But I couldn’t fight it churning inside me. She looked me in the eyes, kissed me, laughed with me, and lied.
It fucking hurt.
“Tris?” Cassie asked.
“I’ll be fine. We had just started seeing each other, if you can even call it that. Let’s focus on the positive. Jamie had a son, and he’s a part of us,” I said, deflecting.
“Let’s wait to confirm that first,” Josh said.
“Can we just pause a minute,” Charlie barked out.
“What?”
“Honestly, you guys are kind of being assholes about this. Evie is James’ mother. Aside from letting Cassie know that she has a nephew, which she has every right to do when she was good and ready, she doesn’t owe you anything. Tris, you said she doesn’t want anything. Money? Fame? Whatever.”
“Yeah,” I muttered.
“And Josh, I get that you are protecting the band, but we get it. You need to confirm that kid’s paternity. Don’t paint Evie like a villain,” Charlie said.
“I’m just doing my job,” Josh fired back.
“Yeah, we got that,” Charlie said, glaring at him.
“All right. Don’t be such a joy killer, CH,” Jax said, clearly trying to lighten the mood.
“No. I’m doing what you guys pay me to do.”
“Be an ass? I don’t remember that in your contract,” Jax said. “And I agree with Charlie. And Tris, figure your shit out. Evie is great. Yeah, she didn’t tell us about James right away, but now she has and we move forward as the family we’ve always been.”
We all stared at him.
“What? I can have a thoughtful moment sometimes,” Jax said, with a shrug.
Bash was the first to shake his head. “He’s right. And so is Josh. We are going to clear up any questions and then we can spoil that little boy rotten. I still can’t believe Jamie had a kid.”
“That he didn’t know about,” Cassie said, her voice breaking.
“Aww, Cassie, baby. It sucks, but it’s going to be okay. He’s going to have a kick-ass aunt and amazing uncles,” Bash said.
“I’m still trying to process it.” Her smile was weak, and it broke my heart. She’d been through so much over the last few years. We all had. But Cassie was Jamie’s actual family. I couldn’t begin to fully imagine everything she’d dealt with.
“I’m an epic uncle,” Jax said.
I knocked him in the head. “You’ve never been an uncle.”
“How hard could it be? Load them up with sugar and fun and then send them home,” Jax said, grinning.
“Don’t let him be alone with Jax,” I said to Cassie.
“I’m going to be the best uncle. Watch me,” Jax boasted.
“Whatever. I bet he’ll love me the most,” Bash said.
“I’m definitely more fun,” Jax said, and Bash rolled his eyes.
“He’ll love all of you,” Cassie said. “But me the most.”
I laughed. Their stupid bickering was just what I needed to attempt to get my mind where it should be.
Then Jax turned to me and lowered his voice.
“Just fix it with Evie. I’ve never seen you happier, man,” he said.
I hated that he was right. But could I get past my hang-ups? And if we moved past this, would it linger in the back of my mind and make me wonder if I could honestly trust her whole-heartedly again?
Chapter 14
EVIE
Today I was going to introduce my son to his aunt and my nerves were getting the best of me. We’d done a cheek swab last week and the results had confirmed Jamie was James’ father. Cassie had called in tears to tell me. I still had no clue how to explain Cassie and Jamie, and his new family, to my son.
“Come on, Mommy. I see the swings,” James said, kicking his legs against the stroller. Today was a typical day in the park for him.
But for me, everything was about to change. James was officially going to know that he had more family members than just me and my mom.
Would Tristan be there? He still wasn’t talking to me, and I wondered if he would ever get past what I’d done. I wanted to feel bad for myself, but he was right: I should’ve told him sooner.
Good god, I missed his smile. And his laugh. And…him.
I wasn’t giving up on Tristan yet, but right now, I had to shove that aside and focus on navigating James through meeting his new family members and having the world find out that the legendary late Steelwolf drummer had an unknown kid.
Of all the people who could’ve knocked me up, why did it have to be someone famous and infamous?
“I want