Page 67 of Sticking Out

Her eyes go wide, and okay, yeah, she totally knows I’m talking about the day Dani lost the baby and Alec lied about where he was. “You knew Alec was with me?”

“I knew he was with someone. I didn’t know who, until I heard your laugh at the nursing home. It was the same laugh I heard over the phone when Alec called me. So, I went and investigated and saw you.”

“You saw me? I didn’t see you.”

“You had your back to me. That’s when I saw Tyler. He came out from around the other side of the bed.”

She blinks rapidly, the color draining from her face. “You didn’t say anything?”

“I wasn’t sure what to say. But I have questions. Lots of them.”

She gulps and sets Tyler down. “Tyler, why don’t you play in your bedroom.” She guides him down the hall, and I drop into her wingback chair, bracing my elbows on my knees as I try to quiet my racing heart and brain.

She comes back into the room, her body tight as she sits on the sofa across from me. She lifts her gaze and it’s shaky when it reaches mine.

She gestures toward the kitchen. “Can I?—”

“Is he mine?”

“Conner.”

I lean forward. “Is he mine, Summer?” My voice comes out hard, and she winces, but fuck, I’m angry. Angry at her, at my brother…just fucking angry.

“He’s not yours.” Her voice is so low and weak, it’s a surprise I could hear her.

“How old is he?”

She gulps. “He’s just a little over one.”

Okay, we all know math isn’t my strong point, which could be why I miscalculated how long it would take my brother to get home from New York—or maybe my brain was protecting me from things it wasn’t ready to know—but I’m able to do this math.

“We were together at the time then. If he’s a little over one, and you add nine months pregnancy to that, how is he not mine?”

“Because he’s…Alec’s.”

I jump up and nearly send the chair backward. “What the fuck?” Holy Jesus, how did I not even consider that possibility?

“How do you know?”

“I did a paternity test.”

I grip my hair and tug as I begin pacing. “Why didn’t you tell me this?”

“I didn’t want…to lose him. You have a loving family. I was a student with a mom who cared only about herself and a grandmother who wasn’t well. I didn’t want your parents to take him away from me.”

“You denied my parents from knowing Alec’s child.” I point to my chest. “You denied his uncle from knowing him. If I really am his uncle. I’ll be taking a paternity test, Summer.” I stomp toward the door. With my hand on the handle, and unable to look at her any longer, I stare at the door and ask, “Was he here, in this apartment with you that day?”

A long beat and then, “Yes.”

Just like that, the world as I knew it comes crashing down around me. If Dani finds out, it will destroy her. But how can I not tell her?

25

Dani

“Are you going to sell your house?” Rylee asks me as she fits Ava with water wings, and adjusts them on her tiny arms.

I take a sip of my iced tea. “We haven’t really talked about that yet. It’s too soon, don’t you think?”

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