That Man of Mine by Maria Geraci

parents. Maybe now that Luke was home from school for the summer he was driving it instead of Mimi.
    Zeke followed him a couple doors down from the recruitment office into a doughnut shop. Luke was about to order when he turned around and spotted Zeke behind him in line. He looked a lot like his sister, dark hair, blue eyes, and Zeke automatically went to shake hands with him, until he saw the way those blue eyes went ice cold with anger.
    â€œWhat the fuck are you doing in here? Are you following me?” Luke didn’t bother to lower his voice, causing several of the doughnut shop patrons to turn and stare at them.
    Zeke shook his head, confused by Luke’s hostility. Yeah, he’d been following him, but it was because he was hoping to hear how Mimi was doing. “Take it easy, man. I don’t have any problems with you.”
    â€œWell, I have a problem with you. Let’s go outside and have a little talk.” He nodded his head to indicate the parking lot.
    What the hell was Powers so pissed off about? Maybe he’d found out his little sister had lost her cherry to him and he wasn’t happy about it. Having a little sister of his own, Zeke could sympathize. Okay, so he’d let Luke chew him out, maybe he’d even let him get a punch in if it made him feel better.
    They’d barely made the parking lot when the punch came. Fast and furious and with a lot more heat than Zeke expected.
    He rubbed his right cheek. “ Damn . You feel better now, Powers?”
    â€œI’m never going to feel better about you, dickhead.”
    â€œLook, I realize you’re upset, but I cared for Mimi. She meant a lot to me. And I wasn’t the one to break things off.”
    â€œWho gives a fuck what you feel? You’re not the one who has to listen to her cry every night. Do you know how much pressure my parents are putting on her to give up this baby?”
    Zeke felt like he’d been punched again. Only this time it was in the gut and he couldn’t get a breath in. “What the fuck are you talking about? What baby?”
    â€œAre you shitting me? You must be one hell of an actor to pull off that off innocent act. My sister’s six months pregnant. Like you didn’t know.”
    Mimi was pregnant .
    The realization took a few more seconds to sink in. He’d been careful to use a condom each and every time they’d been together. Obviously, not careful enough, though.
    Had she known when she’d broken up with him? He did a few mental calculations. She’d been acting strange in the couple of weeks before she’d called it quits. One time, they’d gone to get fries at Burger World (Mimi’s favorite were the chili-cheese) and she’d gotten sick in the ladies’ restroom. She’d told him it was a stomach bug, but it all made sense now. Why hadn’t she told him ?
    â€œI swear to you I didn’t know. Where’s Mimi now? Is she still at home? I need to see her.”
    Luke studied him, like he was wasn’t sure whether or not to believe him. “Mom said you didn’t know about the baby, but I didn’t think you were that stupid. I guess she was right.”
    Zeke curled his hand in a fist, careful to keep it close to his side. He didn’t want to hit Luke Powers. But if he didn’t tell him what he wanted to know right now…
    â€œThis is my baby, too. I have rights.”
    It was the wrong thing to say. Luke’s face hardened. “If you’re going to harass her you can forget about it. You might have a couple of inches on me but I swear to God, I’ll take you down before I let you hurt my sister again.”
    Zeke might be taller than Luke, but Mimi’s brother looked like he was all muscle. Not that he’d consider fighting him. The guy had every right to call him out. Frankly, he was surprised Luke had left this to a chance encounter. If he was in Luke’s position, he would have dragged