Warning Track (34 page)

“Wow, I haven’t seen you in a while. You look good, bro,” Connor said, as he shook who Lucy could only assume was Luke’s hand. The moment she saw Luke and Molly together at the funeral, she thought how damn jealous she was. Lucy’s relationship with a Cartwright man was the screwed up one, not Molly’s.
 

“Thanks, I’ve been patching up some holes in my life.”

Lucy turned away from Connor’s chest to see Molly wearing a skin-tight black dress, holding Luke’s hand and smiling politely at her. Lucy wanted to flick the girl in the forehead to see if she was possibly a mannequin. Molly never looked at Lucy like she was somewhat pleased to see her. Was Molly pitying her? Did she see that she and Connor were fighting? It would just be Molly’s style to rub her relationship in Lucy’s face while Lucy was trying to figure out if she still had a relationship with Connor.
 

“That’s good to hear, man. I’m pulling for you two.”
 

If they weren’t in public, at a funeral for a stillborn baby, Lucy would have stormed off at Connor’s comment. She hated that he helped Molly, hated it with a passion, and hated it even more that it seemed liked they were working things out.
 

What Connor failed to realize was what a massive bitch Molly was to her. She played with her heart, made her feel like total crap, meddled in her relationships, and had announced to the world that she was pregnant with Austin or Connor’s child, not to mention the bathroom “beat down” Molly gave her a couple of months ago. According to Lucy, the blonde was purely the spawn of the devil.
 

From the back room, a caterer dropped a tray of dishes, making a loud crash. They ignored it politely, not wanting to make a scene for the poor caterer.
 

“That means a lot to us, Connor,” Molly said, while gripping Luke’s arm, who all of a sudden seemed uncomfortable and almost distant. “You look nice,” Molly said to Lucy in a strangled voice, as if someone was forcing her to pay Lucy a compliment.
 

The feeling was mutual, Lucy thought.

“So do you,” Lucy lied. She hated Molly’s dress because she looked like a damn super model in it, while Lucy looked like an obese hippo trying to squeeze into a too-small dress.
 

“I have to go,” Luke said quickly, as he tore his hand away from Molly’s and headed toward the men’s bathroom.
 

Molly started to walk toward him, but Connor stopped her and said, “I’ll take care of it.”

Molly nodded as Connor left her and Lucy to themselves. They both took one look at each other, smiled in a fake manner, and parted ways. There was no way Lucy was going to hang around and make ridiculous small talk with the spawn of Satan. Hell fucking no.
 

So instead, she walked over to the buffet of food and grabbed a plate for herself. She could at least stomach some berries for her baby as she waited for Connor to return.

Chapter Fifteen

**Connor**

Connor walked tentatively into the men’s room of the funeral home to find his brother sitting on the floor with his knees tucked into his chest and his head in his hands, breathing heavily. Connor thought back quickly to when Luke lost his shit a couple of minutes ago. His body went rigid when there was a loud crash of dishes, indicating the crash must have affected him.
 

When Luke came back from his mission, Connor and his parents all went to see a doctor about PTSD and how to help combat the disease, but unfortunately, Luke had removed himself from their family, so they had no chance of helping him. Connor wasn’t going to let that happen now.
 

Thinking back to his conversations with the PTSD specialist, he remembered the doctor saying that sounds, sights, and even smells can bring a PTSD victim back to a dark time. Being aware that Luke might be re-living a moment from his capture, Connor walked slowly toward Luke and bent down so they would be eye-level if Luke was looking up.
 

Not touching Luke and keeping a decent distance, Connor said, “Luke, you okay, man?”

Luke’s body tensed and his breathing slowed down as he picked his head up slowly. When they finally made eye contact, Connor saw all the years that had been added to Luke’s eyes from his struggles over the past two years. He’d aged dramatically and it gutted Connor to know that his own brother had to go through such a terrible experience that Connor couldn’t even come close to relating to.
 

Luke took a deep breath and said, “Yeah, I just needed a second. Is Molly still out there or did she leave?” The concern in Luke’s voice about Molly leaving was sad to hear. The two had gone through so much and it looked like they were starting to patch things up, but considering Luke’s concern, maybe Connor was wrong.
 

“She’s still out there. She was going to come after you, but I told her to let me.”

“She was going to come get me?” Luke looked like a little lost boy, which was odd for Connor to see. His brother was always the strong, confident mother fucker who strutted the streets like he had the biggest dong in the world. To see Luke so helpless, so lost, was hard for Connor to take in. At that moment, Connor wished that he’d made more of an attempt at helping Luke when he came back. But it had been hard because Connor was living in his own personal hell of a love triangle gone wrong with a girlfriend who absolutely despised his brother’s…fiancé? Connor wasn’t sure what Luke and Molly’s status was, but what he did know was that, apparently, Molly wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
 

“Yes, do you want me to go get her?”

“No!” Luke practically shouted. “She’s needs a break from my craziness. Let me just pull my shit together and I’ll be right out.”

Luke wiped his palms off on his pants and got up with help from the wall. The man looked like he’d just ran a half marathon up a rocky mountain.
 

“You need help?” Connor asked, trying to help steady Luke, who was swaying back and forth.
 

“I’m good,” Luke swatted Connor’s hands away and braced himself at the sink. “I’m fucking fine, okay? Just give me a goddamn second.”

“Okay,” Connor said, while holding his hands up in defense and giving Luke some space, but not too much because the man looked like he was going to pass out any second. “Maybe splash some water on your face. That might help.”

“I’m not a fucking invalid, Connor. I know how to take care of myself.”

Anger started to boil in Connor. He was only trying to help. If their roles were reversed, there was no way in hell Luke would leave Connor alone.
 

