Page 124 of Truck Me

“Hey,” he continues. “No matter what that says, nothing has to change. You know as well as I do that blood doesn’t make the father. This does.” Liam places his hand over my heart. “All you need is this. You may be a grumpy bastard, but you have more heart than any of us. Nothing can stop you from loving that girl. You hear me?”

I clear my throat and squeeze my eyes closed. “Yeah. I hear you.”

“Whatever the results, we’re here for you. We’ll handle this together like we always do.”

I pull him in for a tight hug. It’s not something I do often, but knowing I have his support—all my brothers’ support—means the world to me.

“Where’s everyone else?” I ask when I release him.

“In the shop. Want me to call them over before we read it?”

I nod. “If you don’t mind. I’d rather only have to do this once.”

“Of course. Give me five minutes and they’ll be here.”

Liam heads out the front door while I continue to pace in the kitchen. Grams grabs a beer from the fridge, pops the top, and hands it to me. “Here. Maybe this will help calm you down. You’re gonna wear a hole in the floor.”

I take the beer and down half of it in one swallow. “Thanks, Grams.”

“Anything for one of my boys. Now get over here.” She steps into my space and wraps her arms around my waist. She’s so small against my large frame. Hugging her is a lot like hugging Rayne.

I squeeze my eyes tight, fighting back the tears. If I got the results, that means she did too. Have they already read them? She didn’t come rushing over to my house to tell me one way or the other. Does that mean I got them first, and they don’t know?

She could be sad because the test confirms I’m not her father. She wants me to be her dad just as much as I want it. If this says I’m not, she could be too upset to face me.

“Fuck,” I mumble. I step back from Grams and start pacing again. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Yes, you can.” Grams’ voice is calm and soothing. “You’re one of the strongest people I know. You’ve weathered every storm that’s come your way and you’ll weather this one too.”

Before I can argue otherwise, Liam returns with all my brothers behind him. Chase and Christian are wiping their hands clean from grease. Ash is still in his coveralls, with grease smeared on one side of his face. Mac is on the phone, and it only takes me a moment to figure out he’s talking to Warren.

“I’ll put you on speaker.” Mac moves his phone from his ear and hits a button on the screen. “Can you hear me?”

“Yeah, I hear you,” Warren says through the phone.

Mac’s girlfriend Sophia steps up behind him and wraps her arm around his waist.

Glancing around, all I see is support and love. Something close to shame washes over me. Shame for all the years I isolated myself from those who loved me most. I didn’t think I deserved their love, so I hid from it. I realize now how stupid that really was.

“Here.” I hand the envelope to Liam. “I can’t do it. Will you?”

Liam studies me for a moment and then nods. “Yeah, of course.”

He takes the envelope and rips open one end. Then he pulls out the folded papers within. I study his expression as he reads over the results.

When he looks up at me, his eyes are unreadable, and I have no clue how to interpret what they convey.

“Well?” I ask.

Without a word, he pulls me into his arms and holds me close. Then he whispers the result in my ear.

I crumble to the floor in a heap of tears.

Chapter 27

It’s all or nothing.

Charlotte