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You knew this was one possible outcome, I chastise myself internally.
Forcing myself to draw in a slow breath and swallow hard, I reply, "I would've never kept her from you."
"Thank you."
"Uh, you're welcome?" I have no idea what to say.
"Can we talk when I get back to town? Figure out logistics?"
"Logistics," I repeat. "Yeah, sure." All I want is to get off this call so I can properly break down.
"Okay, I, um…I'll text you."
"Oka—" I click the end button so he doesn't hear my voice crack.
CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE
Den sitsacross from me on the jet. She's had a frown on her face since the wheels left the ground.
"What is it, D?" There are several options, and I don't feel like guessing. The last few days have taken it out of me. Also, my adrenaline level has been off the charts since Rhys informed me that King would be attending the wedding—with Marcus. What the actual fuck? Three days and I regret my decision to slow my alcohol consumption.
She is Lilly's guest. The two bonded even more, and since King didn't have a date and Marcus would be off the clock, Rhys's treacherous fiancée paired them up. I have my suspicion that this is all a ploy to piss me off. A successful ploy, but what the hell? And why would King go along with it?
Oh, I know why. I told her that I didn't want anything to do with her—only our daughter. Daughter. Jesus Christ, I'm having a baby girl. I've been trying to wrap my head around it since I read her words. The multitude of emotions that crashed down on me ranged from the urge to fist pump to throwing up. I tapped the call button so fast I didn't think about what I was going to say to her.
After landing in New York—Den'scurrent hometown—my first stop was a liquor store. I arrived at her place sometime close to midnight, and to say she was displeased was putting it mildly. I was halfway through my first bottle of amber liquid, wrapped neatly in a brown paper bag.
"Really, Sheats?" If looks could kill. She shivered in her sleep shorts and tank top, but propped the door open farther. I stumbled past her with my duffel slung over my shoulder and clipped her in the process. She hurled several very explicit curse words after me as I headed down the hallway, supporting myself against the wall.
"I hathing babeee," I stated loudly—or at least I tried.
"Excuse me?" her pissed-off question echoed from the entrance to the living room. Despite my inner turmoil, my pulse was steady. A result of the heaviness that had been weighing me down since I left Stonebriar? I didn't know, the confusion driving me to block everything out with the help of my favorite liquid friend. I fell on Den's ostentatious sectional and peered up at her. My brain was full of cotton, and I closed my eyes to put the words in the right order. Speaking purposefully slow, I repeated myself, "I'm having a baby."
Squinting at her, Den resembled a fish the way her mouth opened and closed—no sound coming out. I pointed at her with the neck of the bottle clutched between the rest of my fingers. "Exactly my reaction." Then, a laugh broke free, and I couldn't stop. How could this happen to me?
After my manic moment subsided, I leaned forward, propped my elbows on my knees, and covered my face, still keeping hold of my paper-clad companion. The cushion beside me dipped, and the bottle was pried out of my hand.
"Did you say you're having a baby?" Her disbelief was audible.
I turned toward Den. "King's pregnant." My nice and comfortable buzz was quickly evaporating.
"She's back? How? When?" She scanned my eyes back and forth.
"Lilly brought her back." I couldn't help but throw D's BFF under the bus. I didn't feel like being the only one that had been kept in the dark—well, technically, Rhys had been as well.
"Come again?"
I reached for the whiskey that was now sitting on the low glass table in front of us, but Den beat me to it. She snatched it up and chugged. Lowering the bottle, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I need you coherent for this," she exclaimed before she took another gulp.
Whoa.
"Oh, but you are allowed to get trashed?" I scoffed.
"Hell, yeah. That way, I can't be held accountable for what I say to Lilly." A smirk pulled one corner of her mouth up.
Now, that was my girl.
It took until the sun rose behind the skyline surrounding her apartment before I was done. The longer I spoke, the calmer—no, not calm, numb—I felt. Was I in shock?
