25. Harlowe
CHAPTER 25
HARLOWE
T he Briggs family carried on as if nothing had just happened. Maybe Camden’s brothers were used to seeing her storm off, but I didn’t think so. That normally wasn’t her style, which meant she was really hurt.
I grabbed my phone, which I’d set on the table, in case she called or texted and sent a message to her. It might take a while for her to get back to me, but I’d wait it out. One thing was for sure. We’d make it right.
We had to. She was my family… in more ways than one now.
“Why aren’t you eating?” Brooks asked, which made me realize he was watching me. I should’ve known. He was like that supervisor in Monsters, Inc .… Always watching me.
“I am,” I told him as I popped a grape into my mouth.
In truth, I wasn’t eating because I was still upset about the argument with Camden and how Brooks had handled it. My food wouldn’t have sat right in my stomach.
“I can’t believe you’re having a kid,” Urban said to his brother.
“Believe it, brother.”
“So was this on purpose or…?”
Brooks sighed. “Not on purpose. Don’t worry. I’m fairly certain Everly isn’t about to get baby fever anytime soon.”
While I didn’t know Everly super well, we’d hung out a few times and been around each other. I wouldn’t have been able to make a baby fever call, but apparently, Brooks could.
“If it makes any of you feel any better,” I started, “none of your girlfriends voiced a desire to have a baby soon when I told them I was pregnant. Usually, that’s what starts baby fever. That and the actual newborn baby, so you’ve got a few months.”
The guys groaned in unison as Monroe, Amity, and I chuckled. It was a myth that women wanted babies as soon as their friends started having them. I mean, some probably did, but the guys had all chosen women who had their own minds. They weren’t about to put themselves in a situation until they were ready.
Then again, I was proof that sometimes things happened when they happened.
After checking my phone a third time, I pushed up from the table, saying I’d be right back, and headed to the bathroom on the first floor. I didn’t need to use it, but I wanted some privacy to call Camden.
Predictably, she didn’t answer.
This reminded me of an argument we’d had in high school, only I had been the one ignoring her. I thought I was so right then, but I was in the wrong and it had been hard to admit that to myself. I’d overreacted in that situation and knew the burn of embarrassment when that happened. I’d thought Camden was being careless with my feelings—as if I didn’t matter—but in reality, she’d been protecting me from some nasty gossip. She’d been hiding it from me and was the reason why to this day, I don’t push her on the whole hating baseball players thing. Sometimes, secrets are OK.
Camden could be cold to the people she needed to be cold to. That was to protect herself. Something she’d felt the need to do more and more in high school. She’d just never told me why.
So I went back out to the table and sat down, listening to the guys talk about the playoffs, what they were going to do in the off-season. Each of them took November off completely. A way to decompress after the long season. They only did what they wanted to, without any schedule. So if Cobb felt like throwing some pitches, he would, but it wasn’t regimented.
And I knew for a fact that all of them used various aspects of the sport to work off anger. Like the batting cages. Hey. It worked. Camden and I would go when we needed a release sometimes. It felt really good and was how I’d learned to hit balls I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.
After texting Camden again but not receiving an answer, I sighed.
“I’m sorry,” I said, knowing that I was interrupting Silas. “I have to go.”
“What?” Brooks stood when I did.
“I’ll see you all later.”
I headed to the living room to leave and didn’t need to stop to grab anything. I’d left everything, including my keys, in my car. Why? No idea and I just hadn’t grabbed my purse. Since my car didn’t require me to use the keys to start it, they were always in my purse.
“Hey.” Brooks grabbed my arm to stop me. “Where are you going?”
“To find Camden,” I told him, assuming he’d understand.
“Harlowe, I really think you need to let her cool off. She was pissed. She’s going to say something that I’m not going to be able to forget.”
I furrowed my brows. “What do you mean?”
“She already made the comment about you fucking one of her brothers and she doesn’t need to be talking to you that way.”
Now I snorted. He clearly didn’t understand women’s friendships. “But I am fucking one of her brothers.” Then I stepped in closer and laid my hand on his chest. “Look, as I’ve explained more than once, our friendship is separate from your relationship with your sister. If you can’t keep it that way, it’s going to make this all much harder than it needs to be and I’ll be stuck in the middle. I’m going to go talk to her, then you can deal with whatever you need to.”
“Fine.” His jaw was clenched, meaning he wasn’t exactly happy about the situation, but then he added, “I’ll go with you.”
“Uh. No.” I stepped away from him. “I can do this on my own and you being there will, again, make it more complicated than it needs to be. Camden and I are going to be fine. I just need to find her.”
Brooks cupped my cheeks before he leaned down and pressed his mouth to mine. He was warm and inviting, almost tempting me to not go. I wondered if that was the purpose. It almost worked, but then I came to my senses and ended the kiss.
