Page 20 of Breathless

Now she was committed for life to the baby growing inside her, and she had no idea what she was going to do. The pregnancy had turned her world on its head—and Wyatt’s and Thoreau’s along with it, though they didn’t know it yet. She’d tried to tell Wyatt at the hospital, but then the moment had passed and she’d decided to put if off until he was stronger.

How was she going to tell them now?

One busy happy hour later, she finally took the time to check her messages.

Thor:Home now.Checked on patient. He ate my cereal again.

Wyatt:You have no chips. I was hungry.

Thor:Update on patient. He’s hidden the remote. Someone wants broth for dinner.

Wyatt:That’s low. Even for you.

Fiona grinned as she replied. Honestly, it was like living with a couple of preteens.

Fi:Play nice, children. Mommy’s at work.

Mommy.

She slid her phone into her back pocket and heaved an exaggerated sigh for the benefit of Jake Finn and JD Green, who were both seated at the bar. “Remind me why I thought two men were a good idea again?”

Jake snorted. “Maybe all that texting is a good sign. At least they’re talking?”

“Do your dads even know you’re here, Jake?”

He looked up from his own phone with the killer smile she knew he’d been working on to impress the ladies. Effective. “Are you trying to change the subject, Fiona? A little childish, don’t you think?”

What did it say about her that one of her closest friends wasn’t old enough to drink and the other was JD Green? She had an affinity for orphan boys and open hearts? These two were her lifelines most days, but lately—and by lately, she meant since Wyatt moved in a couple of weeks ago—they’d been giving her nothing but grief.

“Just saying,” she shrugged. “Young college boy, hanging at a bar during happy hour…”

“I’m nineteen, Fiona. I do what I want. And part of this will be mine someday.”

“All hail Prince Jake of Pub Finn,” JD joked, bowing his head regally in the younger man’s direction. “Although, and I cannot stress this enough, any man who must say, ‘I am the king’ is no true king.”

Jake rolled his eyes. “You’re bringing up Thrones, Green? Too soon.”

“You’re right.” JD leaned against the bar despondently and reached for his beer. He still had a thing for Brady’s Stout. “The ending ruined that show’s quotability forever.”

Fiona sucked on her lower lip to keep from laughing. It was a habit she hadn’t managed to kick since losing the piercing. “It’s a fictional series, guys. You need to let it go.”

“Tell that to David and Rory,” Jake countered. “They didn’t sign the petition, but their YouTube channel held a live chat that felt more like an Irish wake after the finale.”

“I can’t believe Seamus was okay with you watching that.” Fiona grimaced. “It was all violence, incest and brothels, wasn’t it? I read somewhere that the two biggest romances were between relatives, and the only strong female characters dressed like men. I feel like the author needs some therapy.”

“Spoiler alert,” JD burst out, causing several people, including the other two bartenders, to turn in their direction. “Sorry. Bad habit. But you really need to read the books before you start judging.”

“And once again, nineteen.”

Every time he said that it gave Fiona a start. He’d grown up so fast. When she’d first met him, he’d reminded her of an adult trapped in a teenage body, but now his body was starting to catch up. Jake was taller than JD at this point. All broad shoulders and a new confidence that made all the coeds swoon. Jake might not look like a Finn, but he’d inherited all of their best qualities. Including charisma, if his busy social calendar was anything to go by.

“I miss nineteen,” JD sighed. “But not as much as I miss the days when Fiona used to talk to her two besties about her two boyfriends. Should I point out your tendency to collect matching sets instead? Or—ooh, I know—how about your fetish for self-sabotage?”

As an advice columnist for the lovelorn, JD was fantastic at reading people, incredibly entertaining and usually very helpful.

Usually.

But you told them instead of the people who really need to know.

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