Free Mad Addiction (Crazy Beautiful #2) by Jessica Huizenga

before crossing her arms angrily.
    “Jesus, Brooks. I’m just trying to be helpful. Forget the vitamins if they offend you that much.” I pick up the pills to throw them in the trash. Can’t a guy do something nice without getting his head ripped off? I read about mood swings, but shit, it’s going to be a long nine months.
    Kelley lunges across the counter to grab my elbow. “Wait, Wait. I’m sorry. I’ll take them.” She slides the bottle from my hands and sits back on the stool. We stare at each other in an awkward silence before she gestures to the carton of eggs on the counter behind me. “I believe you mentioned something about breakfast? Remember, I’m eating for two now. And I plan to take full advantage of that.”
    I return her playful smile, confused by her emotional one-eighty, but fucking relieved she’s no longer upset. For now. “Coming right up, Sunshine.”
    Yup, it’s definitely going to be a long nine months.

    Eleven Weeks
    “Tell me again why we agreed to do this?” Kelley frowns as she grabs the foil-covered apple pie she made that’s sitting on the dashboard as I hold open her car door.
    “Because Lucas and Eli are family and I always spend Thanksgiving here.” I extend my arm to help her down from the truck. “Plus Luc fucking blackmailed me into it.”
    I slam the door closed and we make our way to the door. “Do you think Eli knows the truth?” The hesitation in her voice is apparent.
    “Nah. Luc might give me shit but he’s true to his word.” Both Lucas and Kinsley know about the baby, but as soon as we told them about us moving in together they knew the whole engagement thing was a crock of shit. We swore them to secrecy, though, so as far as I’m concerned nobody else should ever need to find out. We’re waiting until she’s further along to tell anybody else she’s pregnant—Eli included—so today is basically going to suck.
    I let us in the back door at Eli’s house, not needing to knock. He has always been like a father to me and I hate to fucking keep secrets from him, but it’s all just part of the goddamn mess I’ve gotten myself into.
    As we enter the kitchen Eli and Kinsley are sitting at the table talking while Luc leans against the counter nursing a beer. Eli looks genuinely thrilled as he gets up to greet us. He hugs me and then Kelley before saying, “I hear congratulations are in order, huh?”
    Kelley eyes me nervously but plasters on a big smile for Eli. We both nod stiffly. I silently remind myself he’s only talking about the engagement, but it doesn’t help that Lucas gets the biggest shit-eating grin on his face and I have to resist flashing him a certain hand gesture. Suddenly Kelley thrusts out her hands and practically shouts, “I made pie!” causing everyone to stare at her outburst. Kinsley not so subtlety hops up to cause a distraction by hugging Kelley. Thankfully Eli doesn’t acknowledge something weird is going on and thanks Kelley for the pie before putting it on the counter for later.
    I turn to greet Lucas and as we shake hands he leans in and grunts, “Way to play it cool, bro.”
    I scowl at him, feeling jealous for the first time in a very long time that he’s holding a beer right now. Today is obviously going to be awkward as fuck.
    When we sit down to eat and get caught up with our usual small talk, I finally relax. Lucas and I dig each other at every chance we get while Kelley and Kinsley laugh and roll their eyes. It feels comfortable to have everyone joking and shooting the shit.
    Once we’ve all had our fill of turkey, stuffing, and Eli’s famous sweet potato casserole, Eli gets a big smile on his face. “You know, for as long as I can remember it’s just been me and these two knuckleheads around for the holidays.” He gestures with his thumb to Lucas and me. We smirk innocently. “But I have to say it’s quite nice to have the company of two such smart, beautiful ladies for a change. Ever since Luc and I lost