Page 85 of You've Got Male

“Even worse, Heather is pregnant. And it’s a girl. And he didn’t even tell me. I had to find out from his Insta page.”

Evie was going to kill him.

“Oh my God!” Camila said. “You knew, didn’t you? You knew and kept it from me!”

“Yes, I knew. And yes, I kept it from you.” The betrayal in her daughter’s eyes was nothing compared to the absolute heart-crushing uncertainty crumpling her petite frame.

“I hate you,” she whispered, tears rolling down her face. “More than Dad, I hate you.”

Those four letters were like an arrow to Evie’s heart.

“Why didn’t you just tell me the truth?” Camila’s voice was thread thin, emotions sucking the air from her chest.

Evie set her mug on the table and scootched to the edge of the lounger, so she was closer to Camila. “It was Dad’s news to share, and I wanted to give him a chance to tell you first.”

Camila snorted. “Dad never tells me anything. But you and I are supposed to talk about everything. At least we did before you started dating Jonah.”

She cupped Camila’s cheek. “This has nothing to do with Jonah. In fact, I found out before we started dating.”

Camila rolled off the support. “Were you ever going to tell me?”

“Yes. I just didn’t know how without hurting you.”

“Letting me believe that you were the one who didn’t want me to go to the wedding hurt worse. You always said we’re a team and that wasn’t very team-like.”

“You’re right. I shouldn’t have lied,” she said. “I was giving your dad till the end of his honeymoon and then I was going to talk to you if he hadn’t. But I should have come to you straight away.” Evie wiped away one of Camila’s tears that were streaming down her face. “How do you feel about having a baby brother or sister?”

“I guess that part will be kind of cool. I mean, I love Waverly, and she and Ryan are super close.” Camila looked down at her hands, which were nervously smoothing over the crease of herdress.

“But?”

“But they live in the same house. Dad and Heather live in Boulder, and I barely see them as it is. Once they have the baby, they’ll be even busier.”

“And you’re afraid that it will affect your and Mateo’s relationship?” she asked, even though they both knew the answer to that question.

Chasing bright, shiny objects was Mateo’s MO. He changed directions like a compass in the Bermuda Triangle. And while Evie hoped that his new baby was a wake-up call that would make him step up as a father for both his kids, history warned her to be cautious with her optimism. To not give Camila false expectations for something that might never happen.

“He’s already changing,” Camila said. “I mean he threw a kid-free wedding. He said it was because Heather has a large family with a lot of nieces and nephews, but I’m not a kid.”

“No, you’re not.” And while Camila was referring to being closer to college-bound than construction paper collages, the subtext was screaming,“I’m his kid!”

“Do you love Jonah?” Camila asked and Evie choked on oxygen, which was a miracle since she couldn’t seem to get any to her lungs.

Love? No way. Like? Absolutely.Like-like? She was afraid to answer that. But she didn’t want to rack up another secret, especially with someone who’d been on the receiving end of too many secrets lately.

“I’m not sure,” she said honestly. “When we started this relationship, it was because we both needed help from the other. He promised to be my beard to get everyone off my back about dating and put a stop to the ClickByte insanity. In exchange, I agreed to help him get his life together so he could start his new job.”

Camila’s mouth was open as if poised to swallow a fly. “So you aren’t even really dating?”

“A few days ago, I would have said no. But now I’m not so sure.”

Camila’s shoulders sank. “I’m happy that you’re dating, but why did it have to be Ryan’s dad?”

“Convenience,” she said, but was that really the truth? She could have picked a handful of men from the PTA or even one of the many suitors, like Ernie. Stable, sensitive, single-dad Ernie, who was about as threatening as a gnat.

Instead, she’d gone for a man whose life was a bigger mess than hers. He was the most uncertain, unavailable, and un-dateable man she knew and yet there they were—dating.

The term “fake dating” no longer seemed to apply. The moment they’d had almost-sex all bets were off. Now it was her mission to get them back on. She didn’t need any more dependents in her life, and Jonah came with a minivan full of them.

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