Page 96 of Crazy Imperfect Hearts

“It issonot that,” I say with a biting stare. “If I tell her, she’ll pull away completely, and who knows, I may not even be invited to the birth. When we’re together, she acts like we’re best friends or something. Best friends who scratch each other’s itches. If I go and ruin what she thinks we have—this amazing co-parenting relationship that comes with zero strings—it could change everything.”

“So you’re just going to spend the rest of your life pining for the mother of your kid?” Blake asks.

“I don’t know.” I throw my hands in the air. “I don’t fucking know, okay?” I stare back down at the photo.

“What don’t you know?”

My heart races as I look up at my sister. I hadn’t even realized Allie was here. She scoots in next to me, pushing me over, and grabs my phone. Before I can take it away from her, her eyes bulge. “Lucas! Oh, my god, who’s ultrasound is this?”

I stiffen and crane my neck around to see if anyone heard. “Would you shut up,” I hiss.

“Wait.” She covers her mouth in surprise. “Is this…yourbaby?”

My mind spins trying to come up with some reason—anyreason—why I’d have an ultrasound photo on my phone. But there isn’t one.

Blake and Dallas both cock their heads in amusement. They know I’m backed into a corner.

“You cannot tellanyone,” I whisper between gritted teeth. “Not even Mia. Swear it.”

“Oh, come on. Mia can keep a secret.”

I cringe. “She was the first one to blab about Denise leaving Carter and Christian.”

“She was a teenager. All teenagers gossip.”

“That wasn’t gossip. That was spilling the beans on a family secret.”

Allie looks down at the table. “Lucas, believe me, shecankeep a secret.”

Something about the way she says it has me believing her. Like maybe Miahaskept a secret. Forher. “Does this have anything to do with your fuck-buddy boyfriend?”

“His name is Asher. And he’s not my boyfriend. But no. Nothing to do with that.”

Oh, it’s something. I can tell. But I don’t push her, because I’m about to tell hermysecret. “Don’t tell her, Al. It’s just for a little while, okay?”

“Fine,” she huffs. Then she looks across the table. “Why don’t the two of you look surprised?” Her hands go to her hips, elbows out in consternation, and she glares at me. “They already know?”

I shrug.

“Since when did the three of you become a boys’ club with no girls allowed?”

“Since I know they can most definitely keep a secret.”

“Says who?”

“Allie, they’ve known about this for four months. If they’d told anyone,everyonewould have heard about it by now.”

Her mouth opens so wide she could catch flies. “Four months?” She takes my phone again, and when the lock screen appears, she shoves it close to my face to unlock it. Then she studies the picture, tracing the baby’s head with a finger.

“Next week will be halfway. Twenty weeks.”

She uses her thumb and forefinger to zoom in on the photo. I know what she’s doing, but she won’t find it. When I took pictures of the photos, I made sure to exclude the name across the top. Then again, maybe she’s looking for a penis. Or the lack of one.

“Who is she? When is she due? Is she from around here? Is the baby a boy or a girl?”

I answer the easiest question first. “It’s a boy. See?” I take the phone and page through the photos until I find the penis-between-the-legs one. “He’s due in March.”

Her brow furrows. “A boy?”

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