I tensed. “Bowie,” I said, not liking the tone he’d taken. “I get out of the house, and please don’t say things like that, especially when Jagger can hear you.”

  Bowie’s gaze swung to mine. “He’s an infant. He doesn’t know what the hell I’m saying.”

  “Use your sweet words,” Kye corrected him.

  Normally, this would make me laugh. Right now though, the tension was so thick that it was hard to take a deep breath.

  “My what?” he asked, scowling at Kye.

  I moved to stand between them. “I don’t allow cussing in front of the baby,” I explained. “Why don’t you come with me to the kitchen? I can cook, and we can all eat. If you want to go out and do something, we can do that after.”

  Bowie frowned as he looked down at me. I reached out and touched his arm, hoping to calm him. This wasn’t how I’d wanted things to go. I’d been so sure that with one look at Jagger, he’d soften. Silly me had even thought he’d change his feelings about Kye.

  “If that’s what you want to do,” he said.

  I squeezed his arm. “It is. Come on. You can tell me about the new project you’re working on.”

  He’d been explaining it with so much excitement on the phone last night that I figured it would be a good distraction.

  When Bowie followed me into the kitchen, I glanced at Kye, who was watching us with interest.

  Please be good, Kye, I begged silently, hoping he could read my thoughts.

  Once we were in the kitchen together, I relaxed a little.

  “Have a seat.” I motioned toward the bar. “Would you like a drink? Beer? Whiskey? I don’t have any red wine.”

  Neither Kye nor I drank wine.

  “Water?” he asked.

  I opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water, then took it to him. “We can go out to eat tomorrow,” I told him.

  He glanced over at the kitchen table. “Your machine is on the table, and it’s covered in fabric. Where are we going to eat?”

  I hadn’t been able to finish my latest design I wanted to get into Chloe’s shops. Or at least the Ocala location. Things had been busy around here.

  “Oh, I’ll clean it up. The machine only takes up the one spot. I can clear off the other three spots,” I assured him.

  He opened the bottle of water, then took a long drink. I began to get out the ingredients I needed for the recipe.

  “I want to hear about the project. It’s a new app?”

  Bowie thankfully began talking about that. I listened the best I could, but I was also listening to Kye and Jagger in the living room. It was hard not to when Kye was talking to him about the football game he was watching on the television.

  I was almost done with everything and ready to put both dishes in the oven when Kye walked into the kitchen, carrying Jagger.

  He gave me a crooked grin. “Someone was missing you. Thought I’d bring him in here to see what you’re doing.”

  Unable to resist, I washed my hands and reached for Jagger. “Put those in the oven as soon as it beeps,” I told Kye.

  “On it,” he replied.

  Looking down at Jagger, I smiled. “Did you learn all about football in there?” I asked him.

  He made little noises as he reached up, grabbing at my hair. More than once, he’d gotten ahold of it lately and tried to put a handful in his mouth. I stopped him by taking his hand.

  “No, no, you,” I said, laughing.

  “He’s got a thing for her hair. It’s because it smells good,” Kye said to Bowie.

  Bowie was watching me. “Yeah, it does,” he agreed.

  “It doesn’t taste very good,” I said to Jagger as he reached for it again.

  The oven beeped, and Kye moved to go put the two different Parmesans in it. “What do I set the timer on?” he asked me.

  “Forty-five minutes,” I told him.

  Once he was done, I took Jagger to him. “I’ve got to get the appetizer ready.”

  Kye took Jagger. “Is it the Mexican dip again?” he asked, sounding excited.

  I glanced at Bowie and smiled. “Well, uh, that has beef in it. I was going to make a vegan-friendly appetizer, but you’ll like it.”

  Kye didn’t seem bothered by that. “I have no doubt.” Then, he kissed Jagger’s head. “Come on, little man. Let’s go back to the game.”

  When they were gone from the kitchen, Bowie stood up. “He seems attached to the kid already. You sure he’s going to give him up? I mean, I hope he does. That kid needs real parents.”

