Reese curled his lip and stood up, throwing the chair back.
Josie felt a lump in her throat. “That’s enough. We’re not doing that today. We’re not going to pick fights over that shit right now. Reese, you should go.”
“No,” Steph said. “I’ll go. I’m tired anyway. Being a whore takes a lot out of you.”
“Steph, wait a second,” Reese growled as she jumped up and tried to run away.
“What?” she asked him.
“You’re not alone,” he said.
“Whatever, Reese. It’s my life. Not yours. Don’t worry about it.”
Reese made a move and Josie hurried for him, touching his hand.
“Let her go for a minute,” Josie whispered. “She’s hurt and confused. And her hormones are out of control. She cried her eyes out this morning over some insurance commercial that showed a family.”
“Yeah, right,” Reese said. “Give her space. It’s her life, right? She got herself pregnant. Now you have to carry that weight, huh?”
“I’ll help her in any way I can.”
“She needs to tell you who the father is, so he can get his ass in gear too.”
“Reese, take a deep breath.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah,” Josie said. “She just found out she’s pregnant.”
Reese turned his head. “Fuck.”
“I know this is hard.”
“Hard. Right. Lasz’s little sister is pregnant at eighteen. You have one of your girls with a bag full of drugs. Colt has his paws all over the strip club and the MC. And charters are being wiped out all over the state. Yeah. Hard is a good word for it.”
“Just do your thing then, Reese. I didn’t mean for you to find this out. You have your own life. I have my own life. It’s okay. We don’t need…”
Josie trailed off, fearing the wrong words coming out.
“We don’t need… what?” Reese asked. “Each other? This shit again? I agree, Josie. Next time, keep your drugs to yourself.”
Reese broke for the door.
She thought about letting him go, but decided at the last second to chase him down. She got to him in the hallway to the apartment and grabbed the back of his leather cut. This was a hugeno-no,but she didn’t care. If that’s what it took to get his attention.
“Whatever you’re feeling, I’m sorry,” Josie said. “I should have never given you that bag and put you in this position. Okay? I was scared. And when I get scared, Reese, I… I want you to protect me.”
“So that’s what I’m good for?” he asked. “Protecting you?”
“Anything else and it’s an explosion.”
Reese nodded. “Yeah. Explosion. I’ll be in touch tomorrow or the day after that to figure out this Starla thing. I’ll keep my word and try to have the MC approach it calmly.”
“I’m sorry you found things out this way. I thought Steph was hungover, but she sat me down and said she thought she was pregnant. I hurried to get a test and it came up positive. Not sure why I put it in my bag. Maybe I planned on sitting alone in the club and looking at it. Trying to figure out what to do. Or what I should have done to keep it from happening.”
“That’s not on you, sweetheart.”
“She’s my family, Reese. She’s my cousin.”