you actually going to use it?” I asked, handing his phone back to him, and taking mine.
He pocketed his, something like devastation coloring his features. “I don’t know yet.”
I nodded, swallowing hard. Fine, fair enough. “Don’t wait too long, Nixon,” I said, turning back around to walk home.
“Or what?” e called to my back, something lighter touching his edged tone.
“Or I might disappear.”
“Wait, what?” He jogged to catch up to me, but I didn’t stop walking.
I shrugged. “I have one semester to complete after my summer courses,” I said. “And once I have my doctorate, I’m heading out. I’ve never put down roots for long. So, if I were you, I’d think long and hard about what, if any, role you want in your kid’s life. No judgment either way,” I assured him despite the weight sinking my chest. I wasn’t moving anywhere for a while—not with the final classes I had to take—but I never let my life be set in concrete. He needed to know that up front. “Just know that I’m not some crazed fan of yours who will wait around forever, hoping you’ll call.”
He stopped in front of me, blocking my path. “You’re saying you don’t want me to call?” Challenge lit his eyes.
I tilted my head before shoving past him, completely done with this day. I’d set out to do the right thing and tell him the truth about the results of our crazy night in Vegas. And he’d insulted me twice. I was beyond done.
So, I glanced over my shoulder, allowing him to see the severity in my eyes. “I’m saying I don’t care either way.”
And I kept on walking, not once looking back.
3
Nixon
“You said what?” Nate barked through my speakers.
“I asked her if it was mine,” I repeated slowly as I turned left onto the street that led to The Barn.
“Holy shit, you can’t ask her that!” he shouted.
“Why the hell not?” I fired back.
“Because you just can’t!” he sputtered. “It’s on the list of shit you’re never allowed to ask a pregnant woman. That’s right up there with ‘are you pregnant?’ Why the hell would you do that?”
“I can think of about thirty-six million reasons, one of which might just be Lila.” I slowed the car as I approached the gate.
“Shit.” My brother sighed so hard I felt it all the way from South Carolina. “I get it. I really do, but Liberty isn’t your ex.”
“Oh, and you got to know her character so well during those twenty-four hours we were in Vegas?” I questioned and waved my access card at the panel. The gate opened before me.
“Fair point. Call your lawyer. Even if she is pregnant and it is yours, you’re going to need him. And as hard as I’m cringing as I say this, you’re going to have to ask her for a paternity test.”
“And you somehow don’t think that’s more offensive than point-blank asking my one-weekend stand if her baby is mine?” I scoffed as I pulled into my designated parking space.
“No, that’s just being smart legally. She’ll get that.”
I put the car in park and sat there silently for a second.
“What’s going through your head, Nixon?” Nate asked me. We always knew when the other wasn’t giving up the full story. Call it twin intuition or whatever. We knew.
“She told me I could sign my rights over,” I said quietly.
“Damn.” A few breaths passed. “You thinking about it?”
“What? No!” If that baby was mine, there was zero chance I’d walk away. But the last time I’d made that commitment… Don’t go there. “It just made me think that she might be telling the truth. Someone trying to extort money isn’t going to offer an out.”
“Solid argument. Where did you leave it?”
“We exchanged numbers, and she told me not to wait too long to decide if I want a role in the baby’s life because she’s not planning on sticking around.” What kind of mindfuck was that? Who the hell told you in one breath that she was having your kid, and in the next informed you that you weren’t worth staying around for? “Anyway, I asked for some proof. Was that too insulting, oh wise one?”
Another sigh filled my speakers. “No, that’s smart. You need me up there? I can hop on the next flight.”
Some of the anxiety twisting my stomach into knots lifted, but I knew I couldn’t pull him away from Harper. These were the only months they got together before the NHL season started. “Nah,