Chapter 27
Two days later we slip into Will’s truck and make the drive to Sheridan, to my doctor’s office. Maybe one day Broken Heart Creek will have a physician, but until that happens, Sheridan it is.
My doctor smiles at me when she comes back with the results.
“You’re about three months pregnant.”
Which means I conceived one of the first times Will and I were together.
She goes over some information, but all I can do is grin at Will.
When she leaves to give me time to change, Will is at my side.
“How are you feelin’ sugar?”
“So happy.” I meet his gaze. “You’re going to be a dad.”
“And you’re going to be a momma.” He pulls me into his arms, holding me tight. “Fuck. I’m so happy, too, Phern.”
I say, “Guess we need to tell Sam now.”
He laughs. “Yeah. I’d say it’s time.”
We’re still holding hands when we step out of the exam room, grins on our faces, the weight of it all—three months—still sinking in. I glance at Will again, heart fluttering. We made a baby.
The hall is quiet as we round the corner toward the lobby.
And that’s when we run right into her.
Missy Jones.
Standing at the front desk, flipping through a clipboard. She turns as the door opens, lips already forming some comment for the nurse, but when she sees us, her entire expression changes.
Her gaze snaps to our hands that are still linked.
And her smile curls into something sharp and ugly.
“Oh,” she says, loud enough to make the receptionist glance over. “This is rich.”
Will’s body shifts instantly, just slightly in front of me.
Missy crosses her arms. “She’s the reason you broke up with me?”
The words are laced with disbelief. Spite. Her eyes skim over me like I’m something she found under her boot.
Will doesn’t flinch. “Missy—”
“You said you needed space. Said it wasn’t about anyone else.” She huffs a laugh. “Turns out it was exactly about someone else.”
“Missy, it was over before it even started,” Will says, voice low but firm. “We both knew that.”
She looks at me like she wants to set something on fire. “Does Sam know?”
I stiffen and Will’s hand tightens around mine.
“That’s none of your business,” he says.
Her smile widens like a knife unsheathing. “Oh, but I think it is. You’re Sam’s best friend. And she’s his little sister. You think he’s not going to lose his damn mind when he finds out you’ve been sneaking around behind his back?”
Will’s jaw clenches. “You’re not gonna be the one to tell him.”
Her brows lift. “Why not? You scared of what he’ll say?”
“No,” I say before Will can speak.
Missy turns to me, blinking like I just remembered how to talk.
I step forward, chin high, shoulders squared. “We’re not hiding anymore. We’re telling him today.”
Will’s eyes flick to mine. And there’s pride there.
Missy lets out a short, incredulous laugh. “God, you’re so smug.”
“No,” I say calmly. “I’m just in love. And we’re having a baby.”
The words land with a thud. Her face pales.
“You’re what?” she hisses.
Will slides an arm around my waist. “You heard her.”
Missy opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. For once.
I guide Will past her without another glance, heart racing. As we reach the door, he leans in, lips brushing my ear.
“Damn, sugar,” he murmurs. “That was hot.”
And for the first time all morning, I laugh.
On the drive back to Broken Heart Creek, we come up with a plan.
“There’s a chance she’ll try to call him,” Will says, watching the road but glancing at me every few miles, just to make sure I’m still okay.
I snort. “He blocked her number a long time ago.”
Will grins. “Smart man.”
I lean my head against the window. “How do you want to do this?”
“I don’t know,” he says. “How do you want to do it?”
I sigh. “Never had to tell my big brother I’m pregnant before. Not exactly something you prep for.”
His hand finds mine across the console, fingers threading easily. “We’ll figure it out.”
He’s quiet for a moment. Then he says, “You know, Billy would’ve loved this.”
My breath catches at the mention of my dad.
“You think so?” I whisper.
“I know it.” His thumb strokes over my knuckles. “Remember your senior prom?”
I groan. “God. How could I forget? It was traumatizing as hell.”
I can still feel that sick twist in my stomach from years ago—watching all the other girls get flowers and limos and Instagram-perfect moments while I sat in my dress alone in the barn, crying because I hadn’t even been asked.
Will chuckles softly. “All the girls had dates, except for you.”
“I was always too shy for some people. Too ‘Sam’s sister’ for the rest.”
“I saw you,” he says gently. “Crying in the barn.”
I glance over at him, surprised.
“Up to that point, I’d only seen you as Sam’s little sister. But something changed that day. Your dad saw it too. He was out there with me. Saw the whole thing.”
A bittersweet ache forms in my chest.
“He told me I was too old for you, which I was. Still am, really.”
I snort. “That sounds like Dad.”
Will nods. “He was right. But that didn’t mean I stopped caring.”
