Beyond Broken (The Bay Boys #3) (36 page)

THIRTY-ONE

“He’s wrong, you know,” Maddie murmured, her words breaking the silence that had descended between them as Maddie gently tended to his scraped jaw.
 
Caleb had tried to dissuade her fussing, but at the sight of blood from the skin Thomas had scraped off, she’d insisted.
 
So now, she made herself feel better by blotting away the blood and holding an ice pack Brian’s wife always packed in his lunch to his face, trying to keep his jaw from swelling too much.
 
The garage’s bathroom wasn’t the cleanest of places, but Caleb let her tend to him as he sat on the closed toilet lid.

He hadn’t said much since Thomas left, but she knew that her brother’s cutting words had wormed their way inside his head.
 
Maddie could just slap her brother for saying what he did.
 
They’d hurt Caleb, but Maddie felt the pain as acutely as if they’d been flung at herself.

“Is he?” Caleb asked, his tone hard.
 
“Thomas spoke the truth.”

Maddie sighed, knowing Caleb believed it, even if she didn’t.
 
She gently brushed the other side of Caleb’s jaw, the side Thomas hadn’t hit, liking that he no longer flinched away when she touched him.
 
That was progress, wasn’t it?

“Thomas is angry.
 
But I think he’s more angry at himself than anyone,” Maddie confided.
 
“He thinks that he’s failed me in some way.
 
He still thinks that I’m his kid sister and that it’s his job to protect me and make sure I get through life untouched and unhurt.
 
But that’s not realistic, is it?”

“You can’t blame the man for trying,” Caleb murmured, his eyes burning into her own.
 
Their bodies were close and every time Maddie shifted, her thigh brushed his knee.

“He took on a lot of responsibility when my dad died.
 
He thought he had to become the man of the house.
 
He thought he not only had to look out for me, but my mom too.
 
It wasn’t something that he asked for, but he took his new role very seriously and he’s always been protective.
 
So, please, don’t take what he said to heart.”

“How can you say that?” Caleb rasped.
 
“How can you say that what he said isn’t true?
 
I’ve fucked up your life.”

“No, Caleb, you haven’t,” Maddie said easily.
 
“True, this isn’t exactly the way I thought my life would go.
 
But a baby isn’t the end of the world.
 
It’s just a…reordering of events.”
 
Her cheeks began to burn when she thought of that moment in his office that changed everything.
 
“And I said yes, didn’t I?”

Maybe it was just her imagination, but she thought that Caleb’s skin burned hotter at her words.
 
It was suddenly stifling in the bathroom.

“Yes, you did,” he said, his tone husky.

Maddie knew that he was thinking about that moment as well, so she cleared her throat.
 
“Let’s stop playing the blame game and get on with our lives.
 
My brother will come around eventually.
 
He always does.”

“Oh, so he’s been in this situation before?
 
He’s used to punching guys who get his sister pregnant?” Caleb asked wryly.
 
Maddie smiled, getting used to Caleb’s dry humor.
 
“You already know how this situation will play out?”

“No, but I know how the next couple days will play out.”

Maddie thought his gaze softened when he looked up at her again.
 
“And how’s that, princess?”

“Tonight, I’ll finish packing and you will too,” she told him.
 
“Tomorrow is the big moving day, which will be full of stress, and moving boxes, and setting up furniture, and eating mostly fast food.
 
Oh, and your jaw will probably hurt pretty badly too.
 
And then on Sunday, my brother will have calmed down and he’ll come by to see the new house.
 
He’ll apologize to me and to you, but he won’t be sorry for hitting you, just for what he said.”

Caleb’s hand ran down her arm until he clutched her hand in his own.
 
Goosebumps erupted over her flesh, sparks following in the wake of his fingertips.
 
“And after that?”

“After that,” she said, her voice suddenly turning more breathless, “we just take it one day at a time.”

“Okay,” he murmured, his gaze never leaving her own.
 
“I’m good with that.”

*
   
*
   
*

Maddie didn’t mind moving.
 
The idea of starting off fresh had always appealed to her and a new home was rife with possibilities.
 
But the thought that she’d be sharing that home with Caleb terrified her.
 
So, when Caleb picked her up early the next morning, loaded up the last of her boxes in the trunk, and set off towards their new house, she wanted to throw up and it had nothing to do with her morning sickness.

“Everything is going to be okay,” he murmured, when they pulled up to the curb, as though sensing her growing anxiousness.
 
Surprisingly, the movers had already arrived with all of Caleb’s boxes and were waiting to be let inside.
 
Peter was nowhere in sight, although Caleb had told her that the teenager had opened up the garage with Brian this morning.

The house itself was beautiful.
 
When Caleb had first taken her to go see it, she’d fallen in love.
 
It was a corner lot in a new development with ample privacy.
 
With its grey exterior, dark indigo shutters, and wide porch, it was both welcoming and relaxing and Maddie already pictured sitting outside during the summer, enjoying the warm breezes and the quietness of the neighborhood.
 
But the outside had nothing on the house itself.
 
Two stories, four bedrooms, two and half bathrooms, an open plan kitchen and living room, and a backyard to die for…it was everything that Maddie had ever dreamed of.

And Caleb wanted to share it with her.

“Ready?” he asked, once he came around to help her out of the car.
 
Ever since he found out she was pregnant, he’d been treating her like glass.

She nodded, just as Caleb took her overnight bag from her.
 
When she shot him a look, he shrugged.
 
“I don’t want you lifting anything today.”

“My bag weighs about ten pounds,” she pointed out.
 
“I don’t think it’ll kill me.
 
Besides, we’re moving today, Caleb.
 
How can you expect me
not
to lift anything?”

