Page 110 of A Little Secret
I grimace. “Apparently, I need to have my hearing checked because that sounded nothing like?—”
He slams his hand against the wall, and I flinch.
“I thought you said you broke up with Drew,” he growls.
“I did break up with Drew.”
“So, is henotthe father?”
I blink. Twice. “What?”
“I assume he isn’t the father, or else why the hell would you break up with him?” His eyes darken. “Were you cheating on him with Griff? Is it his? Because the timeline sure as shit is murkier than it should be.”
“What?” I screech. “No?—”
“Or were you telling the truth when you first got home from your little road trip, and Drew really was cheating on you?” His nostrils flare. “You were, weren’t you? He was cheating.”
“Ev,” I start.
“I’m gonna kill him,” he decides. “I’m gonna fucking?—”
“Ev,” Raine interrupts. Slipping beside him, she touches his cheek and forces him to look at her. “You need to breathe, and you need to stop overreacting.”
“Pretty sure I’m not overreacting, Storm,” he rasps, but the muscles in his shoulders soften, and he leans into her touch, forcing his gaze back to me. And the disappointment. The resignation. It stings.
“Fuck, Fin.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much how it happened,” I joke.
The guy’s mouth doesn’t even twitch. “How could you be so…”
His voice trails off, but I could fill it in with a thousand different words, and none of them would take away the sting.
“Fertile?” I offer dryly. “Well, apparently, it runs in the family since mom got pregnant before she was married, too, and you turned out okay, so…”
Unamused, Everett folds his arms. “Does this mean you’re planning to marry Drew like Mom did with Dad? Because at least with me, I had both my parents.”
“I thought you hated Drew,” I point out with a smirk in hopes of dissipating the bundle of nerves making me feel like a livewire under his scrutiny. I want to tell him that I know it was stupid. I knowIwas stupid. I know this whole situation is messed up. I know I made a mistake, and I’m terrified of what comes next. Of how I’m supposed to handle this.
“It isn’t funny, Fin. It isn’t a joke.” My brother scrubs his hand over his face. “How could you be so irresponsible?”
And there it is. The word I was waiting for. The word I knew would cut me and solidify my biggest assumption. He thinks I’m irresponsible. And in a way, I am. I forgot to pack my birth control when I visited Drew, and the rest ishistory. But it doesn’t soften the blow or the knowledge that I’ll never be enough. I’ll never be looked at as someone who knows how to handle their shit. Nope. I’m just the girl who screwed up by getting pregnant before I’m even allowed to legally touch alcohol.
Fantastic.
“Everett,” Raine snaps. “This could happen to anyone?—”
“Yeah, and the rest of us would handle it like adults instead of sweeping shit under the rug or pretending it isn’t real or cheating on our significant other or?—”
“Don’t you dare accuse me of cheating!” I yell, but my asshole brother barrels over me.
“Or letting the fucking sperm donor off the hook! Does Griffin even know? How could you do that to him? I was worried he’d fuck you over, but you’re the one?—”
“It’s mine,” Griffin interrupts.
The lie hits like a punch to the gut, and I crumble forward, searching the sea of friends for my boyfriend’s face. There he is. At the front door. Sandwiched between Maverick and Ophelia. His expression is…grim. And I hate that it’s there because of me. My mistake. My screw up.
“Griff,” I plead.