  I glanced at the doorway they’d gone through. Every day, I wondered the same thing. Sometimes, it was easy to forget and pretend like this was permanent.

  “I think he wants what is best for Jagger.”

  Bowie didn’t look convinced. “I just hope his parents rename him. That’s a terrible name.”

  I tensed. I hadn’t thought of some strangers giving him a new name. Jagger was his name. My stomach suddenly felt sick, and my chest tightened.

  “I … I like that name. It fits him.”

  Bowie scrunched his nose with a look of distaste. “That name doesn’t fit anyone.”

  I would not get upset. I would not get upset.

  I was upset.

  Nineteen

  Kye

  The chicken Parmesan had been fucking delicious. Genesis was getting really good at this cooking thing. Bowie hadn’t said much about his vegan meal she’d made, and it pissed me off. If he didn’t like it, then he needed to lie about it or eat real meat. There was only so much she could do to make tofu edible. I’d made sure to rave about my own meal.

  When Genesis had told me Bowie was coming, I’d assured her I could stay in my room, alone with Jagger. She and Bowie could take my mom’s old room. Not that I liked that idea at fucking all, but I’d wanted him here. To see us together. The three of us.

  Maybe it was unfair, and part of it was selfish of me, but Genesis had no business marrying at twenty. Not to Bowie. Not to anyone. If I could make him call off the wedding, she’d be hurt, yes. But I’d be here for her. I would make sure she got over it quickly. I was the better man for her anyway.

  Honestly, the past few nights, I’d come real damn close to stepping over a line and showing her how I could meet those other needs of hers too. If I wasn’t terrified of losing her, I would. It had been weeks since I’d fucked, and that was a record. And it wasn’t because I hadn’t had the chance.

  It was because since I’d been sleeping in bed with Genesis—smelling her and feeling her warm, soft body against mine—I hadn’t been able to be with someone else. It had been frustrating at first, but I was starting to embrace it.

  Her sleeping down the hall in bed with Bowie though was about more than I could fucking handle. Apparently, she wasn’t having the same issues I was.

  If I heard them having sex, I might lose my shit. Closing my eyes, I tried like hell to go to sleep. It wasn’t happening. Glancing at Jagger, all wrapped up and peaceful, I eased out of bed and headed for the kitchen. I tried to ignore the closed bedroom door taunting me just a few feet away.

  The light from the kitchen spilled from the doorway, and at first, I thought I’d forgotten to turn it off when I went to bed since I had been the last one up. However, when I walked into the room, I found Genesis drinking a glass of milk, leaning up against the bar, staring straight ahead.

  Her eyes swung to mine, and she straightened. “Is everything okay?” she asked, looking worried.

  This was her first night not sleeping in the room with Jagger. I hadn’t thought about how that would affect her. Damn if I didn’t like that she missed us … him.

  “Jag is all good. I couldn’t sleep. Missed my bed buddy,” I said quietly in case dickhead was still awake.

  She rolled her eyes, but there was a grin tugging at her lips. I wanted to kiss that fucking beauty mark so damn bad. My eyes dropped to stare at it. Why that spot got to me so bad, I didn’t know, but it did.

  “I’m sure you will survive without me,” she replied.

  My eyes shot back up to hers. “I’m not so sure.”

  For a moment, we stood there in silence, staring at each other. I was waiting on her to break the eye contact. Get all awkward and rush off to the bedroom. She didn’t though. Her eyes dropped to my lips, and my cock was instantly hard.

  “Baby Doll,” I warned, taking a step toward her.

  She swallowed hard, and her eyes lifted to meet mine. She wanted me. It was all there in her gaze. The pulse in her neck that gave her away was drawing me closer. Bowie was down the hallway. She was engaged to him. But, dammit, she belonged to me.

