for visitors. Max entered anyway.
His silhouette filled the entire doorway, but his size and strength reassured me. Despite the tattoos, penchant for using belts in unconventional applications, and adopting a sullen silence since I revealed the pregnancy, Max was my perfect teddy bear.
A very large, very temperamental teddy bear that happened to spank instead of cuddle.
“Hey, baby,” he said. “Can I come in?”
I flipped on the bedside lamp. “Since when do you ask permission from me?”
“Times change.”
“Yeah. There’s a Bennett in one of my childhood bedrooms.”
“Soon to be one more.”
Apparently. I cradled a pillow from the stash on my bed. Pink pastel and shaped like a sand-dollar, the pillows were early 90s hideous, but Mom ordered them for every room.
“Mike and Josiah hated these pillows.” I picked at a loose string. “But they were great for pillow fights. Josiah and I would gang up on Mike.”
“Cute.”
I squeezed it tight. “It’s weird here without them.”
Max’s words edged hard and impatient. “Look, I’m just checking to see if you need anything.”
“I’m fine.”
“Okay.”
A pause. I arched an eyebrow.
“So…goodnight?”
He turned, but his hand gripped the door frame. Too hard.
“If I were Reed, what would you need?” he asked.
The question came too quickly. “What?”
“If I were Reed , and I asked if you wanted anything, what would you need?”
“From Reed?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Answer the fucking question.”
I flinched. He apologized, but he didn’t mean it.
“If you were Reed …” I didn’t see a point in lying. “I’d ask you for a foot rub and we’d watch something stupid on Netflix until I fell asleep.”
Max said nothing. It couldn’t have offended him. I shrugged.
“But he’s whipped. You’re not.” I smirked. “You’re not into that.”
He ignored the implication. “What if I were Nick? What could I do for you then?”
That was an easier question, but it hurt to answer.
“Nothing.”
“You sure about that?”
I wasn’t in the mood to deal with any of Max’s head games. “It’s complicated.”
“How complicated can it be? You’re having his kid. That’s as simple as it gets.”
My mood swung every which way, and this time it skipped the tears and burst into anger.
“You think it’s that simple ? You aren’t the one carrying the baby. You aren’t the one getting sick ten times a day. You aren’t the one who’ll have to explain to her Board of Directors why she’s carrying the child of her family’s greatest enemy.”
“And you’re making it worse by refusing help and doing it all on your own.”
I refused to look at him. “We’re done talking about this. I’ve suffered through enough doctors and exams and morning sickness today. I can’t deal with anything else.”
“You better start dealing.”
The rage prickled. I blinked angry tears. “And how would you deal with this?”
“Easier than you. I would have known from the beginning this was going to happen.”
“Oh, screw you, Max. You have no fucking idea what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t deny a Bennett,” he said.
“Get out.”
Max wasn’t even apologetic. “You never considered it was a possibility.”
“Because it wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“You weren’t supposed to fall in love with Nick either. Surprise.”
Why was he being such an ass? “And instead of ruining just my life, we’ve ruined two .”
“Lot more than that, baby.”
My fingernails dug into the pillow. “Good. Then you understand why I’m doing this. I have to think about what’s best for my son.”
“Your son .” He emphasized the word. “We hope.”
We all needed to hope that the baby was a boy. I refused to answer Max otherwise.
“Did antagonizing my dad at the art show fit into your plan for what’s best for the baby?”
“I had to confront him.”
“And now we’ve spent a week running your ass all
His silhouette filled the entire doorway, but his size and strength reassured me. Despite the tattoos, penchant for using belts in unconventional applications, and adopting a sullen silence since I revealed the pregnancy, Max was my perfect teddy bear.
A very large, very temperamental teddy bear that happened to spank instead of cuddle.
“Hey, baby,” he said. “Can I come in?”
I flipped on the bedside lamp. “Since when do you ask permission from me?”
“Times change.”
“Yeah. There’s a Bennett in one of my childhood bedrooms.”
“Soon to be one more.”
Apparently. I cradled a pillow from the stash on my bed. Pink pastel and shaped like a sand-dollar, the pillows were early 90s hideous, but Mom ordered them for every room.
“Mike and Josiah hated these pillows.” I picked at a loose string. “But they were great for pillow fights. Josiah and I would gang up on Mike.”
“Cute.”
I squeezed it tight. “It’s weird here without them.”
Max’s words edged hard and impatient. “Look, I’m just checking to see if you need anything.”
“I’m fine.”
“Okay.”
A pause. I arched an eyebrow.
“So…goodnight?”
He turned, but his hand gripped the door frame. Too hard.
“If I were Reed, what would you need?” he asked.
The question came too quickly. “What?”
“If I were Reed , and I asked if you wanted anything, what would you need?”
“From Reed?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Answer the fucking question.”
I flinched. He apologized, but he didn’t mean it.
“If you were Reed …” I didn’t see a point in lying. “I’d ask you for a foot rub and we’d watch something stupid on Netflix until I fell asleep.”
Max said nothing. It couldn’t have offended him. I shrugged.
“But he’s whipped. You’re not.” I smirked. “You’re not into that.”
He ignored the implication. “What if I were Nick? What could I do for you then?”
That was an easier question, but it hurt to answer.
“Nothing.”
“You sure about that?”
I wasn’t in the mood to deal with any of Max’s head games. “It’s complicated.”
“How complicated can it be? You’re having his kid. That’s as simple as it gets.”
My mood swung every which way, and this time it skipped the tears and burst into anger.
“You think it’s that simple ? You aren’t the one carrying the baby. You aren’t the one getting sick ten times a day. You aren’t the one who’ll have to explain to her Board of Directors why she’s carrying the child of her family’s greatest enemy.”
“And you’re making it worse by refusing help and doing it all on your own.”
I refused to look at him. “We’re done talking about this. I’ve suffered through enough doctors and exams and morning sickness today. I can’t deal with anything else.”
“You better start dealing.”
The rage prickled. I blinked angry tears. “And how would you deal with this?”
“Easier than you. I would have known from the beginning this was going to happen.”
“Oh, screw you, Max. You have no fucking idea what you’re talking about.”
“You don’t deny a Bennett,” he said.
“Get out.”
Max wasn’t even apologetic. “You never considered it was a possibility.”
“Because it wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“You weren’t supposed to fall in love with Nick either. Surprise.”
Why was he being such an ass? “And instead of ruining just my life, we’ve ruined two .”
“Lot more than that, baby.”
My fingernails dug into the pillow. “Good. Then you understand why I’m doing this. I have to think about what’s best for my son.”
“Your son .” He emphasized the word. “We hope.”
We all needed to hope that the baby was a boy. I refused to answer Max otherwise.
“Did antagonizing my dad at the art show fit into your plan for what’s best for the baby?”
“I had to confront him.”
“And now we’ve spent a week running your ass all
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