Page 9 of Secret Baby with my Brother's Best Friend

I sat up next to him. I didn’t want him to go. I wanted the two of us to stay right there on the moss, cuddled together as we basked in the afterglow.

When I thought about it, though, he was probably right. Jason would be furious if he caught the two of us together.

“Okay.” I nodded, sending him a small smile. “Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. I…I should get back to my party before anyone notices I’m missing.”

“Yeah,” he murmured. “You should do that.”

He stood, did his pants back up, and then turned to help me up as well. Silently, he collected my clothes for me and helped me dress. He was being so attentive to me. So sweet. It made my heart flutter.

When we were both dressed and presentable, Ryan regarded me a long moment before saying, “Happy Birthday, Sam.”

I furrowed my brow. Was that it? Not exactly the goodbye I was hoping for…

He distracted me from my disappointment by leaning in and pressing a kiss to my forehead. Cupping the side of my face, he brushed his thumb along my cheek.

I stared up at him, completely at a loss for words as his gentle touch scrambled my mind.

When he dropped his hand, I felt a chill sweep over me.

“Goodbye, Sam,” he said.

“Goodnight, Ryan,” I replied with a small, shy smile.

I watched him turn and walk away. It was only when he disappeared into the woods that I turned in the direction of the party and headed back, practically skipping in my glee.

Is this what death feels like? This has to be what death feels like.

My head throbbed, and my stomach churned.

I didn’t want to open my eyes but forced myself to crack them just a bit. A bit of sunshine made its way past my curtains and landed on my face. I let out a hiss of protest and dragged my covers over my head.

I was never drinking again. I made the promise to myself right there and then.

“Sam, honey? Are you up? There’s breakfast!”

I groaned at the sound of my mom’s shout.

I knew I needed to get up and act like everything was all right and that I didn’t feel like my head was splitting open. If my mom found out I’d been drinking, she’d kick my ass into the next week.

Reluctantly, I threw the blankets off myself and crawled out of bed. I stumbled to the bedroom door and made my way out into the hall.

As I reached the stairs and began my descendent to the first floor, my brother’s voice floated in the air. I paused on the staircase and listened. He sounded upset.

I eased my way down the rest of the stairs and followed his voice to the living room.

Peeking through the open doorway, I found him pacing back and forth, talking into his cell phone.

“Ryan, dude? What the heck? Answer my calls!”

With a frustrated growl, he ended the call and shook his head, clearly agitated. Concerned, especially since he appeared to be trying to get a hold of Ryan, I hurried into the room.

“Hey, Jason, what’s wrong?” I asked, coming to a stop in front of him. “Why are you so upset?”

He shook his head again, so distracted by whatever was going on that he barely glanced at me.

“It’s Ryan,” he said. “I don’t know what’s going on, but he left without a word and now I’m stuck trying to find another ride back to school at the end of the week.”

I froze. It felt like my heart dropped out of my chest and straight to the floor. Ryan was gone?

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