Three to Fall (Saint View Slayers vs. Sinners #3)

13. Hayden

13

HAYDEN

T he Sinners door closed behind Kara, and I sat up quickly, not wanting her out of my sight. “It’s tonight.”

Hawk blinked sleepily and twisted his head, stretching his arms over his shoulders. “What is?”

“I found her backpack in the back of my truck when I went out to get some supplies earlier. She’s going to do it tonight. I’m sure of it.”

Hawk jerked up off the bed. “Are you for fucking real? And you wait until now to say something?”

“Where exactly do you think she was going when she was impaled on our cocks?”

Hawk glared at me, and I rolled my eyes, dragging on my shirt. “I didn’t want to ruin your party, okay? And I’ve been watching her.”

Grayson got to his feet in a rushed scrabble. “Shit.” He searched around the floor for his clothes, tossing us articles that didn’t belong to him. “I really didn’t want it to come to this. I really hoped she wouldn’t do it.”

Hawk yanked up boxer briefs that I actually thought were mine, but I wasn’t going to complain about in the moment. Wearing his underwear was hardly the worst thing to happen, considering I’d had my mouth all over him just minutes earlier.

“She’s not fucking leaving,” he swore bitterly. “I should have just said that to her.”

I shook my head. “And make yet another decision for her? We did everything we could. Gave her all the reasons to stay.”

“Well, apparently that wasn’t enough, was it?” Hawk was visibly stressed, and I was sure my expression was nearly identical.

Panic coursed through me at the idea of Kara walking out those doors and never coming back.

Gray shot both of us stern doctor sort of looks. “You both need to keep your shit together. You can’t just demand she stays.”

“Yes, I fucking can.” Hawk shoved one foot into his boot.

Grayson bumped his shoulder hard enough to get his attention. “Drop the hothead act. It’s not helping.”

“Well, neither is your shrink bullshit! This was the worst plan ever!”

Hawk was spiraling because of how in love with her he was. We could all see it, but Grayson didn’t have the connection with him to stop it.

I did.

I caught Hawk’s arm as he stormed toward the door, pulling him to a stop against the wall.

He tried to shove me off, but I wouldn’t let him, pinning him again and again. “Settle the fuck down.”

“We’re wasting time!”

“You’re panicking.”

His gaze finally settled on mine. “I can’t have her back there.”

I understood the feeling. It had embedded itself deep in my bones.

Gray was the one who spoke up though. “None of us can. But short of tying her up, which frankly, I’m not willing to let any of you do, we need to let her decide that for herself.”

The fear inside me swelled until it was a roar in my ears. I needed to get out there. Find her. Beg her not to go, because clearly us subtly giving her reasons to stay wasn’t working. The ASL classes at the school. The hospital job offer. Grayson had been the one to come to us and voice concerns that he thought she was planning to run. And as soon as it had been pointed out, it was all I could see, each of her actions preparing herself and the rest of us for her departure.

We’d all agreed we’d let her come to her own decision, but now time was up.

All we had left was begging. I wasn’t above getting down on my knees and pleading for her not to walk out of my life.

The three of us stormed out of the maze, back into the party.

“I don’t see her,” Gray murmured, panic seeping into his voice. “Shit, what if she already left?”

I checked my watch. It was still twenty minutes before the last bus out of town. I’d looked at the timetable the minute I’d seen her bag in my truck. “She still has twenty minutes, and that bus stop is only a few yards down the road. She surely hasn’t left yet.”

Hawk grabbed War’s arm. “Have you seen Kara?”

War shook his head, but Bliss rolled her eyes. “Men are so unobservant. I saw her and Queenie go down to the bathroom just before. They haven’t come out yet, I don’t think.”

All three of us turned on our heels and rushed for the bathroom door.

Hawk leaned on it, but when it didn’t give way beneath his weight, he smashed his fist against it. “Kara!”

There was no reply from inside, and his panic eventually got to me, despite me telling him just seconds before he needed to keep it together. I joined in with the banging. “Kara! Are you in there?”

She needed to still be here. I needed to tell her I loved her. Tell her I couldn’t live without her. Tell her we could take Hayley Jade and move to another goddamn country if we had to, but running back to Josiah wasn’t an option.

I loved her too much. Wanted a life with her. To marry her. Have babies with her.

I’d wanted all of that from the moment she’d put her trust in me five years ago and let a stupid street thug deliver her baby into a world that wasn’t good enough for either of them.

Gray paced the hallway behind us, quieter than me and Hawk, his expression pained.

“Kara. Please,” I begged.

“Yeah, yeah, hold your damn horses!” Queenie shouted from the other side.

The lock clicked, disengaging.

I had to grab Hawk to stop him from slamming open the door and hitting the women standing behind it.

Queenie came out first, one eyebrow raised, and shook her head, like the three of us were utterly ridiculous. “You’re all so damn pussy-whipped.”

I didn’t care if I was. I would happily claim that title.

But then she grinned and nudged me. “Looks good on all of you. She deserves that sort of devotion.”

I already knew that. Kara just needed to accept it.

Queenie moved aside, and Kara was standing behind her, her eyes huge as she took in the three of us crowded around the door.

God, she was so effortlessly beautiful. With barely any makeup, in simple jeans and a top, her hair a mess, I’d never seen anyone more stunning. I couldn’t even speak. And clearly Hawk was having the same troubles, trying to get his emotions under control enough to talk.

Grayson spoke for us. “You can’t leave.”

