Page 47 of The Sweetest Mistake

“I didn’t know what else to do. It was late when we left the clinic, and Cam didn’t want to disrupt her parents’ sleep. She already feels guilty enough for staying there, so I offered up my place.”

Finn wiped his forehead with the hem of his T-shirt while Connor scooped out the mulch. “Man, you’ve got to help Cam find her own place.”

“I’m trying,” Connor said, thrusting the shovel into the pile of mulch with a little more muscle than was completely necessary.

“Well, try harder. No woman wants to see her man’s ex wearing his T-shirt.”

“I get that, but I had no idea Julia would show up so early. I’d planned on going over to her place after I took a shower, but she beat me to it.”

Just then, Liam wandered over with cookie crumbs on his lips. “Man, Mrs. Simmons makes some mean peanut butter cookies!”

Connor and Finn stopped what they were doing to stare at him.

“What? I was just building customer relations,” Liam insisted.

“How many cookies did you eat?” Finn asked.

“Four or five. I wanted to make her feel good.”

“Bullshit. You just like to eat!” Finn teased.

“What’s going on over here, anyway? It’s taking you girls a long time to load one wheelbarrow of mulch,” Liam said.

“We’re having a discussion,” Finn replied.

“About chicks?”

Finn frowned. “How old are you, thirteen? They’re called women, and yes, we were just talking about Julia.”

“Ah. What did you do this time, bro?” Liam asked Connor.

“Shut up,” Connor replied, flinging a shovelful of mulch into Liam’s wheelbarrow.

“He had a sleepover with Cam, who was wearing his T-shirt when she answered the door to Julia,” Finn said.

Liam tipped his head back and laughed. “Man, you really messed up!”

“It’s not funny,” Connor snarled. Why do I work with my brothers again?

“Are you and Cam…” Liam started to ask.

“No! But she’s the mother of my child, and I can’t just ignore her.”

“That doesn’t explain why she was wearing your shirt,” Liam said, confused.

“Ava was sick last night, and Connor felt bad, so he let Cam and Ava spend the night at his house,” Finn said. “If you’d have shown up at the restaurant last night like you said you would, you would have already known this.”

Liam rolled his eyes. “I got busy.”

“Busy doing what?” Finn asked.

“Or who?” Connor said.

“None of your business. I see enough of you guys during the day. I don’t have to see you at night too,” Liam said, and then he lifted up the wheelbarrow handles and walked away.

Raising his eyebrows, Finn said, “Hmm. It’s interesting that McKayla didn’t show up last night either. I wonder if…”

“No way. She hates him,” Connor said, glad to change the subject.