chest, my body melting into the safety of him.

“Don’t be sorry. Besafe.” His voice cracked. “What’s going on?”

“Wait. How the hell did you know I wasn’t her?” Kaia barked from behind us.

“Please,” he muttered into my hair, still holding me like he had no plans of letting go. “You look nothing alike.”

Snorting, I mumbled, “We’re literally clones, Ollie.”

“Bullshit. You might share DNA, but you hold yourselves differently, and she doesn’t have the scar over her brow. Your skin is marginally darker, and your eyes are way brighter.”

“Rude,” Kaia muttered.

Then, so only I could hear, Ollie whispered, “And she’s notmine.”

Le swoon.

God, I hoped he didn’t hate me for this—because this man might very well be it for me.

Finally steadying, he pulled back just enough to look me in the eyes, gently adjusting my loose tee back over my shoulder.

“I was right this morning, wasn’t I?”

Studying the fear in his eyes, I searched for any trace of betrayal. Was that what was hiding under the panic? I hoped not.

Unable to find my voice, I nodded.

Silver flickered in his eyes just before he cupped my face again and kissed me—fierce, claiming, achingly tender.

“Are you safe?” he murmured, pressing a hand over my chest, right above my scar.

“I haven’t seen a doctor yet, so I don’t know if the pregnancy will stick or not.”

“That’s not what I asked, Leighton. Are you okay to do this? Do youwantto do this?”

Tears burned my eyes, and my voice cracked. “Yeah. I do.”

He nodded, like he was trying to commit the moment to memory.

“And it can’t hurt you?”

“I mean… the squeezing a human through my vag probably won’t feel great.” His scowl told me he didn’t find me very funny right this moment. I just told him I was carrying his child, and it was my heart he covered with his palm like he could keep me safe. Like what mattered in this equation was standing right in front of him.Jesus.

I lifted my hand to cover his. “Are you ever going to ask me what happened?”

“Are you ever going to feel safe enough to tell me on your own?”

A watery laugh slipped out, but the sob that followed startled both of us.

We turned to Kaia, where she stood crying into her hand, her other arm wrapped tight across her ribs. She waved us off, shaking her head as tears overflowed from her eyes.

“You said you hooked up on Halloween—I didn’t realize you guys were inlove,” she sniffled.

“Irrevocably,” Ollie said simply, and I nearly lost it again.

Kaia sniffed hard. “Listen, after that display, I’m team Ollie. When the guys give you shit, tell them to fuck off—I’ll handle it.”

---