Page 21 of With A Little Luck

Chapter Eighteen

Quincy

T he sliding glass door opens as I’m scooping the last bit of marinara sauce out of the small plastic container. My insides light up for a brief moment…except it’s a face I don’t recognize.

A blond guy with a beard steps inside.

I shove my chair back and stand to introduce myself. My stomach twists as I watch the doorway. The small amount of delusional hope that Ridge will follow him in disappears as swiftly as it arose.

Ridge doesn’t want anything to do with you, and it’s not like you can pretend you don’t understand why .

My chest gets tight. God, I hope I’m just overreacting because I’m pregnant and hormonal, but that’s how it feels.

The man’s eyes widen as he comes closer, and he trips over his own two feet. “Holy shit, you are pregnant.”

Trigg excused himself to the bathroom just before the man came in, but Hartley stands and steps close to my side.

The unknown man is gorgeous in that way that’s impossible to miss. He’s tall, with lithe muscles and an easy smile.

My nose wrinkles the closer he gets. He’s drop-dead sexy, but his scent isn’t appealing to my senses—at all. Which is a good thing. I already have three stubborn alphas, who all seem to dislike each other.

“Shaw.” He holds out a hand, laughing. “Really, this is blowing my mind…in the best way possible.”

“Pretend you have some manners,” an unfamiliar voice calls from outside on the deck.

“Quincy.” I shake and pull my hand away.

“Hartley,” Hart says, holding out his hand.

They repeat the process as Shaw’s jaw falls. “No shit, I followed your career from the time you took the field your freshman year.”

Hart laughs good-naturedly, wrapping his arm around my lower back. “I appreciate it.”

“Anyway, welcome to the Shadow Security family.” Shaw gestures to me with the beer in his left hand. “If you want some female company, let Ridge know. I’m sure Saylor would love to hang out. That’s my omega. Briar too. She’s just a few streets down. That’s our boss’s wife.”

“Thank you,” I say, forcing a smile.

I wasn’t prepared to have to deal with so many people. Trigg, Ridge, and Hart are fine, but Knox and Shaw and whoever else is on that deck all know I had a one-night stand, got pregnant, and couldn’t find Ridge.

I’m sure they don’t think very much of me.

“Sorry to interrupt. I was just going to grab some fries or whatever you guys aren’t eating.” Shaw steps over to the table like he’s as comfortable here as he is in his own house.

“No worries. I think we’re about done.” Hart squeezes my hip. “You said you were stuffed five minutes ago.”

My cheeks heat, but I nod, appreciating the excuse to retreat to the bedroom we were given. “Yeah, I’m full. Nice to meet you, Shaw.”

He winks. “You too, sweetheart. And I’m serious. We just moved in. Saylor could use some friends.”

“Thank you.” I wave, and Hart thankfully guides me toward the stairs.

That guy assumed I would be sticking around, but based on how Ridge has been avoiding me, I’m not sure I see that happening.

Without Hart being here, I would be crumbling. He keeps me grounded, even as I feel like I’m about to climb out of my skin. We brush our teeth and get situated in the massive bed.

My instincts are unsettled, and if it didn’t seem inappropriate, I would have asked to sleep in the nest.

This house is a mansion.

There’s no other way to describe it.

The room is spacious, which might be nice if there were four or five of us all coexisting in this one space, but it’s too much room for just Hart and me.

The bathroom alone is unreal, with four side-by-side sinks, a massive tub with jets, a glass shower, and a door that leads to the nest.

I didn’t grow up poor, more like comfortably middle class, and this place still makes me feel inadequate.

“Is your house like this?” I ask as Hart and I lie on our sides, facing one another.

He grimaces. “It’s not as new or as updated as this place, but yeah, it’s probably about the same size, based on what I’ve seen.”

I scoff, grabbing the blanket and pulling it over my head.

My instincts are unsettled.

The room is too open.

And I’m so embarrassed about everything that’s happened over the course of the last few hours…

Hiding is the only option.

Being an omega rarely makes sense.

Hart chuckles, scooting down and snuggling closer to my front as he hides under the blanket with me.

“I didn’t grow up with money. I get it. Harrison’s pack house is a lot like the house you inherited from your grandmother, and that’s where I grew up.

” He kisses my forehead and moves down to peck my nose.

“Yeah, I can afford nice things now, but I’ve also been really careful with my spending.

I don’t want to have to do brand deals and speaking engagements when I’m seventy and no one remembers who I am. ”

“I’m so sorry I dragged you here with me,” I whisper as my eyes squeeze shut. “I know you didn’t sign up for any of this, and I wouldn’t blame you at all if you wanted to leave.”

“Quincy,” he says, sounding exasperated.

My eyes pop open to study Hart’s face.

It’s darker under the covers, but I can still make out his bright blue eyes.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

My heart races, and my fingers dig into his bare chest. He’s warm and so sturdy, while I’m a walking disaster.

God, I hope he means it. Without him, I’d be ugly crying right this very moment.

