Page 20 of A Bossy Surprise

“Oh, that was lucky,” Kayla says.

“Yeah…” Lucas responds.

All three of us stand around for a beat silently then I say, “Lucas, I saw you pretty recently. So I’ll give the both of you some time to catch up.”

I’m about to beat a hasty retreat when Lucas stops me.

“What’s going on between the two of you?”

“What do you mean?” I ask, shooting for casual, but knowing I’ve failed.

“If the raised voices I heard when I was approaching the door weren’t enough of a tip, the murderous look you have in your eyes right now is a dead giveaway.”

“It’s nothing,” Kayla says, she too trying and failing to convey nonchalance.

“I may be obtuse sometimes, but I’m not an idiot. Something is going on here, and it feels heavier than the general aversion you had for each other in high school.”

I guess there’s no hiding from this, and he will find out sooner or later.

“Fine, I’ll tell you,” I say.

I look to Kayla and there’s alarm in her eyes. I can’t believe she’s apprehensive about telling him. This secret has been kept for way too long. Also, at this point, I don’t care what she thinks about anything.

“I don’t even know how to say this.”I start to pace.

To his credit, Lucas lets me go for a moment before he says, “Oh my God! Can you just spit it out?”

I stop then take a deep breath. “Okay, but before I tell you, keep in mind this was a long time ago, and it wasn’t planned.”

“Oh my God,” Kayla whispers as she rolls her eyes.

“Do you remember that party at Sean Wilding’s house towards the end of summer before we went to college?”

“Uhuh…” Lucas answers.

“There’s no easy way to break this to you, so I’ll just come out and say it.” I take another deep breath. “Kayla and I slept together that night.”

“What?” Lucas’ face morphs from its usual golden retriever disposition to what I assume I looked like just before he walked in.

He takes a step toward me.

I hold my hands up. “I’m so sorry. I know I promised to stay away from her, but we ran into each other. One thing led to another and we had sex.”

“Wait a second.” Kayla raises a hand. “Lucas, you told him to stay away from me?”

“Of course, I did. Did you see the way he ran through girls in high school? I didn’t want you to be one of them.”

“You had no right to do that,” Kayla says. “I didn’t need you to manage my love life.”

“Apparently you did, because if you had any sense, you never would’ve slept with him.”

“Oh my God, Lucas. Shut up,” Kayla retorts.

Lucas shakes his head. “Wait, this was years ago. So why are the both of you screaming at each other—” he stops. His face goes blank when realization hits. He turns to Kayla. “My God… Brady…”

Kayla looks away from her brother and says, “Yes, Adam is Brady’s father.”

Lucas slaps his forehead repeatedly. “I am such an idiot. I can’t believe I never put that together. I mean, he looks exactly like Adam.” He’s silent in thought for a moment then laughs. The sound has zero humor in it. “You know, it actually did cross my mind once. But I actually laughed at myself, because I thought Adam would never do that.”