Page 106 of No Place Like Home

“Look, Hardwell, I respect you, but you’d better watch your fucking tone when you speak to Juliet and Emma.”

That got my blood boiling.

The door opened, and Freya walked inside with some takeout.

“What the fuck is going on? You can hear yelling as soon as you walk in!” she snapped at Jake and me.

“Don’t you fucking start too!” I bit out.

I couldn’t believe them.

Freya glared and pointed her index finger at me. “I know your mama taught you better than this.”

“You know, fuck y’all. I can’t believe you kept her a secret from me.” My tone came out calmer.

“What are you talking about?” Juliet finally spoke.

“Jess hiding my kid from me,” I gritted out.

The room went silent.

Freya’s mouth was opened dramatically. Emma’s eyebrows raised to her hairline. Juliet also looked as confused as the rest of them. She took a step forward.

“You’ve seen Jess?” Her tone was almost frantic.

I obviously knew the secret they’d tried to cover from me.

“Don’t play stupid,” I hissed, feeling fucking drained. “Why didn’t any of you tell me she had my kid?”

Freya was the first to gain her composure. “We haven’t seen Jess in about three years.”

“What?” I barked at no one in particular. This made abso-fucking-lutely no sense.

“She left town a bit after you,” Emma added.

This time, Juliet was standing in front of me, and I could see the worry all over her face. “Did you just say she had a baby?”

I pulled out one of Emma’s chairs and collapsed on it. They were more confused than I was. They started to ask me questions, but I ignored them. I leaned over the chair and kept my gaze on the floor.

“I was just using you. I could have never taken you seriously!”

Her words rang in my ear after all this time. Who would have thought that the same reason why girls came so easy would be the one reason that would make the one I wanted to stay away?

Arms wrapped around me. I could see gold curls in my peripheral vision.

“It’s going to be okay, honey,” Emma whispered as she consoled me.

After a while, Freya kneeled in front of me, and she took my hands in hers.

“See? I knew you were sleeping together,” she joked.

A fake cough could be heard, and I was sure it came from Jake.

Freya gave me a small smile, then touched one of her hands to my cheek. “When did my babies get so grown?”

It was a rhetorical question. She wasn’t looking for an answer from me, because she kept going.

“I know you’re mad at her, but know that sometimes we run not for ourselves, but for everyone else.”

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