I look at him slowly, the puzzle pieces starting to slide into place. “Wait. You’re the reason Dean asked me out, aren’t you?”
His smile is small and quiet. “We worked at the same ranch together. When I suggested it, he didn’t even hesitate. Said you deserved to feel special.”
I sit in silence for a beat. Remembering how I’d cried happy tears when Dean showed up with a bouquet and a shy smile. How I hadn’t even guessed someone else had been behind it.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
Will glances at me. “I’m tellin’ you this because of what your dad said to me afterward.”
I turn to him fully now, heart pounding.
“He pulled me aside,” Will says, voice rougher now. “Said I was right to keep my distance but he knew you had a crush on me. And that one day, when you’d lived a little, if you still felt the same that I had his blessing.”
Tears spill down my cheeks before I even realize they’re coming.
“I wish he was here,” I say softly, voice breaking.
Will squeezes my hand, not letting go. “I know, sugar.”
And in the silence that follows—thick with memory, grief, and the ache of love finally lived—I realize something else.
Will’s been choosing me for longer than I ever knew.
That’s why I pull out my phone and hit speaker.
Sam answers on the first ring. “Hello?”
“Hey. Are you and Charlie busy? I need to talk to you.” I glance at Will, then add, “Will and I need to talk to you.”
There’s a long pause. One of those heavy, charged silences that tells me he already suspects more than he’s let on.
“Is this about what Missy Jones put on Facebook?”
My stomach drops. “What did she say?”
“That her no-good ex was trash,” Sam says flatly, “and hooking up with someone fourteen years younger than him.”
I snort. “Well, that’s one version of it.”
Will shakes his head beside me, trying not to smile.
Sam sighs, and I can hear the rustle of Charlie in the background, probably already giving him the look.
“Door’s unlocked,” he says. “We’ll be waiting.”
The call ends with a soft beep.
I exhale, already feeling the weight of what’s coming.
Then I turn to Will. “I want to go home first.”
He frowns slightly, his hand finding mine. “Everything okay?”
I nod, leaning in close, my voice dropping just for him. “Yeah. I just need you to fill me a few times before we face my brother.”
Will’s laugh is loud, deep, and wicked. He turns the truck, coming to a stop behind Knot and Spur.
“I can absolutely do that.”
Then his mouth finds my ear, breath hot against my skin. “Gonna have you dripping, sweetheart. Stuffed full and aching. That what you need?”
My breath catches as a wicked heat pulses low in my belly. “Yeah,” I whisper. “Need you to make it hard to walk straight.”
Will growls low and possessive. “You know what that does to me. You saying shit like that.”
His hand slides to my thigh, fingers creeping up under my skirt like he owns me.
“Tell me. How many babies do you want me to breed into you?”
“As many as you can give me.”
He exhales hard. “Say it again.”
“I want you to keep me bred all the time, Will.”
He drags me into his lap like he can’t wait a second longer. “You keep teasing me with that pretty mouth, and I swear to God, I’ll give you exactly what you’re asking for. Over and over.”
I grind against him, gasping when I feel how hard he already is. “Do it. I can take it.”
His hands roam my hips, rough and greedy. “You’ll take every drop, darlin’. Gonna have you swollen with me. Let the entire town see who you belong to.”
Then his mouth crashes into mine—hot, filthy, desperate—and all I can do is hold on.
He kisses me like a man unhinged. Tongue sweeping deep, teeth grazing my bottom lip, hands gripping my ass like he owns it.
“Back seat,” he mutters against my mouth, voice gravel and heat. “Now.”
I scramble over, heart hammering, breath ragged. The second I’m there, he’s on me, pressing me down across the seat, yanking my panties down with a single, brutal tug. The rip of the fabric sends a shiver through me.
“You keep wearing little things like this,” he growls, “and I’ll tear every pair.”
“Then you better start shopping for new ones,” I shoot back, but my voice trembles under the weight of what’s coming. Because I know Will and I know what that look in his eyes means.
He’s not playing.
He pushes inside me in one long, hard stroke, and we both moan. Mine sharp and high, his guttural and low.
“Fuck, you’re tight,” he grits, jaw clenched. “Already clenching around me.”
I dig my nails into his shoulders. “Been waiting for this all day.”
He starts to move, deep and punishing, every thrust sending shockwaves through me. His hand finds my throat, thumb stroking lightly as his eyes burn into mine.
“You want me to fill you up?” he asks, breath ragged. “Even though you’re already knocked up right here in the back of my truck?”
“God, yes.”
He groans like he’s in pain. “You’re gonna look so fuckin’ pretty with a belly full of me. Everyone in town would know you’re mine.”
“I am yours.”