“You’re still not feeling well?” Lucy asked, concerned. “It’s been a week. You should really see the doctor, babe.”
“I saw the urgent care doctor a few days ago when Jace insisted. They just said my stomach needed time to settle down after the nightmare of the stomach bug. But I have my gyno appointment Monday, so I’ll talk to Dr. Baric about it if I’m still not feeling well.”
My phone went off with my text tone, and I shifted so I could pull it out of my pocket while still holding on to Hayat. Seeing the name on the screen, my fingers tightened around the phone case.
Eden.
I hadn’t heard much from her the last few weeks. The last time I talked to her, she said her son was teething and she wasn’t getting much sleep. Now that I had Kin back, I was reluctant to even talk to my half sister. I knew it wasn’t Eden’s fault, that I was the one responsible for my breakup, but part of me felt like if I’d never met her again, none of what happened would have.
Reading over the text Eden sent, I swallowed a curse and dropped the phone onto the couch, not bothering to reply yet.
Kin noticed my reaction, her brows lifting at me in silent inquiry, but I turned my attention back to Hayat. “Soon there are going to be a lot of babies running around my feet. But don’t be jealous, beautiful. Unc loved you first.”
r /> “Who else is pregnant?” Lucy asked, sipping on her glass of lemonade. “Did I miss something?”
I froze, then groaned. “I wasn’t supposed to say anything about Kassa, was I?” I muttered to Kin.
“Nope.”
Lucy let out a tiny squeal. “Oh my gods! Really? I’m so happy for her and Gray. Is that why they did the quickie courthouse wedding?”
“They didn’t like the stress of wedding planning,” Kin told her. “So they just figured they would tie the knot and get it over with. Since everyone was already at Alicia’s, they decided to tell us, but they aren’t telling anyone else until she’s further along because they’re nervous.”
“This makes me so happy,” Lucy cried.
“Don’t tell anyone but Harris, or Kassa will kill Jace.”
“My lips are sealed, and I’ll make sure Harris doesn’t spill the beans to anyone,” Lucy promised.
My phone got another text, but I didn’t bother looking at it. I didn’t want to talk to Eden or bring her up to Kin. But when two more texts came in back-to-back, Kin began to tense when I didn’t even look at my phone.
“Oh, look at the time,” Lucy murmured, standing to take the baby from me. “Time to feed Hayat or she’s going to start getting cranky.” Her gaze bounced off me and then Kin. “I’ll be in the nursery.”
“Actually, I think we’re going to go,” Kin told her, her voice tight. “I have a never-ending list of things I have to do before we leave next week.”
“You’ll come see me before you leave, though, right?” Lucy asked hopefully, her eyes sad.
“Of course I will.” Kin hugged her, making sure not to breathe on Hayat. “Love you, babe.”
“Love you too.” Lucy’s brown eyes landed on me as I stuffed my phone in my pocket and moved in for a hug and to kiss Hayat’s head. “Don’t start being stupid again, dumbass,” she hissed at me.
Had I been acting shady again?
Fuck.
I was.
Lucy walked us to the door, and I scrambled with how to make things right again. As we walked to my car, I reached for Kin’s hand. She jerked away from me before I could even touch her and opened the passenger door.
Groaning, I climbed in behind the wheel and offered her my phone. “Here,” I said when she just glared out the passenger window. She turned her head and turned her glare to the phone in my hand. “Eden’s in town. She wants to get together for dinner, but I didn’t want to ruin our fun with Hayat. Looks like I fucked that up anyway.”
“Why couldn’t you just say that?” she whispered, not bothering to take the phone from me. “Why can’t you just talk to me about her? Is she that important to you that, when it comes to her, I don’t matter?”
“That’s not it,” I rushed to assure her.
“Then what is it?” she cried, tears filling her eyes. “You kept her a secret from me for a year, Jace. You let me think you were cheating, and even when you promised you weren’t, you still didn’t bring her up. She is so much more important to you than me, and I want to fucking know why!”
“Stop.” I didn’t mean to yell, but I felt like I was losing control again, and I just needed her to listen. “No one is more important to me than you. You are my number one priority, baby. Always. I didn’t tell you about Eden because I was scared.”