Fin spun around at the familiar voice and came face to face with Kyle’s cheeky hazel eyes. What was he doing here? She looked frantically up and down the aisle for Ryan, but she didn’t see him. Was he here somewhere too?
Kyle reached out and cupped her face, using his thumbs to wipe her tears away. He pressed a kiss to her forehead before taking a step back and looking down at her, waiting for some kind of response.
Flustered, Fin glanced down at the cereal boxes crushed against her. “I can’t choose what cereal to buy,” she choked out.
Kyle’s eyebrows flew up. “Okay,” he drawled. Using his left arm, he reached out for one of the boxes in her arms, and she jerked back. He cleared his throat. “Well, you seem kinda attached to both of them. Maybe you should just buy both.”
“Right,” Fin muttered, in no hurry to toss the cereal into her trolley and expose her supersized form. It was then that her eyes fell on his right arm. It was bandaged heavily and bound tight to his body with a heavy duty sling. Alarmed, she met his eyes. “Your arm!”
Kyle shrugged. “It’s nothing. Just a scratch. They sent me home a little early.”
Fin’s eyes widened. “They sent you home for a scratch?”
She watched Kyle cringe a little and rub awkwardly at the back of his neck. “Yeah. I got scratched by a bullet.”
“A bullet?” Dizziness engulfed her, and the boxes in her arms went a little lax. “So really, you were shot. Are you … Is Ryan …”
“Ryan’s fine!” Kyle replied quickly. Fin let out the breath she didn’t realise she was holding. “It wasn’t even an attack, just some bastard who pinged off a shot and got lucky.”
“Kyle,” she muttered. Why did they keep going back there? How many people had to get hurt or die?
“I’m okay,” he replied and amusement filled his eyes. “As good as I can be. I really miss using my right hand.” Fin flushed wildly at the implication, and he burst out laughing. “You’re so easy.”
Knowing her mother would soon be catching up, Fin cleared her throat. “Well, I should get going. Maybe you can stop by the cottage for dinner one night,” she threw out.
He nodded. “Okay, what night are you free?”
Oh shit. Fin was only being polite. She never thought he would take her up on the offer. “Umm … well, let me think …”
Kyle arched a brow. “If you don’t want me to come over, that’s okay. I know, what with … Jake and now Ryan … Well, me being around might not be the best thing, but it might be nice to catch up, you know?” His eyes searched her face.
“Of course it would,” Fin agreed. “It’s not that I don’t want to—”
“Let me get those.” He reached again for the cereal, and she flinched backwards, hitting the shelving with a wince.
Kyle frowned. “Fin?”
Fin aimed for a laugh but the sound came out strangled and high pitched.
With just his left hand, Kyle somehow scooped both boxes from her arms and tossed them in the trolley. “There. Now back to why you were crying over a bunch of cereal.” His eyes fell, widening when they latched onto the chest that had expanded considerably. Crap. She really needed some new bras too. “Holy shit, Fin. Wow. You sure got …” Kyle trailed off as his eyes lowered, his mouth dropping open as he stared at her belly. “That’s … you … you’re pregnant.”
Fin nodded casually, her eyes finding something interesting behind his shoulder. “Well, these things happen. Anyway, um … I should go.”
“He doesn’t know,” came Kyle’s flat voice.
She averted her eyes, hurt pooling in her stomach as she focused on the painfully swollen sausages that were masquerading as her toes. “I emailed him. I asked him to give me a call, but you know, he’s obviously busy saving a whole bunch of people and whatnot so yes, you’re right. He doesn’t know.”
“Fuck,” Kyle growled.
Fin placed a hand on his good arm. “Don’t. Just let it go. I have,” she lied. “I can do this on my own. I don’t have a choice anyway, so there’s no point in getting angry or whatever. Life is what it is.” And it sure as shit wasn’t turning out anything like she expected it would.
Kyle nodded, but his body remained tense.
“Please don’t say anything to Ryan. He needs to hear it from me, but I’ve made the first move. It’s on him now.”
Taking a step back, Kyle’s eyes slid down the end of the aisle to where her mother and Laura were making their way towards them. Laura’s arms were piled high, Fin’s mum scouring the shelves and adding more to the pile as they made their way towards them. “Well, how’s Friday night for dinner then?”
“Are you serious? Friday nights are for drinking and pretty girls, not a crazy pregnant woman with moods that change faster than you can flick channels on the TV.”
Kyle laughed. “I’ve been in Afghanistan in case you forgot. I’m sure I’ve faced enough crazy to handle whatever you can throw at me.”