One of the movers approached.
 
“Mr. Montgomery?”

Caleb nodded.
 
“Yes.
 
Give me a second and I’ll let you guys in.”
 
And then, with his palm on the small of her back, he led her past the men to the front of their new house.
 
Once the door was opened, he looked at her and said, “I put your stuff in the bedroom at the end of the hall upstairs.
 
I’ll send the movers up with the bed first, if you want.”

“The bedroom at the end of the…”
 
Her brow furrowed.
 
“But that’s the master bedroom.”

He shrugged. “It’s yours.”

Maddie was already shaking her head.
 
When she’d said that she wanted separate rooms, she’d meant that she would take one of the guest bedrooms, not the
master suite
.
 
“Caleb, no.
 
That’s your room.”

“It doesn’t matter to me where I sleep,” he told her.
 
“I’ve been sleeping on a couch for the past year.”

“If it doesn’t matter, then take that room.
 
It’ll just make me uncomfortable, knowing that it should be yours.”

Just like the stubborn man she knew him to be, his eyes narrowed and Maddie knew she’d lost this round.
 
Caleb could be notoriously single-minded when he wanted something.

What she didn’t expect him to do was lean in closer until she could see the pupils of his dark eyes.
 
She swallowed thickly, suddenly warm, as his gaze flicked to her lips and then back up.

“Guess that just means I’ll have to find a way to get into your bed sooner,” he murmured.
 
Maddie’s lips parted, a shock of arousal burning down her chest to pool between her thighs, wondering if she’d heard him right.
 
Before she could say a word, he turned towards the stairs, her bag still in his possession.
 
Right before he rounded the corner at the top, he called down, “Can you go open the garage for them?
 
I’ll be right down.”

As though in a trance, she floated towards the garage, nodding at the movers as they passed with boxes, thinking about Caleb’s words and their implication.
 
She hadn’t really thought about what living with him meant for
that
part of their lives.
 
Maddie knew without a doubt that sex would just complicate their situation, more so than it already was.
 
And Maddie didn’t even know if she
wanted
to have sex with him again.
 
Her first time wasn’t exactly spectacular and what stood out the most was the way she’d felt afterwards: abandoned and empty.
 
She never wanted to feel that way again.

She was so lost in thought that she hadn’t realized Caleb returned downstairs.
 
He was looking at her as he approached the garage, studying and assessing as he was prone to do.

“Stop overthinking it,” he told her.

She frowned.
 
“And how did you know I was overthinking anything?”

He touched the space between her brows, her breath hitching slightly at the contact.
 
“Because of these lines here.”

When one of the men squeezed past them, Caleb stepped away, but leaned against the wall, his arms crossed.
 
Maddie stared at him and then her eyes strayed to the hallway behind him.
 
The hallway of their
new house
.

She looked down at her feet, her eyes straying to her stomach and she wondered when she’d begin to show.

“Does any of this seem real to you?” she asked.
 
It was starting to hit her.
 
Like a sledgehammer.
 
“Because I’ve had time to wrap my head around all of this, but somehow, it still feels like a dream.”

“A good dream?
 
Or a bad dream?”

“I’m not sure yet.”
 
She bit her lip, meeting his eyes.
 
“And I’m scared.”

Maddie couldn’t pinpoint why exactly, but Caleb softened at her words.
 
He snagged her hand and pulled her closer and even with movers milling around, he leaned down until his lips were on hers.
 
And she kissed him back, even though it confused her.
 
It felt good, right.
 
He
felt right.

“You don’t need to be scared anymore,” he whispered.
 
“We’ll get through this.
 
I promise.”

She looked up at him and said quietly, “I’ve been thinking about our fight.”

His lips quirked.
 
“Which one?
 
We’ve had a lot.”

“The one about money.”

“And?”

“I want to compromise.”

He shook his head.
 
“It wasn’t up for negotiation.”

“Caleb,” she said slowly.
 
“We
are
going to compromise on this.”

He drew in a breath and Maddie became very aware of how closely pressed together they were.
 
“Okay.
 
Tell me.”

“I’ll use the joint account, but only for the baby.
 
And I want to pay off half of my student loans.
 
My job on campus counts towards them, so I’ll work there until the doctor says otherwise.”

Caleb looked down at her.
 
If Maddie didn’t know him as well as she did, the gaze would’ve been intimidating.
 
But she knew he was just processing…and trying to figure out a way to dissuade her from it.

“You’ll also use the joint account for the house.
 
And you can work until the doctor says otherwise, but after that, I’ll pay off the remaining balance.
 
Deal?”

She knew it was the best she would get, so she blew out a breath and nodded, almost solemnly.
 
“Deal.”

Then he did something she’d never see him do before.
 
He grinned.
 
A genuine, honest smile.
 
And the result was just as devastatingly beautiful as Maddie thought it would be.

Hook, line, and sinker.

I’m a goner
, she thought.

THIRTY-TWO

Two months passed in the blink of an eye.
 
And every day, Maddie thought about that moment between her and Caleb in the deserted parking lot, where he’d said that he wanted to prove how good they could be together.
 
And every day, he did.

Of course, it had been difficult at first.
 
Maddie had to adjust to living with two men, as she was sure they had to adjust to living with her.
 
The first week had been filled with unpacking boxes, visits to furniture stores, and exhausted nights in between classes and work.

What was most difficult was coming home to Caleb each and every night.

Mostly, Maddie was finding it more and more difficult to sweep their situation under the rug.
 
She’d put all thoughts of a romantic relationship on hold as she adjusted to her new life, but now that every day she was becoming more and more pregnant, and every day Caleb became more and more irresistible, as if he hadn’t been already, Maddie was starting to sweat bullets.