“Do you really? It doesn’t seem like it. What I see is a man who is just barely making it through life because he’s hiding his demons rather than talking about them. You want Molly back, you’re going to have to work…”

“I am working on my fucking demons. You don’t know what I’m doing to better myself. You haven’t been around to even notice the struggle I go through day in and day out. Instead, you sit back and watch, while making phone calls when necessary. I don’t need your fucking help, so just leave me alone,” Luke spat out.

That was it; Connor’s twig snapped. He felt like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders from dealing with Lucy, Austin’s incompetency, and Molly begging him for help. It was all too much for one man to handle.
 

“You think I wanted nothing to do with you? Well, you’re fucking wrong! What you fail to realize is that, a couple of months ago, I was still mourning the loss of my brother, my fucking best friend and then all of a sudden you come back?”

The door to the bathroom opened and Parker Hill, the Braves’ shortstop popped in. His face was priceless as both Luke and Connor roared at him to get the hell out. The poor guy quickly turned around and headed out the door as fast as human feet allowed.
 

Despite the brief interruption, Connor continued, “When I heard that you were back, that you were actually alive, I wanted nothing more than to throw my arms around you and never fucking let go. I had my brother back, but you took that away from me again. You ran away and closed yourself off. Not letting me know where you were, how I could help, how I could be there for you? Instead, I got a fucking five minute phone call once a month just to let me know that you were still alive. So don’t fucking tell me I didn’t try, because I did! You just didn’t let me in.”

Connor’s fists were at his side, flexing and trying to avoid punching his brother straight in the face. That was how they used to settle all their fights, with their fists, but after Luke went through basic training with the Army, Connor got smart after Luke once planted a jaw-cracking punch. Their fighting days were over.
 

Silence fell between them as Connor’s words sank in. They could hear voices from the other side of the door, but they didn’t move, they stood at a standstill waiting for the other one to make a move first.
 

Finally, Luke bent over the sink, turned on the water and splashed his face. Being the nice brother that he was, Connor grabbed some paper towels and handed them to Luke when he lifted his face back up. Luke wiped off his face and threw the towel in the trash. When he finally looked up, he smiled, fucking smiled, and then grabbed Connor in a tight embrace. They were the same height, but Luke was, by far, stronger, thanks to all his training. Connor was no wuss in the muscles department, but compared to his beefed-up brother, he was a string bean.
 

Connor gripped Luke and held on to him tightly. No words had to be spoken, Luke was giving Connor the moment he had wanted when he first heard that Luke was back. Luke was giving back a moment to Connor that had been so harshly taken away from him.
 

They held on to each other for more than an appropriate amount of time, bordering losing their man cards, but Connor didn’t give a fuck, his brother was back.
 

Luke finally pulled away and looked at Connor. “I’m sorry, dude. I’m so fuckin sorry for being a clueless ass. It’s going to take me some time to get back to my normal self, but I’m trying everything possible, given my minor setbacks. I appreciate you coming to see if I’m okay and I’m sorry for snapping. Lately, I’ve been a moody motherfucker and I can’t control it. It’s like I’m a hormonal pregnant lady on a damn rampage because she was denied ice cream.”

Connor laughed. “Why is that so easy for me to picture?”

“Because you’re more fucked-up than me.”

They both smiled and then walked toward the door.
 

“I’m going to go get Molly and take her home; she’s had an emotional day. You should probably go see if that Parker kid needs a change of pants, because I’m almost positive he pissed himself a couple of minutes ago.”

Laughing, Connor said, “We can only hope. I’d love some blackmail on that guy to hand over to Brady when life clears up for him.”

Luke nodded in agreement, then thoughtfully asked, “How’s Lucy doing? It can’t be easy to be pregnant and see your friend go through such a tragic thing.”

“Not sure, actually. We kind of got in an argument. This is the first time I’ve seen her since then.”

“What the hell are you guys fighting about? Whatever it is, you know you’re wrong, right? That’s how it always ends up with women. The sooner you realize that, the better.”

A fake laugh came out of Connor’s mouth as he thought about what he and Lucy were fighting about. There was no way Lucy was right when it came to ogling another man.
 

“You know the baby isn’t mine, right?”

If Connor had a camera, he probably could have just won
America’s Funniest Home Videos
with Luke’s reaction. What Connor wouldn’t give to meet Bob Saget and make a couple thousand dollars.
 

“What the fuck, man? Are you serious?” All Connor did was nod. Luke ran his hand over his face and then said, “Man, you are way more fucked-up than me.” He laughed and then patted Connor on the shoulder. “Good luck with that, man…sounds like a damn nightmare.”

“It is.”

It was huge a nightmare that Connor contemplated giving up every damn day of his life, but the moment he took in Lucy’s smell, or heard her laugh, or saw her smile, he knew he couldn’t walk away, not from her. She owned him, no matter how much she pissed him off. She owned him and he would always go back to her.
 

**Margo**

“When are you going to come back to San Diego?” Margo asked in a whinier voice than she intended.
 

“Next week, I’ll be leaving on Tuesday, so really we’ll only be four days without each other, not bad at all.” Parker grabbed her hands and pulled her into his embrace. He smelled delicious, like soap and something completely male that only men knew about so they could drive their ladies crazy.

“Four days is too long.” When did she become so needy? She’d lived a good amount of time without the boy, but now that she had him, all she could think about was being plastered to his side.
 

“You know, you can always reschedule your doctor’s appointment and stay here with me.” Parker wiggled his eyebrows.
 

“Both you and I know that’s impossible. I’ve taken too much time off of work and I can’t miss this appointment.”