Page 49 of The Sweetest Chirp

I chuckle to myself as I shut the door. He whips his head toward me and throws off his headset. He stands, in some Pokémon pink sleep pants and an old hockey juniors shirt full of holes, as he holds out his hands to me. “Hey fucker, I’ve been calling you for four days!”

I exhale, nodding as I bring him in for a tight bro-hug. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s been nuts.”

“Who you telling? Not every day you go out for a pancake and find out your bestie has a kid.”

“Try being the guy it happened to,” I say on a sigh. “But it’s all good.”

His brows shoot up in confusion. “It’s…all…good?” he asks slowly and incredulously. “How is any of that fine? You have a fucking kid, bro!”

My lips lift at the side. “I do, and she’s incredible, Telly. You’re going to love her.”

Telly just blinks. “I’m sure she is. She seemed super cute.”

“She is,” I agree happily, heading to my room. He’s hot on my heels as I pull a bag from my closet. I throw it on the bed and then grab all my game-day suits. “I’m going to go stay with mymom for a bit, to be close to them. I don’t want to miss out on time with Arwen.”

“Oh, okay. That’s understandable, I guess.”

“I’ll still pay my part of the apartment.”

“No worries, dude,” he says, and I feel his gaze on me.

I look over at him. “What?”

“Dude, you don’t look like you just found out you have a kid.”

I chuckle at that. “How do I look?”

“Happy. It’s weird. Why aren’t you raging? Like, tearing the world apart and taking that bitch for all she’s worth.”

I pause mid-stride before I get to my dresser. All I see is red. I close the distance between us, grabbing him by his shirt, the fabric tearing as I yank him inches from my face. “Don’t call her that.”

Telly’s hands come up, his eyes widening before he pushes me off. I stumble back; he’s a big dude. His voice is sharp as he snaps, “Whoa, my bad. Don’t need to put your hands on me.”

He’s right. I take a deep breath. My whole body is shaking, and I can’t believe I did that. Or maybe I can. I don’t want anyone speaking badly of her. I already made her feel like the shit on my shoes, as she said. I won’t let anyone else do that. My chest is rising and falling quickly as I mutter, “My bad, but don’t talk about her like that.”

“I won’t. Fuck,” he mutters, shaking his head. “I’ve never seen you get this worked up over a girl.”

“Because the only girl I get worked up over is her.”

“So, I guess you’re not over her?”

“No,” I say, running my hands down my face. “I never thought or admitted I was.”

“That’s true,” he says slowly. “I just didn’t think after three years of her being gone and finding out about your daughter, you’d care.”

“I never stopped caring,” I admit, meeting his gaze. “I’ll never stop.”

“Bro, what the hell?”

“I gotta get her back.”

He brings in his brows, surprised by that. “Why? For the kid? Plenty of people raise kids without being together.”

I shake my head. “No. I gotta get her back because she’s mine.”

Once more, he looks at me like I’ve lost my goddamn mind. “You want to get back with the woman who hid your kid from you?”

I nod with ease. “I want to get back with the woman I love more than anything in this world. All this other shit is just background noise. I have a second chance, and not everyone gets that. I have to make it worth it. I have to show her how much I can love her.”

---