Page 78 of Silver Linings
“We kissed just now,” she whispered, looking down at Sage.
Mae sat silent for a minute, but when Lily looked up at her, she finally asked the question Lily had been asking herself a million times since Gunner left the apartment.
“What happened?”
“It was overwhelming. I-in a good way. A great way, really. I’ve loved Gunner since we were kids, but he never felt that way about me. I was just overwhelmed and the tears just started flowing. I think he misunderstood. It wasn’t because I didn’t want the kiss to happen, it was because I was so overwhelmed that it finally had.”
“He didn’t let you explain?”
“I tried, but he just said he understood and left. He told me not to wait up for him.”
“That idiot.” Mae looked down the hallway, as if she was checking to make sure they really were alone. “You’re not the only one with a messed up relationship.”
“What?”
“Want to know my secret?” She didn’t wait for an answer from Lily. “I’m sleeping with Stone. It was just a one time thing that’s kind of morphed into a months-long thing. And I promised him I was okay with keeping it casual because he thinks Hawk will kill him and doesn’t know if he’s really the relationship type, but I think I’m falling for him. I don’t want things to end, but I want to define what we’re doing.”
“Oh, shit.” Lily pulled her friend into a hug. “We are quite the pair, aren’t we?”
“There was a reason I knew we’d be fast friends.” The girls both laughed as they remained in their embrace.
“Fuck off, Hawk.” Gunner knew the minute his friend stepped into the gym and even as he was beating the hell out of the punching bag, he could sense where Hawk moved in the room. Currently, the nosy bastard was creeping up on his right side.
“Can’t man. I just left a beautiful woman crying on my couch. It’s my gentlemanly duty to avenge her tears. And I might have volunteered when I heard who was the reason behind them. It’s really been too long since we sparred together.”
“She’s still crying?” Fuck. Why did that rip at his guts? Why did he care? It was so clear that she hadn’t wanted that kiss to happen. Embarrassment flooded him. How could he be falling for Lily so completely when she wasn’t feeling the same way at all?
“Yeah. And it wasn’t pretty tears. This seemed like world-shattering stuff. What the fuck did you do?”
“I kissed her.”
“Jesus. How bad of a kisser are you to cause that? Did you eat some garlic fries at lunch and forget to brush your teeth? I mean, she’s your wife. She had your kid. It really must have been?—”
“Shut up, Hawk.”
“Is this the part where you tell me what actually is going on between you and Lily?”
Gunner stopped punching the bag and wiped his arm across his forehead to wipe away the sweat. “What do you mean?”
“Unless my understanding of how babies are made and how long they gestate for is wrong, there is no way you are Sage’s dad.”
“I am her dad,” Gunner growled at Hawk. “Don’t ever fucking say that again.”
“Okay. Let me rephrase it. You are her dad, but there is no way you are her biological father. In case you forgot, you and I were together for several months working long ass hours with the FBI. I know for a fact you didn’t go home to Connecticut during that time. So why are you pretending? What are you protecting Lily and Sage from?”
“Her fucking ex. And his fucking family.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah.”
“He hurt her?”
Gunner nodded.
“And you didn’t put him six feet under?”
“I almost did. She called me crying one night, hiding in her bathroom. Fucker was beating on the door with a gun in his hand. Took everything in me to let the cops haul his ass away and not mine for murder. She almost went into labor that fucking night.”