Page 32 of Play the Game
“Oh, good, you’re not dead,” Chris says, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at me with narrowed eyes.
I roll my eyes. “Do you have to be such a drama queen? It’s five in the damn morning.”
“And yet here you are, eating fucking breakfast on your couch withhim.” Chris gestures at Cooper. “With not a care in the world when you haven’t managed to return a single one of mine or Rio’s texts or answered our calls in two fucking days. What gives, Ev?”
“Sorry.” I shrug and take another bite of my bagel. “I’ve been dealing with some shit.”
“Ev, we’re your people,” Rio says, standing next to Chris and laying a hand on his shoulder. “You tell us when you’re dealing with shit so we can help you.”
I glance at Cooper, not entirely sure what to do. We haven’t discussed telling people, and I have no clue what the rules are. His eyes soften and he nods. “Tell them, Rhodes. I think it’ll help.”
I nod, because he’s right. Chris and Rio are my people, and right now I need all the people I can get. I gesture to the kitchen. “Cooper made bagels. Go grab one. I think you’re going to need it.”
And I need a minute to figure out how I’m going to tell my brother that he’s going to be an uncle.
Fucking shit.
“You’re WHAT?”
I snicker at the shock in Chris’s voice, the confused expression on his face as he looks from me to Cooper.
“Pregnant.”
“With a baby?” Rio asks, looking even more bewildered than Chris. “His baby?” Rio gives Cooper a hard stare that has me rolling my eyes because, holy patriarchy.
“For fuck’s sake, Rio, stop looking at Cooper like you couldkill him with your eyes. You’re not fucking Superman. Yes, I’m pregnant. Yes, it’s Cooper’s. End of story.”
“No,” Chris says, pointing at me. “Not end of story. You haven’t even told me a story. How? When? Why?”
“You really want the details of our little two a.m. conference room interlude two months ago?” I say dryly, as Cooper snorts out a laugh.
“I mean, maybe? I thought you hated him.”
“I do hate him. Did hate him?” I phrase that like a question, glancing over at Cooper, who has the audacity to look amused.
“I think the hate part is still under negotiation,” he says wryly. “Considering the whole baby thing.”
“I always thought there was some weird sexual tension in the way you talked about him,” Rio says thoughtfully. “I guess it finally snapped, huh?”
I choke on my sip of seltzer. “Uh, no.”
“I don’t know, Rhodes,” Cooper says, nudging my knee with his foot again. “Sexual tension could explain the way you mauled me in that conference room.”
“Temporary insanity could explain the way I mauled you in that conference room,” I mutter, and the asshole has the audacity to smirk at me.
“Honestly, Ev, I totally get it.” Rio gives Cooper a once-over. “The glasses alone would do it for me.”
“Um, I’m literally right here,” Chris says, laying a hand on Rio’s cheek and turning his face, leaning in to give him a searing kiss that is absolutely not suited for public consumption.
Rio grins against Chris’s mouth. “Mi amor, you know you’re the only one for me. It’s just that there’s no denying that the father of our niece or nephew is hot as fuck. And you should see his brothers.” Rio lets out a low whistle. “Excellent genes in that family.”
“My brothers and I thank you,” Cooper says with a grin. Rio winks at him, and aren’t we all just one big happy family. Internal eye roll.
Chris pales just slightly. “Holy fuck, we’re going to have a niece or nephew.” He turns to me, staring at me like he’s never seen me before. “You’re having a baby.”
I shrug, even as the words have a shot of panic lancing down my spine, my shoulders stiffening. I think maybe Cooper notices, because he leans back, tossing an arm over the back of the couch and brushing a hand over my shoulder in a gesture that settles me immediately. I probably shouldn’t think too hard about why that is. “I am, in fact, having a baby. I have the nausea and the puking multiple times a day to prove it.”
Chris stands immediately, coming to sit next to me on the couch and tossing an arm around me. “The night of my game. You left and said you were sick. It wasn’t a stomach bug,” he says, putting the pieces together.
