Page 14 of Accidentally in Love

I walked down the street to my house on the other side of town, but I made a detour to my brother’s apartment first.

Declan lived in an apartment above the tattoo shop. When our parents died, I inherited our childhood home. Dec moved out a couple of years ago because he wanted his own space. I think he just liked that it was literally two doors down from the brewery.

Normally, I would have waited since we both worked late last night, but this was serious business, and I needed his advice. I keyed into the outer door and walked up the steps. I banged on the front door to his apartment and waited for him to answer.

“What?” my brother snapped when he swung open the door wearing nothing but boxer briefs. He squinted at me, a sign I woke him up too early, and he hadn’t put his contacts in yet.

“I need to talk to you,” I urged.

“It couldn’t wait until later?” he growled.

I shook my head.

He must have seen the look of anguish across my face, because he let me in and led me over to his couch. “You need coffee?” he asked.

“Please,” I said as I slumped onto the couch.

He went into his bedroom and came back with more clothes on and his plastic-rimmed glasses shoved on his face. He sent me an annoyed look, but walked into his tiny kitchen and started making coffee.

“What was so urgent you needed to pound on my door so early?” he asked from the kitchen.

“Avery’s pregnant.”

He rustled around in the kitchen and came back with two cups of steaming coffee. He raised an eyebrow at me and handed me a cup as he took a seat beside me.

“What does that have to do with you?” he asked.

I took a sip of coffee and then put the mug down on the coffee table. “Let me rephrase… Avery’s pregnant with my baby.”

“Oh… oh fuck!” he exclaimed, and then he glared at me. “I knew there was something up with you two.”

“I…”

“You were so weird with her at the Arts Fest.”

“What do you mean?” I asked and scowled.

I wasn’t weird with her. What did he mean by that?

He rolled his eyes. “Gem said you had been a grouch all morning, and as soon as Avs came over, your entire demeanor changed. Then we watched you feed her dumplings.”

“She was being moody and not eating carbs like I knew she wanted to. That asshole she went out with said she needed to lose a few pounds. Fuck that guy.”

“It was kind of intimate, man.”

“Dec, it wasn’t a one-time thing.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “What?”

“We’ve had a casual thing going.”

“Seriously?”

I nodded.

Declan frowned at me. “How long, Nol?”

“Two years,” I admitted and took another sip of coffee.