Page 39 of Skylar

“Of course, this has been our most difficult client yet, so maybe you’re just trying to get out of dealing with them.”

Aiden chuckled. “I’d never do that to you.”

“You better be available for venting sessions,” Devon said as he leaned back in his chair.

“I’m always available for that,” Aiden assured him. “And I’ll still be at all the meetings. I’m not leaving the project completely.”

It was a relief to shift the responsibility for the project to Devon, and he was glad that his friend didn’t mind stepping up to help him. The man’s reaction to Aiden’s request was a true reflection of the working and personal relationships they had.

“I guess I’ll see you at our next meeting,” Devon said as he got to his feet. “Take care of yourself and give my regards to your mom. And of course, say hi to the little princess for me.”

“Will do,” he said. “And you tell Glory I’m sorry for adding to your workload.”

“She’s busy with school,” Devon said of his wife of a year. “So we can sit on the couch together in the evenings and work. At least we’re together.”

He envied Devon and Glory’s marriage. They were what he would like to have in a relationship. They were supportive of oneanother, and though they were both busy, they made time for just the two of them.

In a lot of ways, they reminded him of his parents. The way they worked in partnership, loving and respecting each other.

He was happy for his friend, but the desire to have something like that for himself had grown over the time he’d known the couple.

After a brief discussion about what parts of the project Aiden would continue to have responsibility for, Devon left. Aiden tried to focus on those aspects of the project for the remaining hours of the workday.

His phone rang as he was driving home once he was done work, and since he had it running through the Bluetooth of his car, he answered it without looking to see who it was.

“Brooooo.” Cole’s voice coming through the speakers made Aiden wish he’d looked. “What onearthis going on?”

He was actually surprised it had taken Cole this long to call him. Although Aiden knew that he probably should have been the one to reach out.

“What do you know?”

“That you and Skylar are Shiloh’s parents,” he said. “Like what? How did that happen?”

“After we broke up, she told me she was pregnant,” Aiden said, then swallowed hard before continuing on. “I told her to just get rid of it.”

“What?” Confusion was gone, replaced by anger. “You told her to get an abortion?”

“To be honest, I didn’t think she was actually pregnant,” he told Cole. “I thought she was trying to get us back together again. She really hadn’t wanted the breakup.”

“You had to know that Skylar would never do that,” Cole scoffed. “She isn’t that sort of girl.”

“You’re right, I did know that,” Aiden admitted. “But at that time, I told myself she was, to justify brushing her off. When you never said anything about her being pregnant, I just thought that I’d been right.”

“Why did it even come up now?” Cole asked.

“So you know that Shiloh is sick, right?”

“I’d heard that Charli was concerned about something.”

“Cole, Shiloh has cancer,” Aiden said. “You didn’t know that?”

There was a long stretch of silence before Cole said, “I must have missed that message in the family chat.”

“Good grief, bro,” Aiden said. “You need to pay more attention to your family.”

“I know. I know.” Cole sighed. “It’s just… life.”

“You mean how you’re not living the life your parents would want you to?”

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