Page 96 of Next Thing You Know

“Sometimes you are the biggest troublemaker.” Killian pointed his phone at Ezra when he stepped back into the room. “If I didn’t like you, Ezra, I swear...” He sounded pissed.

“Watch it,” Carson growled.

Killian’s blue eyes flashed angrily. “Josie is a woman I met in rehab. She’s my friend, and she’s married. And she’s agreed to be our surrogate.”

“Wait, seriously?” Matthias was off the couch and in Killian’s arms in a flash.

Killian cupped his face in his hands. “Babe, we’re going to be parents.” He kissed him so softly, so lovingly, that my heart nearly melted at how sweet it was. When Matthias buried his face in Killian’s neck, you could feel the angry glare burning from my singer’s eyes.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” Ezra murmured.

Killian hugged Matthias closer. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Are you sure? Because I was a bitch, and I love you guys,” Ezra said softly.

Killian smiled. “We love you, too. LD. Really, no hard feelings.”

“Can I call you Daddy now?” he teased. Which only made me think of Beau.

“Absolutely fucking not,” Kill growled, but when Matthias lifted his head and murmured something in his ear, a flush slipped up his neck and over his face. Then he kissed his husband so hard, I thought he might hurt himself.

I coughed softly. “Wyatt, you seem like you’re holding up all right.”

“Yeah, well, as best as I can, since Asher broke my heart,” Wyatt muttered. “How are you and Beau?”

I dropped my gaze to my lap. “Can we talk about something else?”I made a horrible mistake. I shouldn’t have come here.

“You.” Killian pointed at me. “And me. Now.” He motioned for me to follow him. “I’m not kidding. We need to talk.”

I rolled my eyes. “Says the guy who got married without telling me.”

“I’m not fucking around, Dean. Stand up, or I will carry you. Better yet, I’ll have Jackson do it,” Killian warned.

Jackson wrinkled his nose at the thought. “Don’t involve me in your weird friend rituals.”

“Fine.” I climbed to my feet and dragged a hand through my hideous pink hair before I yanked the elastic off my wrist to pull it into a messy ponytail. “But I’m not talking about Beau.”

“The hell you aren’t.” Killian grunted before he nearly dragged me down the hall and outside into the backyard. “Spill.”

I folded my arms over my chest. “It’s cold out here. Can’t we do this inside?”

“Start fucking talking. Right now. What did he do?” he hissed through clenched teeth.

I felt my eyes burn with tears. “I don’t want to talk about it. How about we talk about you and Matty becoming dads? That’s awesome. Or that you didn’t tell me you got married? Why didn’t you, huh? Were you planning on it? I’m your best friend. Remember how mad you were that I didn’t tell you about Beau? This is ten times worse.” My voice cracked, and I turned away so he couldn’t see me cry.

“Shit, man, what happened?” Killian gripped my shoulder.

I brushed the wetness from my cheeks. “Nothing, it’s stupid. I overreacted, and now I regret it.”

“It’s not stupid if you’re this upset.” Killian looked serious when I met his gaze. “Does it have something to do with why your hair is this horrible pink color? Because I have to say, it’s not working for you.” He grinned when I gasped.

I pulled on the elastic, so it fell out of the bun. “It is pretty bad, huh?”

“Green is your color.”

“I thought I would try something new.”

Killian raised his brows. “You should stick with the green.”