Crushed (Breaking the Rules Series Book 5) by K Webster Read Free Book Online Page A

hungry.”
    She laughs as we break apart. Once our shoes are on and she’s scooped her purse up, we make our way out of the loft and down to the street. When I guide her along the sidewalk, she looks up at me in confusion.
    “Where’s George?”
    I point up at the sunshine and grin. “I’m doing Dr. Sweeney’s homework. Walking a couple of blocks to the restaurant on a nice day is a completely nonsexual and healthy way to spend time with my wife. I’ll earn brownie points for sure.”
    She smiles and, thankfully, doesn’t argue. Sitting up in the loft all day with no exercise can’t be good for her depression.
    “Since when do you suck up to Dr. Sweeney?” she questions.
    “Since it depends on the happiness of my wife.”
    The answer seems to satisfy her, and we walk most of the distance in comfortable silence. But as we near the restaurant, she stops and looks up at me.
    “Let’s call them. Right now. I want to do this, Jackson.”
    I frown because I don’t want to ruin the contentedness of our moment with the stress of worrying over adoption. But the determined appearance on her face has me pulling my phone from my pocket. Then I dial Laura and put her on speaker.
    “Hello?” she answers.
    “Hi, Laura. Listen we’re really sorry about—” I begin, but Andi cuts me off.
    “Laura, I’m an emotional mess today and I can’t apologize enough for the way I acted. Please reconsider us for adopting Jill’s baby,” she rushes out.
    The line is silent for a moment, and I try not to cringe.
    Finally, she speaks. “Jill was pretty upset, but mostly with herself. She’s struggling emotionally as well, Andi. Here. I think you two should talk.”
    We hear some murmuring before Jill gets on the line. “Hi.”
    In unison, Andi and I say, “Hi,” back.
    “Do you want to name him?” Jill asks softly.
    I watch a tear roll out of Andi’s eye as she nods. “Jill, we’d love that. That is very generous of you. I’m sorry I acted like a fool. This has just been a long, hard road for us.”
    “It’s okay. Just tell me what you want to name him and I will start calling him that—so he knows his name when he comes out.”
    Andi grins at me. “Uh, right. Let us think on it. Would you like to come over one day and see our home? Maybe I could fix you and your mom some lunch. We could just chat and get to know each other?”
    This time, I’m the one grinning. The fact that she’s stepping out of her bubble brings so much joy into my heart. I’m starting to believe we can make this work.
    “Mom? Can we do that?” she asks her mother, reminding me that she herself is only a child. “She said yes. Text your address and we’ll come by tomorrow at lunch.”
    “Thank you, Jill.”
    “You’re welcome, Andi.”
    They hang up and Andi hugs my middle. On the crowded sidewalk, I squeeze her back and stroke her hair.
    “We’re going to be a family,” she cries into my chest as if suddenly understanding what just happened over the phone.
    “Babe, we already are.”

Twenty-Two Weeks Pregnant
    “Where do you want me to put this ugly Harry Potter lamp?” Jill questions from the corner of the nursery.
    My eyes fly over to where she’s holding up one of Jackson’s newest Internet finds. “Ugh. The trash?” I groan.
    She giggles, and I smile back. It’s been a month since we agreed to adopt Jill’s baby. All of the necessary paperwork has been drawn up by our attorneys and signed off on by a judge. In a couple of weeks or so, we’ll be welcoming him into our family. We’re incredibly thankful for her gift to us.
    “Just kidding. You can set it on the end table between the cribs,” I instruct.
    Since the babies will be so close together, mine being born only about three months after hers, we decided to put the beds in the same room. We’re going to need to think about moving soon because we’re very quickly outgrowing our loft.
    “Ouch,” she whimpers, and I quickly stand to see what’s going on,