URGENT (Book 2 of the Soundcrush Series)

Chapter 78: Nice Guys Get Blindsided

Okay...let's see how this Marley fight goes down....

I feel like I Hate  You I Love You is a good song for the way Adam has been feeling since Mac left for LA...I think he finally gets a little honest with Mac about how much that hurt him...

Adam

My beautiful wife is coming down the front steps of the mansion dressed in the sweetest little cream colored baby doll dress I have ever seen. And a cowboy hat. See, Mac can front black leather all she wants, but at heart, she's country, just like me. My sweet Georgia Peach, with a streak of Emo Girl in her soul. God, I love her.

Trace is talking some bullshit about claiming our trailer to have a quickie with Kat, but he knows that's not gonna work...that trailer is Mac's domain to rest before the show.

"I'm calling dibs on that trailer, remember?" I tell him, as Mac reaches us.

"Who do you think you are going to be fucking, Preacher? A fangirl?" Mac says coolly, and I'm surprised at her tone. But I think she must be joking around because when I left her upstairs earlier, it was a good-bye of happy giggles as I knelt, parted the front of her robe, and said silly things to our baby in her naked belly.

Yeah, she must just be joking around, acting tough for Trace's benefit, so I pretend to growl back.

"That's a fucktastic attitude. What are you pissed about now, woman? We were good, just a goddamn hour ago..." I take her elbow to help her into the car, but she jerks it away, and squints at me.

To my complete surprise, her eyes are filled with tears. "Don't you fucking talk to me like that, dilhole!"

Whoa. Okay, I know what's happening here. This is pregnancy hormones. I've seen my sisters act like they have multiple personalities while pregnant. All the stress of her condition must finally be hitting her. Okay, tread lightly, Heartley. I can do this. I ease into the SUV, on the seat opposite her, while she ignores me, looking out the window.

Trace is about to climb in behind me, but I give him the wave off, hoping he reads my vibe to give us some privacy. He grins, mouths, "Poor bastard," and slams the door.

We sit in silence as the caravan moves out of the drive. When the tears actually spill over and Mac lets out a sob, suddenly everything spins for me. Oh fuck. She's not just irritated. Something more is going on. I drop to my knees in the space between us, and put my hands on her belly. "Shortcake? Everything okay? Talk to me? Tell me what's happening."

She pushes. "Get off your knees, Adam. The baby is fine. I feel fine. That's really all you care about, isn't it? The baby? You don't even love me, do you? We wouldn't even be together, if it weren't for the baby, would we?"

Ahhh. Okay. Back to my original theory. Pregnancy-induced insanity. I don't move from my spot in front of her, but I take my hands off her belly and put them on her knees.

"Mac, come on now. You know that's not true. I have loved you since the day I met you."

"Gooooodddd!!!!" She shoves me back against the other seat. "I hate you! How could you, Adam!?!?!! You couldn't just cut her loose, could you?!?! You have to wrap her all up in SCIC. Just admit it!!! You have feelings for her, don't you?!?! Just.Fucking.Tell.The.Truth!!!!" she yells, hitting me furiously, but harmlessly on the shoulder with each emphatic word.

I don't grab her hands, I just let her hit me as my brain struggles to make the connections in her seemingly senseless rant. It's not that hard for me to decipher angry Mac-Speak at this point.

Fuck. She's talking about Marley.

I hold up a placating hand. "Baby, are you talking about Marley? 'Cause if you are..."