and once he was busy focusing on the road, I freed my hand from his and slid it inside the pocket of his sweats. I rolled my eyes when his lips split into a dirty grin.
“Now you’re talking, Ty-ty.”
His smile fell when, instead of reaching for his dick, I grabbed his wallet before sitting back and flipping it open. Thumbing through the fifties and hundreds, I counted out two weeks’ worth of pay plus overtime before chucking his wallet, which was significantly lighter now, back into his lap.
With a smirk, he tossed the leather billfold onto the dash. Then he rested his hand on my thigh in ownership and sped all the way to our friends.
“SO I GUESS YOU TWO made up,” Tyra observed with her arms crossed. She was currently standing over Jamie and Bee, who were cuddled on the couch. It was so natural no one would suspect they’d spent four years with an ocean between them and the last year hating each other.
“Yeah, and I know you’re disappointed because you and I can never fool around now, but I hope we can still be friends,” Jamie implored. Feeling my glare, he glanced my way and winked.
Jackass.
“Actually, I thought she could do better.”
Four and Lou rushed inside the family room before Jamie could retort, so he settled for flipping her off while Bee’s attention was diverted.
“We’re missing a couple of assholes,” Jamie announced as he looked around. “Where’s Wren and Ever?”
“Wren is…gone again,” Lou supplied with a subtle lift of her chin designed to fool us into thinking she didn’t care. “Ever was right behind us, but then his old man asked to speak to him in his office. Does anyone know what that’s about? Moneybags did not seem like a happy camper.”
In the blink of an eye, the playful expression on Jamie’s face disappeared. Smooth as a button, he lifted his arm from around Bee’s shoulder, stood, and slipped from the room. Yeah, he definitely knew something. And because I knew him so well, I didn’t have to wonder for long if he was behind it.
The girls had already forgotten I was even in the room as they talked, so I took advantage of their distraction and followed Jamie into the hall. I saw him rushing through a set of double doors, and I started after him. Mr. McNamara’s office was on the farthest end of the west wing, which meant we’d have to pass through the gallery, grand foyer, and library to reach it.
Jamie, who had his hand wrapped around one of the knobs, didn’t seem at all surprised when he glanced over his shoulder and found me standing there. With a finger to his lips in warning, he pushed inside, leaving the door open enough for me to hear the voice of Evelyn McNamara—Ever’s mom.
“Son, there’s something you should know.”
“Just a minute,” Mr. McNamara interrupted. There was a pause, and then, “Jamie, we could use some privacy.”
“I’d say you’ve had enough of it for eighteen years.” Through the crack, I could see Jamie defiantly cross the room and then lean against the wall between two floor-to-ceiling windows. “Proceed,” he said once he’d gotten comfortable.
I could just make out the resigned sigh of his uncle before Mrs. McNamara began speaking again. “It’s about your father,” she announced. The way her gentle voice shook, I knew whatever secret she was about to divulge wasn’t going to be good and that Jamie knew exactly what that was. “I don’t quite know how best to say this, but Thomas isn’t…well, he isn’t your real father, dear.”
Unable to see the expression of anyone else in that room, I focused on Jamie after too much time had passed in a silence so complete, I swore I could hear the grandfather clock ticking down the hall. Judging by the dip in Jamie’s brows, he felt as confused as I was, although for different reasons.
Ever still hadn’t spoken.
Anyone else would have been sputtering in confusion, spouting questions, and making demands. I knew that had it been me standing in that room instead of Ever, there’d be at least one hole in the wall by now.
Say something! I silently urged my best friend.
As if hearing my internal plea, Ever’s voice, dripping sarcasm and venom, finally filled the room. “It’s bad enough you lied to me, but to believe I hadn’t already figured that out is insulting to my intelligence. I took an elective in Human Anatomy and passed with flying colors.”
“We should have told