SWNOVELS The Off Limits Rule: Chapter 31
I’m kissing Lucy’s neck, then suddenly she pulls away and pushes her open hand onto my face, shoving me back. “Ow—what was that?!”
“Drew!” Lucy says by way of greeting, and I drop my arms from where they were wrapped around her.
I turn my head to find Drew standing motionless in the doorway, eyes bouncing from me to Lucy to Levi asleep on the bed and back to me. I think there’s going to be a big fight. I set my shoulders and prepare for battle, then Drew sighs and steps in farther. “I’m sorry.”
Neither Lucy nor I expected that—not after three weeks of silence and then not hearing from him once over the past few hours of Levi’s surgery. Therefore, we both stay quiet, stunned.
Drew runs the free hand that’s not clutching enough balloons to carry a small child into space through his hair. He then takes three big, fast steps forward, shoves the balloons into my hands, and grabs Lucy to pull her in for a bear hug. “I’m so sorry, Luce. I’ve been the worst.”
“I’m glad you can see it too,” she says, stiff in his arms, not yet ready to reciprocate the hug. He doesn’t seem to care, though, just holds her tighter.
“I would have been here sooner, but my phone was in my locker at the hospital while I was attending a birth, and then when I was finally able to check it, it was dead. I didn’t have my charger, so I didn’t realize Levi was in the hospital until I showed up at home to your friend I’ve never met before ready to fight me in my driveway.”
Lucy pulls away to look at him. “Jessie?”
“Yeah. She’s scary. And this was definitely the first time I’ve ever had a pregnant woman threaten to use her baby bump as a weapon.”
“Oh my gosh. I love her.”
His face skews up. “Really? Can’t say I’m a big fan. And she seemed to really hate me.”
Lucy laughs. “Yeah, she does not like you.”
“That was definitely communicated.” He pauses for a moment, and his face turns serious. “But she was right about a few things. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did.”
“No, you shouldn’t have,” I say, standing and inserting myself into the conversation. I can see that Lucy is wavering and her arms are itching to give in and hug Drew, but I’m not there yet. He pissed me off, treating Lucy the way he did these past few weeks.
Drew lets go of Lucy and turns to face me. He looks remorseful, but I’m ready to fight him anyway. We’re about the same height, so it would be a fair match. “I know. I’m sorry. It started with good intentions of protecting Lucy and Levi, and then…” He shrugs like he’s embarrassed. “I might have gotten my pride hurt a little that you went behind my back. In the beginning, I really was worried that you didn’t have it in you to commit, but then I think I started to worry more about what would happen if you guys split. Then, admittedly—and thanks to Jessie for so violently pointing this out to me—I don’t think I liked the idea of losing my wingman to my sister. No offense, Luce.”
“Lots of offense taken,” Lucy says in a dry tone that makes my lips twitch.
I stare at Drew for a heavy minute, because my feelings are twisting together. Anger is fusing with understanding, and the large part of me that hates confrontation is just ready to move on. If he sees the error in his ways, I’m good with that. Sometimes men need time to process, so I’ll let it go. “Cool,” I say, reaching out to do a bro-high-five-hug thing. Our hands clasp, and our shoulders bump against each other, and we’re good now. Water under the bridge.
We pull apart to find Lucy standing directly beside us, hands on her hips, eyes blazing. “That’s it?! After everything we’ve all gone through, y’all are just going to do whatever that was and move on?”
Drew and I both look at each other and shrug. “Yeah,” we say in unison.
Lucy is not okay with this. She folds her arms and stomps a foot defiantly. It makes me smile and want to do something stupid like pick her up and spin her around. Drew moves first, though. Lucy must know what’s coming, because her eyes widen, and she turns like she’s going to bolt out of this room, but he catches her first, bending down to wrap his arms around her thighs and flipping her upside down. Some change falls out of her pockets and clangs against the ground.
“UGH. Put me down, you big dummy! You’re such a jerk. I bet you’re going to steal my change next and run out of here.”
“Say you forgive me,” Drew says with a big grin.
The tips of Lucy’s hair are brushing against the floor, and she folds her arms. She’ll stay like this all day if she has to. She will pass out in this pose before she gives in to him. “Never. You said mean things to me.”
“I’m sorry, Lucy. Really. It was a bad move, and I won’t do it again. And I don’t think you’re making a bad decision with your life. I wish I had never said that. But I’m so tired of fighting with you. I miss talking to you.”
“What happens when you tell me not to eat the pie on Thanksgiving and I do anyway? Are you going to freeze me out again?”
“No,” he says, indulging her and speaking in his most serious tone. “I’ll respect your decision to eat the pie.”
Her arms soften a smidge—maybe because she’s about to pass out. “And you need to apologize to Cooper for insinuating that he’s a sleazeball, incapable of becoming a family man.”
Drew’s eyes rise to mine, and I raise my eyebrows like a snooty teenage girl waiting for her due apology. “My darling Coop, please accept my sincerest apologies for doubting your character. I will never do it again. But also…if you leave my sister, I will beat you into dust.”
“Fair. I accept.”
Drew looks back down to Lucy. “There, see? We made up. Will you forgive me now, Luce?”
“Yes. But only on the condition that you owe me ten nights of babysitting.”
He chuckles and turns his eyes to Levi. “Deal. I’ve missed that kid. Is he mad at me?”
“Nah,” I say, all too happy to rub a little salt in his wound. “He’s had me.”
Drew’s eyes slowly cut to mine, but there’s humor there underneath the tough facade—also maybe a little gratitude. He gives me a silent nod, and that small gesture feels loaded with more meaning than any words ever could. I nod back. It’s settled. I’m officially welcomed into the family.
“Hey, guys,” Lucy says from her inverted position. “Is the room starting to get darker to you?”
Lucy doesn’t pass out, but she does wobble adorably when Drew sets her back on her feet. I wrap my arm around her shoulders, pull her back against my chest, and kiss the side of her face. It feels good to be openly affectionate like this in front of Drew. His gaze definitely still hitches on us for a fraction of a second, but he forces a smile and turns to Levi.
He takes my seat beside the bed and takes a shift sitting with the kid so I can take Lucy to get some food. She never ate dinner, and I know she’s starving but unwilling to leave Levi. Now, with Drew here, she finally lets me guide her out of the room. In the cafeteria, we find Lucy’s parents and end up spending a whole hour laughing and getting to know each other over Jell-O and nasty, plastic-wrapped turkey sandwiches because the kitchen was closed.
Despite the less-than-mediocre food, it’s good. Her parents are hilarious, just like her and Drew. Claire takes my hand from across the table and thanks me for being so good to her daughter—which makes Lucy’s cheeks turn my favorite shade of raspberry sorbet. Then, her dad leans back so Claire can’t see him and mouths, “Respect my daughter,” which is terrifying on so many levels, and I will definitely have a nightmare about it tonight.
After the frightening threat, Drew calls to say Levi is awake and asking for us. Us—as in, me and Lucy. It’s the craziest thing, going from a life of bachelorhood and late-night drinking to having a four-year-old in a tiny hospital gown wrap me around his finger and ask me to sing him “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” eighteen times and me doing it gladly.
Around midnight, I look across the hospital bed where Levi is asleep holding my hand, to Lucy who is passed out, legs curled up in the seat with her, wearing one of my sweatshirts that pretty much swallows her whole. It’s a sight I don’t think I’ll ever forget and certainly never want to.