Page 76 of Dissonance

“He did it at the end of the tour,” she says into my shoulder, her voice cracking. “He’s been hinting for months, and I thought maybe I was imagining it, but then he just did it.”

Mae lets out a full-blown shriek behind us. “I knew it!”

“You did not,” I say, pulling back to look at her.

“Ask Olive,” she says smugly. “We’ve been emailing about it for weeks.”

I turn back to Paige, hands on her arms, taking in the glow, the way she’s staring at me expectantly.

“You’re okay with this?” she asks.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“It’s going to be a media circus the second this gets out.”

“Oh, honey, I don’t care. Good media is never a problem.” I tug her back in for another hug, my heart feeling like it might actually burst out of my chest. “I’m just so…ridiculously happy for you.”

My throat thickens, my eyes starting to sting. Shit. I blink quickly, dropping my hold and turning away, swiping under my eyes before it becomes full-blown tears.

“Aww, babe,” Olive mock coos, propping the bottle on her hip and untwisting the muselet from the top. “Were you just crying?”

“I wasn’t—” I start, but my voice does that thing where it catches, betraying me.

Mae snorts. “Please. It was probably just the pregnancy hormones. Don’t think I didn’t notice you tearing up the other day when you were watching that—” She stops, the office going very quiet. Olive goes still beside her, eyes cutting to Mae as Paige’s head rears back. “Oops.”

“What?” The word is careful, Paige’s gaze lowering to my stomach.

My hand finds the hem of my blouse, and I pull it taut, the fabric going flat across my ribs and then curving, unmistakably, outward.

“I, uh…” I huff out a small laugh, shaking my head. “I can’t drink.”

Olive lets out a long breath. “Oh, thank God. I’ve been absolutely dying over this.”

“Wait. You knew?” Paige asks. She’s still not moved, standing exactly where she was, one hand to her mouth, eyes glassy in a completely different way to how they were a second ago.

“Mae told me weeks ago.”

“It just sort of slipped out,” she says, grimacing.

“And I didn’t tell anyone,” Olive promises, coming to Mae’s defense. “But I wanted to, approximately every single day, and I didn’t.”

“I can’t believe you kept it to yourself.” I look between them and find I’m not even remotely annoyed. A little office gossip never hurt anyone.

“Hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Olive says with complete sincerity. “I tell Paige everything.”

“Usually too much,” Paige gripes, glaring at her best friend before turning her attention to me. “So…who’s the father?”

I glance toward the door, half expecting him to appear. “Lockie.”

“Cooper’s—”

“Yes.”

“How long—”

“A long time,” I say, cutting her off with a half-shrug. “It’s complicated.”

“Thea, I can’t believe it.”