Sex, Not Love(79)

I shook my head. “I’m not giving your pregnant ass a chance to pick dare.”

“Fine,” she said. “But only because I’m pregnant. Not because I’ve lost my balls. I’ll pick truth.”

I chuckled and thought of a question. “Do you want a boy or a girl? And you can’t say you want a healthy baby, because we’re playing a serious game here.”

Summer rubbed her belly. “If I could pick the sex, I’d pick a girl. But I’ll take a healthy baby of any sex.”

“That’s fair.”

“Your turn. Truth or dare?”

“Since you picked truth, you know I have to pick dare.”

It dawned on me that this had been her plan all along.

“Go after the woman you love, let her be part of your life, and actually live for a change.”

***

“You look like shit.”

“That’s a nice way to answer the door.” I brushed past Derek and plopped down on his couch. We’d made plans to play racquetball tonight, yet he was still in a suit. “I didn’t realize there was a dress code.”

“Wasn’t talking about your clothes. You look like hell. Have you slept lately?”

I hadn’t, because the world was out to get me. In the last few days, I’d met Summer at my brother’s grave where I’d gotten a lecture. Then I’d flipped on the news to be slapped in the face by a story about the upcoming early release of Natalia’s asshole ex-husband, and finally, this afternoon I went to throw on some jeans that were back from the laundry and found a lacy red G-string of Natalia’s in the laundry bag.

I’d forgotten I’d found it under the bed when I double-checked the sublet before I left. I’d stuffed it into my suitcase while I was packing and then scooped the contents of my suitcase into a laundry bag when I returned home. The panty find had brought me a momentary rush of excitement, until I realized I’d washed them and could no longer smell her, no matter how hard I tried.

“Just busy at work,” I lied.

Derek shook his head. “So full of shit. Whatever. You can try to fool everyone around you, but you can’t fool yourself, jackass. I’m going to get changed.”

While he was changing, Anna came in the front door with the baby. She held her finger to her lips, motioning for me to keep quiet as she tiptoed past with the baby sleeping in her arms. She disappeared into Caroline’s room and came out with a monitor a minute later.

“Sorry. She was a little fussy, so I took her for a walk and just got her to go down for a nap. I didn’t want to wake her.”

“How’s my little peanut doing?”

Anna’s face lit up. “She’s pretty awesome, if I say so myself.”

She walked to the chair and sat across from me. “You want kids someday, Hunter?”

That was a question I always hated to answer. Wanting kids and being able to have them were two different things. So while the answer was that I’d love to have a little rugrat one day, I answered with the half-truth that had become second nature to me.

“Don’t think kids are in my future.”

“How come?”

Shit. Though I’d known Anna for years now, she’d always been my friend’s girl. A red box on the checkers board, when I was black. I hopped over and around her, but never landed there. We didn’t have these types of conversations. Obviously she had a reason to take an interest in me as something besides her husband’s buddy now, and that interest unnerved me. I looked over my shoulder, hoping to see Derek coming down the hall to interrupt. No such luck.

“Some people are just meant to be cool uncles, not dads.”

Most people took the hint at my vagueness. Not Anna.

She squinted at me. “Are you always this dodgy when asked questions? I don’t think I’ve paid close enough attention before now.”

My hand automatically went for my tie to loosen it, only I didn’t have one on. Before I could figure out how to respond to her non-question, she fired again. “You were great with Izzy. Maybe you shouldn’t sell yourself short.”

“Izzy’s a great kid.”

Anna studied me the way a detective examines a suspect. She was zoned in, ready for any telltale sign my face would give.

“Nat’s done an amazing job with her,” she said.

I looked away under her scrutiny, but she likely saw me flinch at the mention of Natalia’s name. “She has.”

Anna waited until I met her eyes. I always used the same damn move on Nat when she tried to avoid me.

“Too bad her father is going to be back in the picture soon. They’re releasing him next week—a month early due to overcrowding. I’m sure that will require readjustment for Izzy.”

I nodded.

But she didn’t stop goading me. “And Nat. I’m sure he’ll try to use Izzy to creep back into Nat’s life as much as possible.”

It was impossible to remain steady after that comment. Even if I’d kept quiet, I knew my face screamed that I wanted to strangle someone.

“Natalia’s smarter than that.”

Anna went in for the kill. “She is…but she’s in a vulnerable place right now.”

Luckily, Derek finally finished getting dressed. Anxious to get the hell out of here, I abruptly stood. “About time. We’re going to be late. They only had an hour of court time available.”