Page 101 of My Brother's Best Men
Elijah furrows his brows. “What?”
“Don’t ask,” Benny says, coming up to us. “You ready to go?”
Elijah nods and I follow my friends out to Eli’s SUV.
When we get to Sam’s, we’re immediately assaulted by the scent of sweet pumpkin pie.
“Hey!” Raegan greets us, and I wiggle my clear bandage–wrapped arm at her.
“I got a tattoo!” I say with excitement.
Sam turns the bend and his eyes widen. “Wow, that’s…”
And then I hear the door open, and I just…know.
“There you are,” Raegan says as she runs toward the guest behind me.
We all turn, and my eyes widen in shock as I settle my eyes on her.
Sophie.
Her hair is long, highlights grown out, framing her round face. She looks at me and her eyes are full of tears. My gaze roves over her, noticing she looks so much the same but also…different.
“Sophie…” Elijah’s voice is barely a whisper.
Raegan takes her coat, and then I gasp because there’s no hiding the evident bulge of her belly.
I let out a heavy sigh as Benny curses. “You?—”
“We’ll give you guys a minute,” Raegan says.
She and Sam don’t look surprised in the least.
“Come on, babe,” Raegan says as she leads Sam through the house, toward the downstairs. When the basement door shuts, I don’t wait.
I run to Sophie and throw my arms around her, and she does the same.
“Sophie.” I hug her. Tight. Her stomach makes it harder to get close, but I don’t care. She’s here. She’s here and she’s in my arms, and that’s all that matters.
“I knew you’d come back,” I whisper to her, pulling away. The guys flank me as my gaze dips to her belly. “You look?—”
“Pregnant as fuck,” Benny says.
Elijah smacks him. “Benny!”
“What? I mean, that’s pretty obvious.”
Sophie starts to cry and I hug her again.
“See, you made her fucking cry!” Eli says, pushing me aside.
He grabs her hand and pulls her, leading her to the couch, and she follows without question.
“You don’t text or call,” Elijah says. “It’s been months, Sophie, and?—”
“How far along are you?” I ask, rolling through Elijah’s concerned tone.
“Five months,” she says shakily, meeting my gaze.