If it were even possible, Kara’s eyes got even wider. She opened her mouth but didn’t get a word out.

Grayson cut her off. “I think you know we’re all in love with you. And we know you think you need to go back to him. But I’m begging you not to. I wanted to give you the space you needed, hoping you’d change your mind, but all I have left is asking you not to go. For me.” He cleared his throat. “And if not for me, for them. For Hayley Jade. For your sister and all the other people here your leaving will destroy.”

She glanced at me. “You knew I was going to leave?”

“Yes.”

She turned to Hawk; her surprise written all over her heart-shaped face. “But none of you said anything?”

There was a low growl in his voice. “That wasn’t my choice. I wanted to chain you to the bed and give you orgasms ’til I wore down your resolve, but I was told I couldn’t make decisions for you. That it needed to come from you.” He glared at Gray. “That was a shit call by the way.”

He threw up his hands. “It was the right call! She’s a grown woman. You can’t take away her agency.”

Hawk reared back. “Her agency? What the fuck does that even mean? Quit using your doctor speak and talk English.”

I ignored their bickering, cupped her cheek, and pressed my forehead to hers. “Don’t fucking go, Kara. Just don’t.”

She pressed something into my hand.

I glanced down at it.

A pregnancy test. Two faint lines and the word positive on the display.

My fingers shook. My head snapped up to meet hers. “You’re…”

Grayson and Hawk both realized something was going on and quieted, their gazes swiveling in our direction. I silently held out the pregnancy test.

Hawk squinted at it. “What is that?”

Grayson just stared at it; his body frozen.

Kara’s voice was barely more than a whisper. “I’m pregnant.”

The two of them stood stock-still, shock written all over their expressions.

But warmth kernelled inside me. A sweet, slow, perfect feeling creeping its way through my limbs until it wrapped itself around my body. It pulled at my lips, turning them up into a smile, and then a grin. I stared at her, down at her belly that was no different than it had been earlier but somehow just was. I put my hand there, stroking over her shirt with my thumb. “You’re pregnant?”

Her fingers shook, but she covered my hand with hers. “Yes.”

Hawk looked like he was about to pass out. But he grabbed her chin, tilting her head in his direction, and claimed her lips. He kissed her hot and hard, a branding, demanding kiss that was all him. Bossy. Arrogant. So fucking in love with her it was killing him.

He pulled back an inch, his lips barely hovering over hers. “You aren’t going back there with a baby in your belly.”

She shook her head. “No. I’m not.”

The relief shattered the air around us. Hawk slumped back against the wall and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. I doubled over, breathing hard, not even realizing I’d been holding my breath, waiting for her answer.

Grayson moved in and gathered her into his arms, cradling her head as she began to cry, tears rolling down her face while her shoulders shook. “What are we going to do?”

He kissed the top of her head. “Live. Have a baby. Love it.”

She smiled through her tears. “I want that. I don’t know how we can have it, but I want it.”

“We’ll get it for you.” He smoothed a hand down her back as he made the promise. “We’ll work it out.”

Kara buried her face in her hands. “I don’t even know whose baby it is. None of us have been very careful.” Pink flushed her cheeks.

I shrugged. “Gotta be either mine or Hawk’s, right? Grayson’s only been around for five minutes.”

Grayson cleared his throat. “First time we were together was two and a half weeks ago. That’s plenty long enough for it to be mine. Depends how far along she is.”

Hawk scoffed. “It’s mine for sure. I was planting those seeds long before either of you came along.” He grinned, twisting her hips so she was facing him. “Can’t wait to see that baby stretch your belly. Fucking hell. I’m gonna be a dad.”

“Or I will be,” I interjected. “Kara better hope he’s not yours. If your ego is genetic, this kid’s head is going to be ginormous.”

Hawk gave me his favorite middle finger.

Kara glanced nervously between each of us. “Will it matter? Whose baby it is, I mean? Does this…” She glanced down at the floor.

But I’d seen the fear in her eyes. I knew exactly what she was worried about. I put my fingers beneath her chin and tilted her face up to meet my gaze. “It changes nothing for me. I’ll love any baby we have because he or she is a part of you. If it’s Hawk’s or Grayson’s, it doesn’t matter. I’m still in.”

“Me too,” Hawk said without hesitation. “It’ll be better looking if it’s mine though.”

Kara laughed and wiped her eyes as she turned to Grayson. “What about you? If I have a baby by another man—”

“Then I’ll love it just as much as I love Hayley Jade.” He cupped her cheek. “I want you , Kara. When I told you I loved you, I meant it. That doesn’t suddenly change because you’re pregnant.”

She shook her head quickly, pressing up on her toes to kiss him. “I don’t want to lose you. I want you to be okay with this. Them. Me. The baby. All of it.”

He kissed her gently, then grinned against her mouth. “I’m having a baby.” He glanced at Hawk and me. “Holy shit, we’re having a baby! I can buy the baby her first stethoscope! Oh, her first pair of baby-sized scrubs! Crap, I need to learn how to make new glove balloon animals. She’s going to get sick of the rooster pretty quick, isn’t she?”

All three of us stared at him, knowing the odds of him being this baby’s father were probably on the slim side.

But Grayson didn’t care. He shrugged. “What? I can’t want my kid to be a doctor too?”

Hawk rolled his eyes. “Fine by me, as long as he can still ride a bike.”

“And make a decent meal,” I added.

Kara just smiled softly, and in her eyes, I knew this baby had just saved her.

Saved all of us.