Chapter 211: Baby?!

Holly’s POV

I killed the engine in front of their driveway, sat there for a full minute with the windows cracked, letting the cold night air slap me awake. My heart was doing eighty in a thirty zone. Deep breath. Another.

I proceeded to check my face in the mirror…no mascara streaks, good. Smile. Make it real.

By the time I walked out of the car, I looked like a girl who just decided to drop by for fun, not a psycho who’d almost had a meltdown on the highway twenty minutes ago.

The front door was unlocked, like Justin promised. I pushed it open and called out, “Justin, I’m here,” in the singsong voice that always makes him laugh.

He poked his head out of the kitchen, flour already on his cheek. “Get in here, Holly.” He tossed me a red apron that landed perfectly over my head. “We’re making pie, not war. Tie that on and come help. It’ll be fun if we do it together.”

I caught the apron, rolled my eyes like this was all so normal, and thought… I’m supposed to be figuring out why the man I’ve had wrapped around my finger for weeks now suddenly doesn’t want me anymore. Not playing 1950s housewife in his kitchen, measuring flour like we’re in some wholesome baking club.

But this is the perfect cover…if David walks in and sees me here, I’m just Justin’s friend who stopped by to hang out. Totally innocent.

I slipped the apron on, tied it tight, and gave Justin my sweetest smile. “Don’t make me slave away in here, Justin. You should know that I’m a disaster with anything that isn’t takeout.”

“You’re assisting, not performing surgery. Relax.” He handed me a bowl. “Just pass me things when I ask.”

We started. He was cracking eggs, telling me about the difference between folding and stirring, and I kept glancing down the hallway every ten seconds like David might materialize out of thin air.

I cleared my throat. “So…you home alone tonight?”

“Yeah, David’s still at the office. Probably won’t be back till later.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding since the car. Thank God. See? I overreacted. He’s just working. No new girl. No replacement. I’m still it.

Justin kept talking while he whisked. “Actually, we’re hosting the block thing tonight. Little neighborhood barbecue, outdoor movie, the whole deal. I already set up the tables and chairs out back. Good thing you’re here…you can help me fire up the grills.”

My interest spiked. “Wait, what’s the occasion? Someone getting married or something?”

He laughed. “Nothing that exciting. We just do it every couple months to unwind. I’d normally be at my apartment, but it’s our turn to host and I didn’t want to bail. David would’ve canceled in a heartbeat…he hates people…but I like keeping the tradition alive.”

“You’re so thoughtful,” I said, and meant it. “Like, annoyingly nice.”

He ducked his head, cheeks pink. “Shut up.”

We slid the pies into the oven, set the timer, and I started my exit plan. Can’t look like I’m camping out waiting for his brother, so I took an easy way out that will make it look like I didn’t want to stay, but he convinced me to.

“Okay, timer’s on. I should probably head out soon, don’t want to impose—”

“No, no, no.” Justin protested, grabbing my wrist. “You have to stay. We’re doing the projector thing, fairy lights, steaks on the grill…it’s gonna be cool. I’ll drive you home myself whenever you want. Please?”

“I don’t want to be a bother—”

“You’re literally never a bother.”

“And your brother might not want me here. I’d be the random outsider—”

“You’re my guest. Nobody’s gonna say shit. Stay.”

I pretended to think about it, bit my lip. “Well…if you insist on leaving me no choice…”

“I’m literally begging,” he said, hands clasped dramatically.

“Fine,” I sighed, like it was such a hardship. “Only because you begged.”

He whooped and dragged me out back.

We actually had fun…unrolling picnic mats, stringing Edison bulbs, hauling premium cuts of beef to the grill station he’d set up under the oaks. Music playing from his phone, both of us laughing when I almost dropped an entire tray of ribs.

After a while he checked the time. “Pies should be almost ready. Can you grab them? Mitts are on the counter.”

I walked back inside, pulled open the oven door, and…brain on autopilot…reached straight in bare-handed.

The wave of heat hit me like a slap. I screamed before my fingers even touched metal.

Big hands yanked me back hard, wrapping around my wrists from behind, pulling me clear.

“Are you dumb or just stupid?” The voice was low, rough, familiar enough to freeze every muscle in my body.

I looked up.

David.

Right there, filling the doorway, dark eyes locked on mine, jaw tight.

And everything inside me went perfectly, terrifyingly still.

His grip on my wrists turned brutal the second he realized it was me. Those dark eyes went from startled to pure, molten fury.

“Are you fucking brain-dead?” he snarled, voice so low it vibrated through his hands into my bones. “Why the fuck are you in my house?”

He shoved me back, hard enough that my spine hit the counter edge. For one terrifying second his body crowded mine, so close I could feel the heat rolling off him, and I swear if the oven door had still been open he would’ve pushed me straight into it.

I tilted my chin up and gave him the slowest, most dangerous smirk I had. “Playing the perfect little wife in the kitchen? I like the sound of that.”

David’s jaw flexed so hard I heard the click of his teeth. “Did you come here to ask me to kneel and crawl around my house too? Get the fuck out, Holly. You don’t belong here.”

I folded my arms under my chest, leaning back against the counter like I owned it. “I’m Justin’s guest. If you have a problem with that, take it up with your brother.”

He stared at me like he was actually picturing wrapping his hands around my throat. The anger coming off him was real…no games, no heat, just raw, icy hatred. He didn’t want me here. He didn’t want to see me. At all.

“Don’t worry,” I said softly, “I won’t ask you to kneel in public again. I promise.”

His fists clenched so tight the knuckles went white. Veins stood out on his forearms.

“You don’t speak one fucking word about that to anyone,” he hissed. “Tonight is family. Close friends. People who matter. You are none of those things. Leave right now, or I swear on everything I will give you an evening of humiliation so complete you’ll spend the rest of your life wondering if the world even has space for someone like you.”

My mouth actually fell open…not in shock, in pure, electric excitement. My pulse was pounding between my legs.

“I would love,” I breathed, stepping closer, “to see you try.”

He opened his mouth, eyes promising murder…

“Baby?” A soft, sweet female voice floated down the hallway. “Who are you talking to?”

Everything in me turned to ice.

Baby?

He has a girlfriend?!

Standing right here in his kitchen, calling him baby like it’s normal. Like it’s real.

David’s eyes never left mine, and for the second time since I got here, I saw something that looked like victory in them.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe.

Baby?!