Page 29 of Keeping Our Secrets

“The timeline is right, and I was the one who took her virginity.”

“Shit,” he cursed. “What are you going to do?”

“Fucked if I know.”

Rick laughed again.

“Fuck you, man! It's not funny.” I wanted to punch the smug look off of his face.

“Shit, yeah it is. Your sister’s having your baby.”

“Stepsister.”

“Whatever. Your parents are married.”

I groaned. “Don’t remind me. She wants to keep it, but doesn’t want our parents to know it’s mine.”

“Well then, you dodged a bullet.”

“I guess.”

What I don’t tell Rick is how I didn’t want to be the kid’s uncle. Shit, I wanted kids someday, but just not now. One thing I knew, I didn’t want some other jackass to be my baby’s father. Mairi didn’t seem to want me involved. Maybe I just needed to prove I could be there, and she’d let me.

“Miranda’s gonna lose her shit when she finds out.”

“Miranda and I haven’t dated since February.”

“Hasn’t stopped her from trying to jump you every chance she gets. How many times have you guys fucked since February?”

“Once,” I responded.

“Since before Mairi moved in?”

“Yeah.”

“Shit… she’s still gonna go psycho on your ass,” he laughed.

I ended things with Miranda a couple months before I went to Paris. We’d dated since our first year of college, but had been friends since before that. This past year, I realized we both wanted different things. She wanted to get married, and I wanted to focus on my career. It didn’t help that I wasn’t in love with her.

Hell, when I thought back, I think I liked the idea of dating her more than the actual dating. She was what I knew, and that was easy. No matter how well we got along, I didn’t think she was the one for me. Like an idiot, I had slept with her since I went to Paris. Before anything happened, I made it clear I wanted nothing more. Rick was right about one thing, though.

She was going to lose her mind.

“Enough of this shit, let’s get drunk,” I lifted my pint and chugged the rest of the beer.

“Hell yeah.”

* * *

We all stumbled out of the pub at just after midnight, the sound of laughter echoing in the street, and I hailed a cab. I arrived home to a dark house, the only illumination coming from Mairi’s room where a warm, yellow light shone through the curtains. I navigated the stairs, carefully placing my feet on each step in order to not make a sound and wake our parents.

I softly rapped my knuckles against the door, the sound echoing in the hallway.

The door opened wide, and Mairi was revealed standing in the doorway. I nearly forgot the purpose of my late night visit as I was distracted by what she was wearing.

My shirt.

All I could focus on was the smell of her hair and the feeling of her lips on mine.

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