Page 103 of The Betrayal

“What is it?” and he will reply with….

“Nothing.”

Before I begin to get agitated and huff. And like clockwork, he will respond with…

“I mean...”

“What?” and now I snap because he is beginning to piss me off.

“Well,” he sucks in a breath, leaning back into the sofa and stretches one of his arms over the back.

Then I roll my eyes.

He is such an annoyance.

Love him though. I do. But he pisses me off. It's a sibling thing. Would love to plant one on his jaw, bust his lip maybe. But if someone else thinks about it or does it... well, then it's outright war.

“Kaleb, spit it out man,” frustration is evident in my voice, I sit forward, fingers wrapped around my glass tightening, but I close my eyes for a moment to calm myself. I don't want to shatter the glass.

When my eyes open, Connie is walking out the room, no doubt annoyed at her significant other who is about to blow the friend code. We all know if one of your girlfriend’s friends divulge with you in the room, she trusts you. That means what you hear in that moment goes no further.

But to Kaleb. It's a point scorer.

He may be the decent one out of us both, and I mean that honestly because I am trash. I know that, but fuck, he loves to gossip.

“She thinks you're going to leave her man,” he puffs his cheeks out, ankle sitting on his knee and his whole demeanor is relaxed.

“What?”

“Yeah, she is scared you're going to leave her... I did ask her why but then she had a panic attack and that's when you walked in,” he whistles through his teeth before he stands and pours his own glass of scotch out.

“I'm not going to leave her, I have told her time and time again...” I feel defeated. It's like she doesn't want this to work out, like she wants me to give up on us.

“I would have told her the same if I had a chance... you wouldn't leave the mother of your children without a dad now...” he turns to face me, tumbler in his grasp, amber liquid poured over ice. “Would you?”

“Fuck, of course not...”

“Then why does she think it Keat? There must be a reason?”

This is where I should have kept my mouth shut. This wasn't only my story to tell, but yet I couldn't keep the secret that has been burning a hole through my heart any longer. The fear that these kids aren't mine and may be someone else’s guts me to my very core. But I love her. With every fiber of my existence. I am irrevocably in love with her.

“Because there is a chance the twins are not mine.” And even saying the words out loud leaves a bad taste in my mouth and it doesn't matter that I just downed the remainder of my scotch, the taste still remains.

“What?” the disbelief is evident, and it makes me feel sick to my stomach.

“You heard it,” I scowl, pushing up and pouring myself another glass.

“I did, but...”

“There was a guy before... just once but... timings and shit.” I take a sip of my drink, eyes closing for just a moment as the warmth coats my throat.

“Well shit.”

“Yeah... shit.”

“I mean... you've done it more than once right?”

I scoff a laugh, “Yeah.”