Page 59 of Breathtaking

“Sorry, it’s just been a lot to take in today.” She pushes her hair behind her ears, and her mask slides into place. The one she uses to hide behind. The one I fucking hate because Lennon should never have to hide. “Your family is pretty great, Beneventi.”

I kick off my sneakers and sit down next to her.

Does my dog come say hi to me?

No. The snoring, farting, lazy little fucker stays firmly planted in Lennon’s lap.

Pretty sure he’s protecting her and the baby.

Can a dog sense a pregnancy?

Good dog.

I’ll have to get him some extra treats this week.

“The family can be a lot, but they mean well.” I grip the back of her neck with my hands and massage her tight muscles. “They’ll make this happen. Just wait and see. It’ll be everything you need it to be. I promise.”

“Mmmm...” she hums deep in her throat and drops her head foreword, giving me a better angle. “You always were good with your hands.”

“You’re setting me up with that one,principessa.”

“Don’t even think about it,” she warns. “I’m pretty sure we make better friends than we do lovers, Maddox.”

“Not sure I agree with you on that.” Just hearing the wordlovercoming out of her pretty mouth sends my imagination in all sorts of depraved directions. “We were never just friends, Lennon.”

“Yes, we were,” she snaps. “For years, that’s all we were. Then you had to mess it all up by proposing.”

“Think of all the heartache you’d have saved us if you’d just said yes back then.” It’s the first time either of us have mentioned that night. The one where she asked me to leave. The one where I did what she asked, too young and too stupid to see what was right in front of me. Too fucked over my own hurt pride to fight for what I knew was mine.

I won’t make that mistake again.

“We were always more,” I remind her.

“Can we please not do this tonight?” she pleads as she reaches for the remote and drops it in my lap. “Want to watch a movie?”

I take the hint for now, not wanting to push her after the day she’s had, and pick up the remote. “Sure. What do you want to watch?”

“How do you feel aboutThe Avengers?”

* * *

Lennon

Monday morning, Grace and I meet for breakfast, and I should have known better than to be worried. She sits across from me at a cute little café in town, staring in disbelief with a gigantic smile on her face as I finally finish dumping my entire story on her. “I can’t believe you never told me.”

I push my pancakes around the plate. “I don’t know... I guess I didn’t want anyone to know. It’s all just so messy.”

Gracie reaches across the table and grabs my hand. “Friends do messy. We don’t run away from it. We don’t run away from each other.”

“You’re the only friend I’ve ever had, Gracie.” The admission should be humiliating, but somehow, it’s freeing instead. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too. But now you’re here, and you’re marrying Maddox. I can’t believe it. Maddox Beneventi, officially off the market. The women of Kroydon Hills will be weeping in the streets.”

She doesn’t know how much that single statement stings, and I don’t tell her either, like an insecure cow.

“And you’re going to have a baby. That’s insane. I’m so excited for you both. Being a mother is the most rewarding, exhausting, frightening thing in the world. But I wouldn’t change a minute of it. Especially if you’re only having one. Lucky brat.”

“Good grief, I can’t even believe how you handle it all. You’re a boss babe, Grace. I want to be you when I grow up,” I tell her, meaning every word.

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