Garrett takes a step back and runs his hands over his face. “You should be. You fucking asshole.”

He sighs and shakes his head at me, but I can see a hint of a smile on his face. “God, we’re a bunch of pussies. We’re not hugging it out or any shit like that, so don’t get any ideas.”

I laugh, limping over to my crutches and picking them up. “I wouldn’t hug you if you begged me. When was the last time you shaved, you ugly bastard? The turn of the century?”

Garrett rubs his hand over the scruff on his face and smirks. “Parker likes it when I don’t shave. She says it tickles when I put my head between—”

“STOP! Don’t make me puke. Between you and Austin, I don’t know who’s worse. I don’t need a play-by-play of your fucking sex lives,” I tell him in disgust.

“Speaking of sex lives, I hear your dick is still in working order even if your knee isn’t.”

I look at him questioningly.

“It’s called a phone, dick head. Olivia and Parker have been known to use it to do this thing they like to call communicate,” he says with a laugh.

“Fuck off. I just didn’t realize Olivia had told her about… that she talked about… fuck!” I mumble.

I don’t know whether I’m happy or embarrassed that Olivia has been yapping to Parker about what’s going on between us. I’m leaning more towards happy because whatever Olivia told her is obviously the reason Parker didn’t punch me in the face when she opened the door and saw me standing there.

“The only reason I’m honoring Parker’s request to not get your blood on her newly cleaned carpets is because Olivia seems happy again. She went through a lot while you were gone and she deserves this.”

I nod my head in agreement, moving over to the couch to give my knee a rest. I sit down and pull my leg up onto the coffee table. Garrett follows and the couch bounces as he flops down next to me.

“I know. She told me what happened.”

Garrett looks at me in shock. “She told you? Everything?”

“About the baby? Yeah, she told me. Jesus, I really fucked up. I can’t believe I left her alone to deal with that shit.”

“Honestly, man, I have never felt so damn helpless in my life. The whole situation is fucked up and, on top of that, I’ve had to try and keep my wife in check. I had to hide the key to our gun safe. Do you have any idea what kind of shit she’s given me for that?” Garrett shudders and, even though it’s not funny, I can’t help but laugh. Garrett McCarthy, big, bad Navy SEAL fears his wife.

“My mother is conveniently out of town and isn’t returning my calls. She’s got a lot of explaining to do and I have a feeling that’s why she’s ignoring me. And my dad? What the fuck? Something’s not right there. Since when does he go out of town to a golf resort? I haven’t even seen Caroline in a few weeks, so I can’t ask her. My entire family seems to have up and left as soon as Olivia came back into my life. That can’t be a coincidence.”

Garrett shakes his head. “Nothing is ever a coincidence, you of all people should know that. Just promise me one thing. When the shit hits the fan, and it will, don’t you dare leave Olivia’s side. I’m telling you right now, she won’t survive it. She’s lost enough, she’s been through enough, and no matter what happens, it’s not worth it. You two found each other again and there’s a fucking reason for that. For once in your life, just forget about the past and concentrate on moving forward.”

I know he’s right. Nothing should matter but the fact that I have Olivia, but it’s not that simple. My family did something to hurt her and I can’t forget about that. Even after all the talking we’ve done the last few weeks, she’s still hesitant to tell me what I want to know about their part in what happened. I know we’ll never be able to completely move on until I find out the truth and try to make it right. I won’t let them hurt her ever again, I won’t let them ruin the best thing that has ever happened to me and I will cut all ties with my mother if that’s the way it has to be. If she can’t see how much Olivia means to me, how much she will ALWAYS mean to me, then she doesn’t deserve a place in my life.

Garrett and I spend the next few hours shooting the shit and he fills me in on what he’s been doing the year that I’ve been gone. I thank him repeatedly for being there for Olivia, but he just brushes it off. He’s a good friend and I’ll never be able to fully express my gratitude for what he did. Parker invites me to stay for dinner and I eat with Annie on my lap while she talks non-stop about cartoons and other little girl nonsense and I daydream about having a life like this with Olivia. Maybe we won’t be able to have kids of our own with Olivia’s gorgeous blue eyes and dimples in both cheeks, but we can still have a good life. Even if it’s just the two of us growing old together, it will still be amazing.

As I back out of Garrett and Parker’s driveway, I make a last-minute decision and head towards Olivia’s place instead of going back to my parent’s house. The guesthouse nestled across from their enormous house has never once felt like home to me. The only place I want to go, the only place I belong is with Olivia, wherever she is. Getting stuck in rush hour traffic gives me plenty of time to think, about Olivia and my family and how all of them crashed together in a way I never wanted. I know they’re all keeping something from me and I know I’m not going to like it. The family that always seemed so strong on the outside is slowly crumbling on the inside. I think back to the scene I walked in on right after I moved into the guesthouse and I wonder if that was the beginning of the downward spiral or a culmination of everything that happened while I was gone.