Page 66 of Forever Always

Well, fuck that today. Jay and Dakota were hovering by the door, and just watched as I kicked the bags out of the way, unscrewed the lid, and drank right from the bottle.

“Fucking Christ, kid, what the hell are you doin’?”

He reached for the bottle, but I spun out of the way and took another sip. “I thought y’all were sleepin’ at Dakota’s.”

“We were. Are. I forgot somethin’ so we just stopped by to get it. We’re headin’ back soon.”

I raised an eyebrow and pushed past them, bottle still in my hand. “And decided to take a detour to fuck in my living room?”

“We weren’t fuckin’! Fuckin’ A, Riley, what is goin’ on? Becks is gonna kill you.”

“Yeah, well, my ‘dad’ crashed our fuckin’ date. So I think I’ve earned the right to drink.”

I saw Jay’s bag sitting right there on the couch and immediately beelined for it. “You got anything good in there? You’ve always got somethin’.” I needed something besides pain pills and anxiety meds. Those were saved for when we really needed them.

“I ain’t givin’ you drugs, kid. Becks will kick my ass. And whatchu mean your dad crashed your date. Michael showed up?”

I laughed loudly. “HA. I wish. At least I’d have known how to handle that. No, apparently I have a bio dad. I mean, I guess I knew that, but I didn’t know, know that. But now he’s just fuckin’ showin’ up on the street, sayin’ ‘I’m your dad.’ Like, what the fuck is that even supposed to mean?”

Since Jay still didn’t answer me, I took another swig of vodka before then put the bottle on the ground and dug through his bag.

Jay didn’t even try to stop me. His eyes were wide, as if he were trying to process everything. Dakota sighed and slumped into the chair. Jay reached between my legs and grabbed the bottle, takin’ a swig himself before he sat on the couch.

“Are you for real? Like, your actual sperm donor? There are gummies in the front pocket.”

I grinned. “I knew I could count on you, Jay.” I unzipped the front pocket and sure enough, there was a bag of multicolored gummies. I pulled out two and shoved them in my mouth before he could stop me and tell me to take one.

“I don’t know if he’s my real sperm donor. It ain’t like he showed up with a DNA test. But that’s what he said. And why the fuck would anyone claim that if it wasn’t true?” I took the bottle from Jay and took another sip before I gave it back so he could have some. He grabbed the baggie from me and took some gummies for himself.

Dakota groaned. “I guess I’m ordering pizza. We’re going to be here a while, aren’t we?”

“Ooh! And cheesy bread, babe!” Jay exclaimed excitedly. Babe?

“Does Beckett know you’re here?” Jay asked about 10 minutes later, after I’d finished telling the story and had shared about a quarter of the bottle with him.

“Nah. I mean, I’m sure by now he’s stalked my location, but I didn’t tell him. I just . . . wasn’t ready to tell him I got sent home.

Jay snorted. “Ya think? You know you gotta tell him, right? He’s gonna lose his shit. Or I’m gonna let him know myself.”

“Can you give it another half an hour please? I just need some time.”

“Yeah, kid. Pass the vodka.” I grinned and handed it to him as Dakota sighed heavily. I glanced at him, but he didn’t seem pissed, more resigned.

“Sorry,” I mumbled to him. “Didn’t mean to cockblock you.”

He laughed. “That’s okay. I’m already getting used to expecting the unexpected with you and Beckett.”

Out of nowhere, Jay started to crack up, like hard-core, hysterical laughter. “What the fuck is so funny?” I asked him.

“I lost a parent and you gained one.”

My jaw dropped and I stared at him for a long ass minute before I lost it and nearly fell off the damn couch, I was laughing so hard.

“Holy shit, Jay. You’re dark as fuck.”

I knew Dakota must’ve thought we were crazy, but he didn’t leave. He even got the pizza—and cheesy bread!—when the delivery driver got here. At one point, when Jay and I were both on the floor and trying to play Mario Kart on the secondhand Switch we’d gotten from a garage sale once, Dakota forced us to sit up and drink water. But he never complained, never got annoyed, and never seemed jealous that most of Jay’s attention was on me. Which made me feel guilty cause I didn’t know if I’d be as understanding if this were Beckett.

“I was such an asshole to Beckett. He’s gonna hate me.”

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