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“Eight,” she threw over her shoulder. “Birthday is February 15th.”
Eight years ago… The spring I spent with Fiona. And nine months after May is… February…Fuuuuck.Okay, so I really was her dad. It had to be me. There was no one else, I was sure of it. She was my first that spring and we stayed exclusive ‘til school let out. That was our deal. No one else as long as we were together, and Fi was trustworthy. She never sugarcoated a thing in her life and she never would’ve broken our deal without telling me.
Stevie tried to push the main floor door open, but it wouldn’t budge. She used her whole body, but still couldn’t manage. She suddenly stopped struggling and eyed me like I was stupid. “A little help here, big guy?” she asked, waving a hand in front of the door.
Shit.I moved forward and easily shoved it open above her head.
The first burst of cold air reminded me that I never even stopped to put a shirt or shoes on, but I followed Stevie outside to Adrienne’s car anyway. She scampered to the backseat and quickly climbed in.
My teeth chattered as I tapped on Adrienne’s shotgun window. Her face gave nothing away as she rolled her window down.
My eyes widened. “Adrienne, wh–”
“Nice to see you again this morning,” she steamrolled right over me. “Seems like you may need water and some Advil after that wild night, my friend.”
“What the f-” I cut myself off and ground my back teeth because I knew Stevie was listening. “What’s going on?”
Adrienne sighed. “Come to The Blitz later when my shift starts. I’ll fill you in.”
I gave a swift nod. At least she wasn’t blowing me off, but the rest of my day was shot because I knew I wouldn’t be able to think straight until I had all the facts. “What time?”
“Eight sharp,” she answered while throwing her car in drive.
My eyes drifted to Stevie in the backseat.
How the hell had I not known she existed?
She didn’t need the DNA test. It was written in her face. She was a blend of me and Fi.
She was my daughter.
30. Josie
Tyler stormed into my room and paced angrily back and forth in front of my bed. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. I’d never seen him so off kilter before. He was usually very calm, unaffected, choosing to use restraint even when he was irritated. He limited his emotional outpouring to clenching his jaw. So this jittery, uneasy version of him was… unexpected.
“Tyler, are you okay? Calm down, you’re starting to freak me out. C’mere.” I fought off a yawn and patted the bed beside me.
He stopped and looked at me with wide, scared eyes. “Iamfreaking out!”
His tone woke me right up. “What?” I searched his face, trying to piece together what the hell was going on. “What’s going on? Who was at the door?”
“Is this a joke?!” he roared, ignoring me. “I can’t do this! I can’t.” He looked up to the ceiling and let out a manic laugh before shaking his head. “Fuck, Fi. You fucking did this and you didn’t even tell me. You didn’t even-”
“Tyler!” I called again, but my effort was in vain. His eyes remained crazy as he continued muttering “I can’t fucking do this” over and over again to himself.
I crawled to the end of my bed and tugged his wrist to make him sit on my bed. I held his face between my palms. “Calm thefuckdown, Tyler. Breathe,” I ordered him.
At least he stopped repeating his negative mantra, but I’m not sure what he said next made me feel any better.
“I can’t be a dad!” he burst out.
My body froze.
“What?” My palms slid from his scruffy face, and my throat burned. “What do you mean? Did you get someone pregnant?Was that a girl?”
He shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut tight. “I mean, yes. Itwasa girl. Aneight-year-oldgirl.”
I studied his face, trying to read if this was some kind of joke. “And you’re…You’re sure?”