  Just before I reached her, she set the glass down and rushed past me. I closed my eyes and sighed as her footsteps faded down the hallway. Gripping the edge of the sink, I hung my head. I wanted my best friend. I wanted her naked and underneath me. Fuck, I wanted to bend her over this sink or put her on the bar and spread her legs. Wincing as my cock throbbed in my sweatpants, I wasn’t sure what the fuck I was gonna do. She had wanted me. I could see it all over her face, but she’d run. She was a good girl. She wasn’t about to cheat on her fiancé.

  I reached for the milk she’d left behind and drank it down, then rinsed the glass and loaded it into the dishwasher.

  Heading back down the hall, I felt a heaviness in my chest. I hated that door up ahead. I hated that she was in there with him. She belonged with me, but it had taken me too long to accept the truth. What if I was too late to change her mind? What if she wanted to marry Bowie because she did love him in a way she didn’t love me?

  I stepped back into my bedroom and stared down at my son, made sure he was breathing, took off my sweatpants, then climbed back into my empty bed.

  When the first hungry cry woke me, I was surprised I’d fallen asleep. Sitting up, I glanced at my phone to see the time. It was after two. Right on schedule. I started to get up when Genesis opened the door.

  “I’ll get the bottle,” she told me, then turned and headed down the hallway.

  Reaching into the bed, I picked up Jagger. “Hey, little man,” I said, then yawned. “Baby Doll is getting the bottle. It’s okay.”

  When he continued to wail, I stood up with him and did that swaying thing that I’d seen Genesis do with him. That seemed to work. He stopped crying, and his eyes went wide. Maybe I was swaying too hard. I slowed it down, and then he started crying again. Okay, hard it is.

  “Here I am,” Genesis said as she walked back into the room. I reached for the bottle, and she frowned. “It’s my feeding time.”

  I nodded toward the door. “You have company. I’ll handle it.”

  I tried to take the bottle, and she snatched it back.

  “I’ll do it. Bowie is asleep. Go back to bed.”

  I wanted to argue with her, but the more time she spent out of that bed with Bowie, the better. She held her arms out for Jagger. I moved to ease him into her hold when a shadow appeared at the door. I looked over Genesis’s head to see Bowie standing there. He wasn’t happy. I didn’t give a shit. He could go home.

  Genesis raised her eyes to me when I didn’t hand over Jagger.

  “Bowie,” I said simply, then tilted my head in the direction of the door.

  She turned to see him standing there, looking pissed off. “Hey, it’s my feeding time. I’ll be back to the room soon.”

  Bowie didn’t say anything. Genesis reached for Jagger again, and I figured, what the hell? She wanted him, and if she was going to choose him over Bowie, I couldn’t stop her. This wasn’t my fault.

  “Hey, buddy,” she cooed. “I’m gonna feed you.”

  I watched her as she put the nipple in his mouth, then glanced back at Bowie, who hadn’t moved. His eyes locked on her feeding my son.

  “Let’s go to the living room,” she told him then.

  Bowie stepped back and let her walk out of the room, and I expected him to follow her. He didn’t. Instead, he watched her walk away, then finally looked back at me.

  “He’s your kid,” Bowie said accusingly.

  “Yeah, he is. Glad you figured that one out,” I replied sarcastically.

  I watched as he clenched his teeth.

  “Do you always dress like that in front of her at night?” he asked.

  I was in my boxers. Only my boxers. I wanted to say, I sleep with her, dressed like this at night, but I wasn’t about to hurt her that way.

  “Do you have a problem with it?” I asked him. “She’s never complained.”

  He stayed there, glaring at me for a moment longer, then spun around and stormed back to the master bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

  I smirked as I stared at it. He felt threatened. Good. Maybe he’d go back to where he had come from and leave us alone.

  Twenty

  Genesis

  “It’s been over two weeks since he brought home the kid, Gen. I want to see you, but I don’t want to stay in the house with a baby. I want time alone with you. Can’t Kye stay here alone with his kid and you stay with me at a hotel?”

  The edge in Bowie’s voice made me wince. Last night had been rough. Jagger woke up more than usual, and I knew Bowie hadn’t gotten much sleep either. My getting up and down had hindered his sleep. But I didn’t want to talk about this in front of Jagger.

