Need You Now (Love in Unknown) - By Taylor M. Lunsford Page 0,87

the anger, but it didn’t stop him from playing every second over and over in his mind. Pregnant. It roared through his head louder than the crowd at a Rangers’ home game. Over the years, he’d come up with a lot of explanations for what ended up being the straw to break the camel’s back. That never entered his radar. In those few minutes before she told him it was a false alarm, his mind had gone to a million places. The thought of Mel alone and pregnant scared the shit out of him. He’d been so careful every time they were together, but nothing was a guarantee. Had she thought about having an abortion? Giving the baby up for adoption? Damn it, how the hell could she keep something like that from him?

For months, he’d been working his ass off to earn her trust. Wooing her for, fucksake! He’d done everything but grovel to get her to take him back and she kept something this big a secret. Didn’t matter that it turned out to be a false alarm. She should have called him and told him to come home. He’d have been there in a second if she’d asked.

He poured himself a shot of whisky and tossed it back. Behind him, he heard the front door open and slam shut. A brief flash of hope that it was Mel disappeared when he heard heavier footsteps on the tiles. A few seconds later his brother flopped onto the couch beside him.

“Seriously, man? How much of that shit have you had?” Gage snatched the whisky bottle up and placed it on the far side of the coffee table.

“Mind your own damn business, little brother,” Caine growled, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

Gage sighed. “Not gonna happen.”

Caine leaned his head back against the couch cushions. "You talked to Mel lately?"

“Since she broke up with you? Not really. She texted me to tell me the news, then said not to call because she didn't want me to be caught in the middle. Which is complete and total bullshit, because I was caught in the middle the day she agreed to go out with you. The first time."

“I know, and I'm sorry." Caine felt like someone had attached weights to every joint in his body. As much as he hated being apart from Mel, he hated that his brother had ended up torn between two people he cared about even more. HIs blood ran cold. Had Gage known about the pregnancy scare?

Gage’s voice was soft with sympathy. “What happened?”

Caine gritted his teeth, refusing to say anything.

“She told you about Andrew, didn't she?"

Caine narrowed his eyes. "She told me a while back. Of course, you already knew about him. What'd she tell you?"

“It's not so much what she told me as what she didn't tell me. I also heard some stuff from Micah. My professional opinion? Guy was an emotionally abusive jackass who needed a good thrashing."

“She tell you why she ended things between us back in college?” Caine couldn’t keep the accusatory note out of his voice.

Gage sent him a sharp look. “Not really. Just that she got some perspective while you were gone and figured out she had to end things. Why?”

Caine opened his mouth to tell him everything. To let it all spew out. But something stopped him. He couldn’t do that to Gage. He and Mel had been best friends for too long. Telling Gage that Mel kept something from him would only make things worse. “She brought it up again and said she couldn’t get past it. That she couldn’t rely on me. Can you believe that shit?”

The silence from his brother was deafening. Caine glared at Gage, reaching for a bottle of beer he’d started earlier.

“Say what you’re thinking. Not like you can piss me off anymore than I already am.”

Gage sat for another few minutes before replying. “Would you have relied on you back then? Admit it, Caine. You were a selfish jackass in college.”

Caine pinched the bridge of his nose. He hadn’t been that bad. Yeah, he’d had fun and enjoyed himself. That’s what college was for. Maybe he drank too much and slept around until he hooked up with Mel. Big deal. If she called him and told him she thought she was pregnant, he would have come home to be with her, wouldn’t he? She’d mattered. He’d come over that day to make things permanent with her. Still…Tossing a pregnancy scare into the mix would