Beyond Broken (The Bay Boys #3) (45 page)

He decided he’d worry about it later.
 
The two of them stood in tense silence for a few moments.
 
Thomas’s gaze was planted firmly on the cracked, black pavement between them.
 
He looked tired, Caleb noticed, with dark circles under his eyes.
 
Caleb probably looked a little tired too, but only because he shared a bed with an insatiable, pregnant woman who had a thing for his kinks.

“How is she?” Thomas finally asked.
 
His voice caught at the end, betraying his nonchalance and revealing his worry.
 
He cared deeply for his sister, that much was clear.
 
But his pride was too great.

“Pregnant,” Caleb said, crossing his arms over his chest.
 
Thomas’s jaw clenched and Caleb relented, telling him, “She keeps herself busy.
 
She’s still going to class, working on campus, and she’s shadowing a curator in the city once a week.
 
She’s keeping herself
too
busy, if you ask me.”

“She was never one to take the easy way out,” Thomas mumbled.
 
Like a sponge, he seemed to absorb the information like water, yet Caleb could see that he still wanted more.
 
“And she’s…healthy?”

“The pregnancy is going perfectly,” Caleb said, trying to keep the little hint of pride out of his voice.

If anyone had told him a year ago that he would be a father in a few months time and actually be happy about that…Jesus, he didn’t know what he would’ve done.

“She has an appointment later today,” Caleb offered.
 
“Just a regular check-up, but I’m sure she would like it if you were there.”

Thomas shifted on his feet.
 
“I don’t think that’s the best idea.”

“Look,” Caleb bit out.
 
“You need to get over whatever the hell your problem is with me.
 
It isn’t fair to Maddie.
 
You can hate me all you want.
 
I don’t care.
 
Just be there for her, okay?
 
You’re her
brother
and you two not talking has been wearing on her for months.”

“She probably doesn’t even want to see me now,” Thomas murmured, swallowing.

“What are you talking about?”

“The things I said to her last time…they were ugly.”
 
Maddie’s brother sighed, shaking his head, before meeting Caleb’s eyes.
 
“I don’t hate you, Caleb.
 
We were friends once after all and I’m just overprotective.
 
I would’ve acted the same way had it been any other guy.
 
Everything…it was all just anger and frustration.
 
And every day that passed without me responding to her, or reaching out to her, it just got harder and harder.”

Caleb’s brow furrowed in irritation.
 
“Just come today.
 
Trust me when I say she wants to see you.”

“I don’t know,” Thomas said softly.

“It’s at three o’ clock,” Caleb said sharply, rattling off the address.
 
“If you want to make up with your sister today and move past whatever this is, then I’m sure I’ll see you there.”

With that, Caleb turned away and climbed back into his SUV, before pulling away.
 
For Maddie’s sake, Caleb really hoped that Thomas would be there.

*
   
*
   
*

“These things always make me nervous,” Maddie confessed to Caleb, staring out the passenger window as he pulled off the freeway towards her doctor’s office.
 
“For some reason, I always expect bad news.”

“There’s nothing to worry about, princess,” he told her, his tone strong and sure.
 
Maddie marveled that at one time, whenever he called her ‘princess,’ it had usually been bit out with a sneer.
 
Now, the word floated over her, soft and wonderful.

“And I hate getting blood drawn,” she complained.

Caleb smirked, rubbing the edge of his lips with his thumb, his eyes still on the road.
 
God, he was sexy.

“I’ll kiss it better later,” he promised and Maddie felt her blood start to pound.

“Don’t get me started, Caleb,” she warned, ignoring the urge to fan herself.
 
It seemed like all she thought about these days was sex.
 
Sex, sex, and more sex.
 
She fantasized about Caleb on the hour, every hour, if not more.
 
Fantasized about what they’d done the night before, or that morning…fantasized about what they would do later.
 
“The doctor won’t need the lube at this rate.”
 
It was meant as a joke but Caleb’s lips turned down into a scowl.
 
She shook her head, amused.
 
“I still don’t know why you don’t like Dr. Cochrane.”

“Maybe because he’s a man who has regular access to your pussy,” Caleb growled under his breath.

“Caleb!” Maddie exclaimed, rolling her eyes.
 
But inside, she was delighted.
 
He was jealous.
 
“You’re ridiculous.”

“Out of all the doctors you could’ve chosen, it had to be the one with a dick,” he continued.

“He has excellent recommendations,” she shot back.
 
“And I tried a female doctor, remember?
 
But how could we trust her to do a good job when she couldn’t even get my files straight?”

Caleb’s jaw clenched.
 
“She was incompetent, wasn’t she?”

“Yes,” Maddie said, hoping he understood why she’d changed her mind and switched doctors.
 
Caleb had been with her at every appointment, the very picture of support.
 
She only hoped that he supported this decision as well.

“Fine.
 
I won’t say anything to him,” Caleb promised.
 
“But if he lingers down there longer than necessary, I swear—”

“Oh my God,” Maddie mumbled, her face flaming, relieved that they were pulling into the parking lot.
 
Caleb helped her out of the car like the baby was a size of a basketball and not an avocado, but Maddie would be lying to herself if she said she didn’t like it at least a little bit.

As they both walked up towards the front entrance of the doctor’s office, Maddie spotted a familiar figure leaning against the outside wall and her heart stuttered in disbelief and joy.

“Thomas?”

Her brother detached himself from the wall and approached, albeit a little hesitantly.
 
“Hi Maddie,” he murmured, a half smile on his face.

“I’ll go check you in,” Caleb told her, dropping a kiss on her cheek as he brushed past.
 
The two men exchanged a silent look before Caleb disappeared inside the building, one she couldn’t even begin to decipher.