  Kye had gone to the store to get more formula, diapers, and some items I needed for a couple of other recipes I wanted to try. The moment he’d stepped out of the door, Bowie had started in on me about last night. He hadn’t liked my getting up to help with Jagger, which I didn’t understand at all. I looked at Jagger, watching me from the bouncy seat that had been dropped off this morning early by one of Kye’s friends. Maddie Hughes had sent it over for us to use, along with a baby monitor, a swing, and a bottle sterilizer.

  Bowie was waiting for me to respond, but what did I say? How was I supposed to just leave them here? Jagger was still waking up three times a night to eat most of the time. Last night, he’d woken up five times. Bowie had witnessed it last night, and he had to have seen how hard that would be on one person. Kye was great with Jagger, but the idea of him having to do it all seemed impossible.

  “I don’t know,” I finally replied. “That is asking a lot.” More than I was willing to agree to.

  “Why don’t you know? You’re aware this is his kid. Not yours. Is he even looking for parents for the kid? Every time we’ve talked lately, you two seem to be fully involved in playing house. And now that I am here to see it, that is exactly what it looks like. I feel like the odd guy out. It’s like you have a family that I’m not a part of. And you’re my fiancée. Mine.”

  I’d explained to Bowie more than once how this was going to be a process. The birth certificate situation was currently being handled. Kye’s name was being put on it as the father, and Jagger’s last name was being changed to Levine. But he hadn’t talked about the next step. Lately, the way I’d caught him looking at Jagger made me wonder if he was changing his mind. The idea of not having to give Jagger away made my heart soar until I remembered that Kye was not in a situation to be a parent. This little bubble we were living in wasn’t forever. We weren’t a family. I’d admit, I felt like one at times. Or at least, I wanted it. I felt guilty every time I thought of Bowie. I shouldn’t be wanting this with someone else.

  “We aren’t playing house. And, yes, Kye is working on the custody thing right now so that he can legally find parents for Jagger.”

  I wasn’t going to say that Jagger wasn’t mine. Not when his little eyes were locked on me. Maybe he wouldn’t understand what I was saying, but it didn’t matter. I would know what I was saying. I didn’t want him to hear negative things. It wasn’t good for his brain and emotional development.

  Bowie sighed heavily. “This is harder than I thought it would be, and that’s saying a lot because I thought it would be hard. I just …” He paused, then walked over to stand near the window. He ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated.

  I wished I could fix it for him. Make this easier for him to understand, but I didn’t seem to be doing that the right way.

  “I need to be first. You think that’s me asking you to choose, but it’s not. If we are going to get married, then I need to know you love me and put me first. That you want to put me first. That it’s not even something you have to think about. And right now … I don’t know if that’s the case.”

  My eyes burned, and I turned so that Jagger wouldn’t see me upset. “This isn’t about my putting you first,” I said in a calm voice. “It’s me helping my best friend.”

  “Putting him first,” Bowie shouted.

  “Bowie, please,” I begged, not wanting Jagger to hear us fighting. “I told you this was going to take time. It’s just been two weeks.”

  “Seventeen days,” he corrected me.

  “Stay here a few days. Stop glaring at Jagger like he did something wrong.”

  “No. I’m not doing that. I’ve already accepted that you are sleeping in the same fucking house as Kye. You pushed our wedding off to help Kye. He has plenty of women in his life who can help him. Why not one of his regular fuck buddies? There are women all over the damn county who would happily do what you’re doing.”

  The thought of some woman I didn’t know taking care of Jagger made me cringe. I couldn’t stand the thought of handing him over and just walking away. I didn’t know those women that Kye spent time with, and I didn’t trust them. Jagger’s mother had been one of them, and look what she’d done to him.

  “Because I am his best friend. He doesn’t trust the others, and neither do I.” And I love Jagger.

  Bowie was silent. I glanced back at Jagger, who was now watching the ceiling fan while kicking his legs excitedly.