He gets very close to my ear and goes on. “It’s not a bad thing to have the blanket blocking our view. Did you notice the room smelled heavily of Trigg when we came in?”

My nose wrinkles. “Maybe a little, but he came in when he told us the food was here.”

“Yeah, or he used the bathroom excuse to pop in and put cameras in the bedroom,” he murmurs close to my ear.

I frown.

That does sound like something Trigg would do.

“I’ll talk to him,” I whisper.

It’s hard for me to be upset with Trigg, maybe because of what he said about the soul match thing, but mainly because he reminds me a lot of my best friend when I was growing up.

Johnny also had no filter and didn’t understand boundaries.

He died in a car accident with his dad a week before our senior year.

It’s something I rarely talk about, but I trust Hart, and the words spill out as I tell him all about my childhood best friend.

“Shit,” Hart hisses. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“It’s been a long time, but I hate thinking about it. Maybe that’s part of the reason I’m so forgiving of Trigg’s quirks.” I shrug, bringing my hand to run over my stomach.

The baby should be up any time, considering she likes to start bouncing around twenty minutes to an hour after I eat.

“There’s a big difference between not understanding social cues or being overly blunt versus breaking and entering with a side of stalking,” Hart says, his tone deathly serious.

“I’ll talk to him. I promise.”

“I highly doubt that will be enough, but I’m not trying to stress you out. We can revisit it again the next time he does something shitty.” Hart brushes his fingers over my cheek. “I’m sure it won’t take too long.”

I snort. “That was bad.”

“Nah, just realistic.”

Groaning, I roll over and remember I’m not at home. My bladder is uncomfortably full, and I need a bathroom trip like right now . Doing my best to keep from waking Hart, I make my way out of the massive bed and into the bathroom.

I get back into the bedroom and glance between the bed and the door. Normally I bring a drink to bed with me, but since Hart and I came up with little planning, I didn’t think to grab one.

You could just drink from the sink …

I contemplate that idea for a few moments, but I don’t want to have to pop up again in five minutes to do the same thing. Sighing, I take off toward the door. The bedroom flooring isn’t bad because it’s carpet. The hallway is wood, though, and it’s cold against my feet.

This place is massive and confusing when I’m half asleep. Trigg showed us the back stairs earlier when he guided us down to eat, but I make a wrong turn and end up heading down the staircase that comes out near the front door.

It’s fine, this hallway will take me to the kitchen… I think.

Low murmuring comes from the living room, and I find myself tiptoeing in that direction. There’s another way to get to the kitchen if you go through it, so it’s not even like I’m going out of my way to snoop.

Damn.

Are you so forgiving of Trigg’s behavior because you’re terribly nosy too?

Maybe.

I kinda hope that’s Ridge’s voice, and that his company has left so we can finally have a moment to ourselves.

The archway that separates the entryway and the living room has to be ten or eleven feet tall. The tile lining the entryway is dark cream with swirls of gray, and it’s equally chilly under my feet. Maybe even more than the wood flooring was.

Peeking around the archway opening, my heart flutters.

Ridge is stretched out on the long end of the sectional with King on his chest. He’s busy scratching behind the dog’s ear. “What do you think, King?”

My teeth dig into my lower lip as I study the two of them together. Knowing he has a pet that he takes excellent care of makes me hopeful. If you have animals, you intrinsically know you’re responsible for their needs.

A baby requires a lot more care, but it’s roughly the same principle.

“You plan to come in, or are you just going to stand there, eavesdropping?” Ridge asks.

My entire body jolts.

Covert mission failed.

“Sorry.” I meander into the room with my face on fire. “I was headed to the kitchen to grab a drink, but I heard you talking.”

Ridge frowns, stretching a long arm down and grabbing a bottle of water that looks unopened. “Here.” He shakes it, and I step around the end of the couch to take it from his outstretched hand.

“Thank you.”

He nods. “No problem.”

Opening the bottle, I take a sip, followed quickly by another.

I’m tempted to sit on one of the open couch cushions.

My feet ache, and if I had to guess, I’d say my ankles are swollen.

Sitting would also take some of the pressure off my hips, but I don’t want to force him to be around me if that’s not what he wants.

“Is now a good time to talk?” I ask, frowning as he picks up the bottle of beer from the floor and takes a long pull.

He scoffs, rolling his head around the back of the cushion that he’s leaned against. His eyes are a vibrant turquoise blue that I’ve never seen on a human being. They’re so distinctive that it’s hard to focus on any of his other features with how commanding they are.

“Why not, but fair warning…” He grins, shrugging. “We might have to have it all over again tomorrow when I sober up. I haven’t been this drunk in a long time. ” He stretches down, putting the beer on the floor again. “I’m talking probably eight years or more.”

Yeah, well, if I could have a drink right now, I probably would. “It’s okay. We can talk in the morning.” I turn to head back upstairs. “Thank you for the water.”

Ridge grabs my wrist, spinning me back to him. Despite his altered state, he’s gentle with his grip. “Why did you leave that morning?”