Never Say Never: Gravel Hill Boys Book Two

27. Ian

“She’s insane. Certifiably insane.”

I paced the length of Brooklynn’s kitchen while she, Beau, and Aurelia, Beau’s assistant, watched stone-faced.

“None of you have anything to say?”

“You don’t want to hear what I have to say,” Brooklynn answered.

Beau shook his head and frowned. “Same.”

Aurelia narrowed her eyes. “Sit your butt down and listen. You’re making me dizzy.”

Did I want to sit? No. Did I want to argue with Aurelia? Hell no.

I sat.

“When you flew up there half-cocked, did you have any idea what you were going to say to that young lady?” Aurelia demanded.

I pressed my lips together and thought about my intentions but came up blank.

“Not really,” I answered under the pressure of her glare. “I haven’t really had time to think about it. She just showed up out of nowhere wanting to talk, and then before we could talk, she left.”

Beau pulled a couple Natty Lights from the refrigerator and handed me one. “Something had to have happened. I’m sure she didn’t just fly down to Savannah to insult you.”

Of course I told them what she’d said about West Virginia. They were all natives, except for Aurelia, but as a true southerner, she should be insulted on our behalf.

“She also called Roosters grubby,” I added to bolster my indignation.

“It is grubby,” Brooklynn said. “Even Mrs. Todd calls it grubby, and she owns it. It’s a dive bar, Ian. We all know that. You want fancy, you go to Morgantown.”

Beau kicked back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Madison isn’t a country girl,” he said. “She’s not like us. She didn’t grow up with dirt between her toes from running barefoot and grass in her hair from lying in a field and staring up at the stars. I suspect the only grass she’s played on is the golf course at some fancy-ass country club, and I’d wager she’s never felt that grass between her toes.”

“If you don’t step up and accept responsibility for what you’ve done, Ian, that baby of yours is going to grow up the same way,” Brooklynn added.

“Amen to that,” Aurelia chimed.

These people were supposed to be on my side.

“How can I step up when I never saw a kid in my future? I’m not sure I’ve ever even wanted one. Hell, look at my sisters…they popped a couple kids out and can’t see straight with how tired they are. They can barely stay on top of things, and they’re the qualified ones. Not me. I wouldn’t have a clue what to do if my kid would be crying or hungry or anything other than looking for the next good time.”

I stood and resumed pacing.

“And if Madison is what dealing with a pregnant woman is like? Forget it. She’s all amped up on hormones and shit. I offered to rub her back or her feet, but did she say thank you? Nope. She just climbed into my bed and took a nap.” I threw my hands up. “She’s already in her second trimester. She shouldn’t be that tired again until the third trimester, but what do I know?”

“Dude,” Beau said with a chuckle.

Brooklynn’s eyebrows were somewhere near her hairline. Same with Aurelia.

“What?” I asked.

“Since when do you know anything about trimesters,” Brooklynn asked.

“Or aching backs and feet?” Beau asked.

Not to be outdone, Aurelia chimed in. “Or hormones?”

These people… “Since I read about them in my—” I clamped my mouth shut. The last thing I needed was to be teased about reading a few pregnancy books.

“I saw something on The Today Show,” I lied. “Something about hormones and trimesters. I’m not sure. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Beau snorted loud enough to rival Hermoine, Brooklynn’s pig.

“Gimme a break,” he said. “You haven’t been up early enough to watch The Today Show since high school.”

“How do you know what time I get up? You don’t live with me.”

“No, but I’ve been on tour with you for six years and not a day went by that we didn’t have to wake your ass up and drag you outta your bunk, so please. Give me some credit here. I know you, Ian.”

“I know you too,” Brooklynn butted in. “And I know you have a good, kind heart under all that class clown nonsense you show to the world. I don’t believe for one second you don’t want this baby or that you don’t want to be involved. Maybe that’s what you’ve tried to convince yourself, but if that’s the case, you’re wrong.”

I plopped back into my chair. “You’re the one who’s wrong. I’m not trying to convince myself of anything. I already know. I like my life just fine the way it is.”

“Then why are you reading pregnancy books?” Beau asked.

“I’m not,” I lied, staring at a scuff on the toe of my boot. I hated lying, especially when it caught up to me. Besides, it was none of his business if I read one or two pregnancy books. It didn’t change a thing.

“Ian honey,” Aurelia said in her mom voice, the one usually reserved for Beau when he was getting flighty. “No one’s tellin’ you that you got to marry this girl?—”

“Marry?” I almost knocked over my untouched beer. “Who said anything about getting married? Not me. That’s for sure.” I squeezed the back of my neck. “Fuck. I don’t know what’s wrong with you people, but no one’s talking about getting married. We can barely be in the same room together for an hour, forget about the rest of our lives.” And while marriage wasn’t on the table, honestly, a relationship of some kind wouldn’t kill me.

Aurelia glared at me. “As I was saying…” The tenor of her voice changed, and I knew I better sit up and listen. “No one is telling you to marry the girl. But there’s gonna be a baby…a baby that you took part in creating. You’re a good man, and that means you have a responsibility to that baby and that baby’s mama. You may be tellin’ yourself you don’t want to be involved in that child’s life, but I refuse to believe that’s what you truly want. We all know you’ll step up financially?—”

“Of course I will,” I grumbled. “What do y’all take me for?”

Naturally they ignored me, and Aurelia kept speaking as if I hadn’t interrupted her.

“You need to ask yourself if you would be okay with not being in your child’s life, not having a say in how they’re raised.”

“Aurelia’s right, Ian,” Brooklynn piped up. “Maybe not now, but someday, you’ll regret walking away and by then, it will be too late.”

Beau jumped into the fray, and I had to wonder if these three had rehearsed their little speeches. “Take it from me, who had more than one shitty father, if you walk away you will always wonder if you did the right thing; if your kid is being treated right.”

Brooklynn reached for Beau’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Knowing what you know about Beau, I would hope you’d do whatever you could to prevent that kind of tragedy from happening to your own baby.”

I grabbed my phone off the kitchen table and jammed it in my pocket. “You think this whole situation isn’t fucking with my mind. I don’t need the added guilt. Thanks, but no thanks.”

The screen door banged shut, putting a big ol’ exclamation point on the end of my visit as I stomped across the yard chasing two fucking chickens and a wild-eyed goat out of my way. No one was telling me anything I didn’t already know or hadn’t gone over in my head a thousand times.

I didn’t need a come-to-Jesus moment, I needed… Fuck. I didn’t know what I needed. What I did know was that I’d have gotten more sympathy from Zac, and that fucker didn’t have a sympathetic bone in his body.