Overwhelmed, happy, and confused, Maddie promptly started crying, which only served to frustrate her, which only made her cry more.

Thomas looked flabbergasted.
 
“Maddie, I—”

She launched herself at her brother, feeling his familiar warmth and bulk as she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
 
He only hesitated for a brief moment before he clutched her just as fiercely.

“I missed you,” she whispered, unashamed that she was getting tears all over his shirt.

“I missed you too, Maddie,” he said, voice tight.
 
“I’m sorry.
 
About everything.
 
I’m the biggest asshole on the planet.”

And just like that, a load was lifted off her shoulders.
 
Maddie wasn’t one to hold a grudge.
 
It took too much energy, and she loved her brother too much.

“I forgive you,” she told him, leaning back so she could see his face.
 
“But how did you know?”

“Caleb came to see me,” her brother admitted, although a little begrudgingly.

“He did?” she asked, swallowing thickly.

“He basically told me to get my shit together because I was hurting you,” Thomas murmured.
 
“And he was right.
 
I shouldn’t have let it go on this long.”

Caleb had done this?
 
She blinked with the new information and then felt her stomach flutter.
 
Every day, it seemed like she fell deeper and deeper in love with him.

“I’m just glad you’re here now,” she said in a daze, smiling up at him.

“Me too.”

Maddie hugged him again, feeling more tears prick her eyes.
 
She stood there as long as possible, but eventually, she knew she had to be a couple minutes late to her appointment and Caleb would come looking for her soon.

“Come on.
 
Come sit in on a boring appointment with me while Caleb tries not to murder my male doctor,” she told him.
 
“And you’ll get to hear the baby’s heartbeat.”

“That doesn’t sound boring at all,” Thomas said softly.
 
As they walked into the building, Thomas said, “Maddie, no one will ever be good enough for you.
 
But I figure you could do worse than him.”

If that wasn’t her brother’s seal of approval, she didn’t know what was.

“How did that taste coming out of your mouth?” she teased.

Her brother’s face was solemn.
 
“Like vinegar.”

FORTY

At twenty-two weeks, that avocado
was
starting to resemble a basketball.

“What are you doing?” Caleb asked when he entered the master bedroom.
 
He was dirty from a long day doing restorations.
 
Maddie knew that he had some big, demanding client, and even though he’d hired a couple guys and brought Peter on, he still worked long hours.

“I’ve gained almost twenty pounds,” she informed him, staring at herself in the mirror.
 
She’d been in the process of putting on her pajamas for the night.
 
And even though she looked at her body every day, for some reason, tonight it had just struck her how
pregnant
she was looking.
 
People were starting to touch her stomach.
 
Strangers
.
 
And her boobs looked like she’d already gained a cup size; her face was also a little fuller.

He came up behind her and spread his palms over her protruding belly.
 
He smelled like sweat and delicious musk and she felt her body already start to respond.
 
“And what a good twenty pounds it is,” he murmured, staring at her overflowing boobs, and she rolled her eyes, jabbing him lightly with her elbow.
 
He smirked and unclasped her bra.
 
“Come shower with me.”

Maddie sighed, but followed him into the bathroom and watched him strip down, tossing his dirty clothes into the hamper.
 
Underneath the spray of the shower and the warm steam, she watched him soap up his body and she felt like she was getting a private show, watching those muscles gleam and shift.
 
She was half surprised she didn’t faint with how fast the blood rushed from her head down to between her thighs.

“Caleb,” she murmured and she knew that Caleb knew what she wanted.

He eyed her, already semi-hard himself, but he’d been denying them both for the past week now.
 
Maddie knew it had something to do with her advancing pregnancy.
 
Now that she was looking more and more pregnant, Caleb’s delicate treatment of her had become even more maddening.
 
They hadn’t used his ropes for almost a week and a half now and when they did have sex, it was slower, not as intense.
 
Not that she didn’t enjoy it.
 
He still restrained her hands and her orgasms were beyond powerful, but they felt more like long, drawn out, gentle waves, than a thunderstorm.

“Later,” he said, swallowing hard.
 
“Once a day, remember?”

Oh yeah, and he had that stupid rule.
 
He thought that any more than that wouldn’t be good for her.
 
Her stomach had cramped up pretty badly after a particularly rigorous session a couple weeks ago and needless to say, it had freaked Caleb out enough to call her OB/GYN in the middle of the night.

She pressed her body against his, although her stomach didn’t allow them to be as close as she would’ve liked.
 
Still, she liked the heat of his skin, the feel of him.

He swallowed again.

“The doctor said it’s normal for cramping.
 
I’ll be fine.”

“Maddie…”

She brushed his lips with her own and his eyes closed as he grappled with control.
 
“Just real quick,” she whispered.
 
“Please?”

The ‘please’ did it.
 
With a growl, he turned her, placing her hands on the shower wall.

“Is this what you want?” he rasped, surging into her from behind.

“
Yes
,” she moaned, eyelids fluttering closed in bliss.

Later, she was still in a daze when they turned in for the night.
 
Maddie turned on her side, on her side of the bed, liking that they even
had
sides now, and smiled contentedly into Caleb’s naked shoulder.
 
He was on his back, tracing her thigh lightly with his fingertips.

Her breath hitched when she felt fluttering, soft movements from inside, the feeling still so alien that it took her by surprise every time.

“What is it?” Caleb asked.

“The baby’s moving again,” she whispered.
 
A bigger thump came, near her belly button.
 
“Oh!”

Caleb peered down at her stomach, even though the room was dark, and then she felt his warm hands.
 
Caleb was the only person she liked touching her stomach.