“I’ll call you when I’m done,” I told him before slipping out the front door.
It was likely Camden was at her parents’ house since that was where she was currently living. She’d been on campus for a while and hadn’t loved it. She could definitely afford her own place but hated the idea of living alone. The thought for us to live together had never crossed either of our minds. For one, she couldn’t fit in my place. Second, I couldn’t afford wherever she’d want to live and I’d insist on splitting everything. Third, it was never a great idea for friends to live together. It worked in some situations, but in most that I knew of, the people ended up not being friends after a while.
Neither of us wanted that.
Most likely, we would’ve been fine because neither of us was messy. We both took care of whatever we needed, but there was never a good enough reason to test the theory.
Pulling up to the Briggs’s house was kind of bittersweet. I’d never loved and hated a single place so much at the same time.
I’d loved coming here when I’d been a kid because it was big, they’d had food that I didn’t have to prepare, and Mrs. Briggs was so nice and welcoming. As I’d gotten older, that meant I’d also sometimes got glimpses of Brooks and that would’ve kept me coming back no matter what.
But I’d hated it when their dad would come home. Don’t get me wrong. He wasn’t mean to me. Treated me perfectly fine as Camden’s friend, but I’d heard so many times how hard he’d pushed the boys. He wasn’t exactly nice to them often and most of the time, their conversations revolved around baseball.
I also knew very well how he felt about any of his sons getting caught up in a woman while he was still playing. He really wanted the brothers to be fuck them but don’t get attached and under no circumstances did you let a woman trap you with a baby.
No one knew I’d heard that conversation. Camden and I were supposed to have been in the pool that day.
Then here I was trapping Brooks with a baby, though he was only trapped because he wanted to be. I’d do it on my own without him if he didn’t want to be a part of it.
I pushed the button for the doorbell, hoping like hell Mr. Briggs wouldn’t answer. Those prayers were answered when Mrs. Briggs pulled the door open.
“Harlowe, honey, come in.” She stepped back, letting me pass her.
Mrs. Briggs was always so chic. She had her hair cut into a stylish bob and hazel eyes that were exactly like Camden’s. A little browner with a sunburst of blue in the middle, whereas mine went toward gold. Today, she was wearing dress slacks and a white, button-up blouse. The sleeves went to her elbows but were folded up. Not like she’d folded them, but this was what it was supposed to have looked like. She was thin and looked like she belonged on a runway.
Hell, that shirt had probably cost more than my rent, but Mrs. Briggs had grown up with a lot of money.
“How are you?” she asked.
“I’m doing well,” I told her. “Is Camden here?”
“I think so. Let me go check.” Mrs. Briggs climbed the stairs as I waited just inside the door.
Their house was huge and didn’t exactly have a homey vibe, but she’d never once cared if Camden or I spilled or made a mess.
I wasn’t waiting long before Mrs. Briggs came down with Camden behind her. Camden hadn’t changed out of her skinny jeans and blue T-shirt, but now she wasn’t wearing shoes. But Mrs. Briggs turned in the other direction toward where I knew the kitchen was. The house was large enough that she wouldn’t be able to hear our conversation unless we yelled.
“If I wanted to talk, I would’ve answered the phone,” she told me, which almost made me smile. It was what I would’ve said.
“I know. But I can’t let this go, Camden. Our friendship is too important to me. We have to talk about this.”
“Is it?” she snapped and folded her arms over her stomach.
“Camden.” I tilted my head to the side. “Of course it is. Look…” I moved so that I could see around her and make sure her mom had entirely left the room. “Are you saying you don’t want me with your brother? Am I not good enough for him?”
Her eyes widened as she threw her hands in the air in frustration. “That isn’t the case at all. You’re too good for him . Any one of them would be lucky to have you.”
I snickered. “I think Everly, Amity, and Monroe would have something to say about that.”
She snorted and shook her head. “I just wanted one thing that I didn’t have to share with any of them.” She sighed. “Look, I know I sound like a baby, but they’ve always been so important. They’ve always gotten everything they wanted.”
I grinned at her. “So have you, Camden.” It wasn’t like any of the Briggs kids had been wanting for anything.
“I know. That’s how I know this makes me sound like a toddler, but I also can’t help how I feel. They’re baseball players, for fuck’s sake. You know they screw people over and our friendship will suffer when Brooks does something to hurt you.”
Damn, I wanted to know where she’d formed this opinion of baseball players. It wasn’t wrong, exactly. It just didn’t apply to her brothers and she was brushing them with the same stroke as others, so there had to have been a reason.
I shook my head. “Camden, you know your brothers aren’t like that. You know it. You’ve been there the whole time and I’m not saying they’ve never broken anyone’s heart. That’s a risk you take with any person. The only safe things are dogs and cats. Maybe otters. They don’t break your heart.”
