Page 80 of Single Chance

“She wasn’t my roommate then, but yes. It’s Rowan. The night we got together, I thought she was just in town for a short stay. She ended up getting a job from Chloe.”

“At the brewery?” Luke asked.

“What are the chances?” Max said.

“Chloe and Rowan have a friend in common,” I explained. “But I didn’t know any of that until Rowan’s first day on the job.”

I explained how I hadn’t seen her since our hookup and hadn’t expected to ever see her again. How we’d then agreed we could work together without a problem.

“And then she found out she was pregnant,” I said.

“Shit.” Luke stared at me with his beer halfway to his mouth.

“That was pretty much my thought too,” I said.

Max reached to the upper cabinets and took out a bottle of whiskey.

“Good call, amigo,” West said as our host distributed highball glasses and filled them with the top-shelf liquor.

“So now Rowan’s living with you?” Knox asked. “You didn’t mention you were involved with someone.”

“I’m not,” I said. “Ben would appreciate this part of the story. Rowan was having a hard time finding a place to live, so I toldher I had a spare room. She eventually agreed. We just told Sam about the baby a few days ago, so the secret’s out now. I wanted you guys to hear it from me, not the Tattler.”

“Shit,” Luke said again. “How’re you doing with this?”

“I’ll let you know when I figure that out.” I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to release the tension.

“But you and Rowan aren’t involved?” Knox asked.

“That depends on how you define involved,” West said. “If you’re living together and having a baby together, you’re involved.”

“But not romantically,” I said emphatically. I raised my glass to my lips and swigged the whiskey.

“She’s not the type you’d want to have a relationship with?” Max asked.

I took a few seconds to find the right words. “If I was open to a relationship, Rowan would be the type I’d want.”

“Why aren’t you open to a relationship?” The expression on Luke’s face said he thought I was a dumbass.

Letting myself get further involved with Rowan would be the true dumbass move.

“We’re planning to share parenting duties,” I said. “That’s eighteen plus years. We don’t know quite how it’ll look, but I don’t want to do anything to fuck up that co-parent relationship.”

“Who’s to say it would fuck it up?” Knox asked.

“What are the chances this woman I spent less than one night with and I could make it work for the long run?” I countered.

“But what if you could?” Luke asked. “There’s a risk, sure, but there’s also a big potential payoff if you make it work. That baby would be better off with a real, cohesive family than some kind of shared custody arrangement. A mom and a dad, a sister, a stable home.”

“That’s true,” Knox said.

That thought had done more than cross my mind. It’d gotten in and camped out, making it harder to know which was the bigger risk and what would be better for the kids.

“You have to look at the other side too,” West said to the others. “What happens if they make a go of it and it doesn’t work out? The kid loses.”

“You’re coming from a string of relationships that didn’t work out,” Luke said to West. “No offense, man.”

“None taken. My track record’s shit,” West said with a humble chuckle. “Which is why I won’t get serious with anyone anymore. Chance is smart to keep his heart out of it.”

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