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“Yeah, Grant had gone over to spend the night at his friends,” she said.
He nodded. “Everyone in town felt sorry for me and wanted to give me a night to myself.”
“I remember,” she said.
A quick glance at Grant showed he watched them as I did, enraptured on how they spoke as if no one else existed in the world.
“I showed up with a bottle of tequila in my hand because there was no one that could understand what I was going through except you,” he said.
She smiled. “I remember thinking what a fool she’d been.”
For long seconds, they just gazed at each other.
It was him that broke it. “I remember thinking how much I wished I’d been married to you instead of her.”
Movement out of the corner of my eyes stole my attention. Grant opened his mouth and had taken a step forward. I held up a hand to stop him.
“We drank a lot that night. Last thing I remember was telling you to stay. You were far too drunk to drive home, and I went to bed. That’s where I woke up. What does this have to do with anything else?”
“I remember more,” he began. The room got so silent; I could hear my heart beating in my chest. “For the longest time, I assumed it was a dream, because I too woke up alone and on the sofa. But my dream had been so vivid. And when you hadn’t had the same dream or memory the next morning, I was too embarrassed to bring it up. I didn’t want you to think I was a creep for dreaming…”
“What?” she asked. “What did you dream?”
“You got up and like you said, you told me to stay. You were unsteady on your feet. I got up to help you. I was mesmerized by your mouth and you told me to just do it. You’d been waiting forever for me to kiss you. Then, we ended up in your bed.”
“That’s enough. TMI,” Grant said.
“You don’t remember, Mom?”
She looked startled, like I’d broken her out of a trance. “No. I swear.”
“From what I know, women can tell if…” Grant waved his hand. His father and I both shot him a warning glare.
Mom’s eyes went unfocused as she thought back. “I just assumed. I had a drawer with—”
“Okay, we get it,” I said, not really wanting to hear about Mom’s draw of sex toys if that was what she was about to say.
“I was a single woman, Liam,” she chided. But then softened when she added, “I never once thought. I swear.”
“So, it’s possible?” I asked.
“I was so ashamed that I’d had such a vivid dream of my ex’s best friend, I stayed away,” Ted admitted.
She laughed. “That’s why? I thought you were trying to get her back.”
Before they could drift back into the past, I said, “We all need to get tested. You, Mom, and I need to get tested.”
“Your mom?” Ted asked.
“Yeah. According to the lab, with potential fathers being brothers, they need the mother’s DNA to rule out common markers or something like that,” I said, disgustedly. At least that was how Griffin had explained it.
“I’m sorry, Liam. I swear I had no idea,” Mom said.
“Yeah, I know.” That didn’t make it any easier. I walked to the door, not sure what to do next.
Grant stopped me. “They wouldn’t lie about this.”
“I know. I just need some air.”
I paced the walk at the front of the house and hoped the nosy neighbors would mind their business. Ted came out and stopped in front of me.
“Your mom is really upset. She’s worried you hate her.”
I looked down because I wasn’t ready to meet his eye. “I don’t hate her. I hate this situation. I look like a damn idiot for going to New York and daring them to call me a liar when I told them Royce was my dad.”
“You think they think you lied.”
“Not Connor or Kalen. Though they probably think you guys lied to me. But Royce. If I ever see that man, he’ll gloat. And worse, I needed him.”
He pulled me to a stop when I tried to walk away, and I lashed out. “You knew this whole time, didn’t you? You’ve been there all my life. You showed up to all my little league games, football, baseball, or whatever sport I was playing. You were always there.”
“I swear, boy, I didn’t know. And that’s the truth.”
“Then why? Why did you act like a father?” I said, all the anguish pouring out of me.
“I could see you needed one with Royce being absent. The truth was, I was there the day you were born. After your mother let me hold you, I loved you like a son from that very first moment. Something inside me wanted to protect you like I tried to protect Grant.”