I went over to her and put her hands on my shoulders. Luckily, there wasn’t a huge height difference. “I don’t want to lose you as a friend if something goes wrong, but I also can’t change the fact that Brooks is the father of this baby. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I had feelings for him. I should have. But you won’t tell me why you have such a low opinion of baseball players, so I feel like we’re even on that.”
“I know.” She gave in. “I was just taken off guard and feel really protective of you. I knew he was in love with you but I was really sure that you wouldn’t fall for him. Crush. Sure. But together?” She shook her head.
I snorted quietly. “I’m going to be fine. If he breaks my heart, I’ll get through it.”
“With my help.” She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me in tight. “Can you at least marry him before the baby come so you’ll be my sister? Even if it doesn’t last forever. You’ll get a nice settlement out of it.”
I snickered. “We’ve already been sisters and I’m not marrying your brother just because he got me pregnant. Those are two separate things.”
As she let me go, we were both still laughing about what we’d just been through when her dad stomped into the room, causing my heart rate to speed up and my palms to sweat.
Now I worried about what he’d heard. How much he’d overheard. Brooks hadn’t told his parents yet and I sure as hell didn’t want to be the one to tell either of them. Mr. Briggs was an asshole most of the time—even when he was being “nice”—and each kid had a different way of dealing with him.
“What the hell did I just hear about your brother knocking someone up?” he demanded.
Ah. So he’d heard everything.
“I’m so sorry,” Camden whispered before turning around to face her dad. “You could’ve phrased that better,” she snapped at him. Camden’s way of dealing with her dad was head on. Brooks usually waited until it was something worth the effort to argue over, choosing instead to let most things not even go into his ears.
“Nobody cares how I worded it.”
“Uh,” Camden countered. “I do. Harlowe is my best friend. Your son was the one who got her pregnant. No need to yell at us.” But they were, in fact, yelling.
“Which son?” he asked, his jaw hard and his teeth grinding together.
“I don’t think you need too many guesses,” she countered. “All but one of them have girlfriends.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
Camden made a disgusted sound in her throat. “Typical. I’m sure they’d love to hear that you think they’d cheat on the women they love.”
“Pft,” he scoffed. “As if any of them know shit about love.”
“What is going on in here?” Mrs. Briggs came into the room as I slowly took a step back toward the door.
“It looks like one of your sons got the Chandler girl pregnant.”
Mrs. Briggs’s surprised eyes met mine, but she didn’t say anything right away. The surprise of it all had apparently made her speechless.
“So now he’s trapped,” Mr. Briggs continued. His nose flared in anger and all of his body was tight like he was about to take on another form. All of them acted like I wasn’t even there anymore. “She’s trapped him when I warned all of the boys to steer clear of the whores trying to trap them for eighteen years.”
Tears formed in my eyes. I’d be glad when my hormones were back to normal. Before being pregnant, someone saying that about me would’ve made me angry and it did now, but now I guessed I was going to cry when I was angry.
“‘ Whore ’?” Camden yelled with a tone that said she didn’t believe he’d just said that.
“What do you call women who try to get a man for his money?”
“That’s enough, Conrad,” her mom snapped, which turned into him arguing with her as well.
I didn’t stay to find out what more they’d say, instead slipping out the door and hurrying to my car.
This was exactly the situation I didn’t want to be in. Didn’t want Brooks in. This whole thing, if he found out what his father had just said to me, was going to cause huge problems and a gigantic riff. At least my friendship with Camden was good again, though I never wanted to be around her father again.
As if I’d been the only one there when I’d gotten pregnant. As if I wanted his stupid money. I was the one who had told him he had an out. I wouldn’t even have asked for child support. That wasn’t what he wanted. How could my kid have no good sets of grandparents? That would suck for the baby.
Urban, Cobb and Monroe, as well as Silas and Amity were staying at Brooks’s to watch the baseball game on TV together. They had the day off, but not all teams did and they wanted to watch Minnesota play Kansas City because whoever won was likely whom they’d go against in the division playoff.
They were hoping it’d be Minnesota. The Knights hadn’t lost to them in two years.
If I went home, Brooks would end up finding me easily when I didn’t answer his calls. I needed some time to myself. My parents’ house was the last place I wanted to be, so a hotel it was and this time, I sprang for a nice one. After all, the money I’d been saving to buy Cleats & Kegs wasn’t going toward that anymore and while I needed it for the baby, I could manage this one splurge for myself.
Every single thing that had happened in my life had come with complications and I was tired of it. It was time for me to plan and figure all of this out, which I’d do best on my own. It didn’t mean I didn’t want to be with him. I just needed to plan on my own without anyone else’s influence.
I just needed some time to clear my head and think things through.