With drained piercing blue eyes, Duke fixes his eyes on mine. “I’d give my left testicle for a full night’s sleep.”
I fight off the snicker as best I can.
“Quit freaking crying,” Nic says, her voice nearing with every syllable. I perk up at her arrival and hope against hope that she brought Robin with her. I just want to look at her, that’s all. As Nic comes into view, my heart leaps as my eyes land on the baby carrier. She offers me a happy but tired smile—something I don’t remember seeing before Duke came along—and gently sets the carrier down on the floor in front of me.
“Hey,” she says. “It’s about time you met the baby.”
Wrapped up in a pale yellow blanket and a white and yellow onesie with ducks all over it is the tiniest, cutest little person I’ve ever seen. It’s crazy to think that humans go from living inside one another to being this small to eventually growing into what we are in adulthood. There’s so much damage that can happen along the way. So much that can go wrong given half a chance. And this little baby is just starting out. God, the very idea of something hurting her, anything hurting her, makes my stomach roll. I was a tiny baby once. So was Nic. As hard as it may be to believe, so were Grady and Duke and even Ian. We all started out this tiny, innocent, and vulnerable.
I spy Grady and Holly wandering over to the carrier and peeking in on the star of the show. I don’t miss Holly’s hand reaching for Grady’s as she stares down at the perfect little creature, and I definitely don’t miss the way Grady grabs hold of her and squeezes tightly. I let the significance of their connection seep in to my heart, past the jealousy and irritation. They want a baby together. That much is obvious. I wasn’t sure about Grady before, but now I know him better and I know how much he loves my best friend.
“You’re lucky, Holls. Grady makes cute kids,” I say without thinking.
Nic and Duke shoot each other knowing glances that signal for the other to keep their mouth shut. It’s cute how in sync they are. Holly freezes and seems uncomfortable with my comment, but it’s Grady who surprises me. He lets go of Holly’s hand and bends down, crowding his big body beside mine. I brace myself for the verbal lashing I surely deserve. It’s none of my business if they want to have kids, and a man like Sterling Grady is probably displeased with me pushing my nosy way into his personal business.
“This mean you’re over your shit?” he asks as he levels his gaze with mine. I should be slinking away from him, tears welling in my eyes, and on my way to a heart attack by now. But I’m not. This is so fucked-up. I hate how the only people I feel safe and normal around are a bunch of felonious outlaw murderers. It doesn’t make sense. My parents, my God-fearing, gentle, kind parents make my stomach sink and my skin crawl. It’s not fair to them. I should welcome their presence, but I just don’t. It doesn’t feel normal or right, and if I’m going to be honest with myself, they haven’t felt safe since before Heath.
“Your shit with me, Minds. Not the rest of it. Some shit you don’t get past.” Grady’s words shock me back into the moment. He heard Holly call me Minds once, and he’s been using it exclusively ever since.
“You’re good for her. That’s all that matters,” I say quietly. I force myself to keep eye contact with this intimidating man. Holly once told me that he’d die protecting me. Not because he feels the same for me that he does Holly, but because that’s who he is. I matter to her and therefore I matter to him. If I weren’t in such shock over the entire conversation, I could probably hug the man.
Or maybe not.
He grunts and lifts an eyebrow in the air, accenting the handsome wrinkles that are slowly setting in with age. He’s teasing me, I think. Feeling brave, I roll my eyes and smile at him.
“Holly belongs with you.” I was worried Grady and the club would be a bad influence on her. She followed me to hell and back and is still by my side. Her loyalty knows no bounds, and I was terrified at what it would mean for her if she hooked up with a man who has zero disregard for the rest of the entire world. But I was wrong. He’s good for her. He’s given her a home, a teenager she couldn’t be crazier about, and something to fight for—him. “She’s Forsaken.”
“So are you,” Grady says. His eyes pull from mine. He lifts the yellow blanket away from Robin and unsnaps her from her seat. Very carefully he lifts her out of the carrier. She stirs in his arms just slightly, her eyes opening and then closing just as quickly. She blows out a little breath and settles in his arms.