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Leaving the balcony, I follow behind my father and head back downstairs and to the backyard with my brothers. They are chatting with one another. When I appear, they stop, and both of them turn to face me.
I don’t know what I expect, but it’s not for both of my brothers to wrap their arms around me. “We just want you to be happy,” Wells murmurs.
“We love you,” Coleman adds.
And that is how I spend the rest of my evening. Around my brothers and father. Drinking and smoking cigars. Feeling loved. And for a moment, I think that maybe, just maybe, I can do this with another woman at my side.
It doesn’t have to be Allison, not as long as I have my family.
I feel that way right up until the moment I walk into my condo later that night and am alone. A million images and memories of Allison infiltrate my mind, and I realize that family is great, I love mine, but she is part of that, too.
I don’t know if I can do this with any other woman.
ALLISON
Lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, I feel the warmth of the sun through the windows. Another day in this world, in this life, with this decision I made weighing heavily on my heart.
I’m an asshole.
My phone buzzes on the nightstand next to me. It’s charging on a floral charging pad that Parker gave me as part of my birthday gift one year. She always did that. She would pick a theme and then just go for it.
One year, everything she bought me was pink. One year floral, one year blue. It’s a little thing she does, and I love it. I wonder if she’ll ever buy me another birthday gift again after she knows what I’ve done, what I’ve accepted, and what I’ve lied about to her own brother-in-law.
My phone stops dancing on the charging pad just for a moment before it begins again. Reaching for the device, I press my lips together at the sight of the name. I already knew it was her. I could feel it deep in my bones.
“Parker,” I exhale.
“I’m coming over. We need to talk.”
I open my mouth to start to tell her that I can’t. But then the phone is dead, and she’s gone. Pushing myself up to a seated position, I force myself to stand and wait for the nausea to kick in, but it doesn’t, at least not until I’ve taken a few steps. Then it’s in full swing, and I find myself running to the bathroom.
Groaning, I again force myself to my feet and clean myself up before I head toward the kitchen. Parker won’t be long. I know she can get to my place in twelve minutes flat. I have just enough time to throw on some clothes and a bra.
Picking up my apartment, I gather the paperwork and money, holding it in my hands and wondering what the hell I’m going to do with it. Do I tell Parker? Or do I let her be completely disappointed in me for being a cheating whore? She would probably believe that more than me taking money and signing a lease contract.
The knock on my door sounds what feels like seconds later. I look through the peephole and let out a heavy sigh. Parker is standing there, her tiny baby bump on display. I wrap my fingers around the dead bolt, unlocking it before I open the door to let her through.
Standing to the side, I watch as she breezes past me without saying a single word. I watch as she walks toward my sofa and places her purse on the cushion before she turns to me. I’ve already closed and locked the door, my eyes connecting to hers and unmoving.
I wait for her to say something.
She crosses her arms over her chest, her gaze unwavering as she watches me. “Well,” she says.
“Well?”
She arches a brow. “Don’t be a smart-ass with me, Allison. I was sitting at dinner last night, a beautiful meal with some delicious sparkling grape juice in front of me, when my brother and father-in-law announced that Hendrick is going to be getting married and that you’re having some other guy’s baby. What the hell is going on?”
She’s right to demand those things from me.
I just don’t know how to answer her.
I’m not quite sure what to say exactly.
The truth sits on the tip of my tongue, but a lie slips out. When it does, I can’t believe I’m lying to my best friend. The person who I think of as my sister. And when the lie spills out, it is far too easy.
I hate it.
But I don’t stop myself either.
