“Kenny, what the hell?” I leaned back against the bar. Now I was the one shoving my hands into my hair.
“Don’t raise your voice at me, Patrick Knight!” She flashed, and I took one glance before grabbing the reins on my freaking-out insides. I was ready to yell, but not at Ken.
Instead, I opened the cabinet and pulled down the Jack and two shot glasses. I filled both to the rim with amber liquid as she watched me.
“I can’t drink right now.”
Without a word, I lifted one and shot it followed quickly by the second, wincing at the burn. “Shit.”
“Yeah.” Her voice was hesitant. “That’s what I expected you to say.”
Clearing my throat, I felt only slightly more ready for this. At least my tone was calmer. “So you were taking antibiotics?”
Her shoulders relaxed. “I’d been off them a few days. Honestly, I forgot all about it. You might remember we weren’t thinking so clearly that night.”
I remembered everything about that night—down to her crying in my arms at the end. “And you’re sure it’s mine?”
She leaned forward and punched my chest hard. “You think I’d lie to you? You’re the only guy I’ve slept with since Blake.”
Rubbing the spot where she’d hit me, I tried to process this. My stomach was in knots; my emotions were flying all over the place. On the one hand, I wasn’t pissed that Kenny was having a little baby, but Jesus H. Christ! It wasn’t supposed to be mine.
“I don’t know what to say.” I finally admitted. “I mean, we’re not really together. Did you want me to pro—”
“Stop.” She held up a hand. “Just stop right there. I didn’t come here for you to make some grand gesture.” Shaking her head, she tried to leave the kitchen, but I caught her. “Th
at’s not how we are, Patrick.”
Her blue eyes held mine, and I knew she was right. The thought of me getting down on my knee to her was followed closely by the image of her bursting out laughing. But I wouldn’t walk away from this, I wouldn’t walk away from her. Dammit, I had no idea what she needed from me, but I’d give it to her.
“I want to help you, Ken.”
“Then be my friend. Just… be there for me.”
My grip on her arm loosened, and I pulled her to my chest. “I’m always that, babe.”
I held her close, but a soft voice from the living room snapped everything back to the present.
“Patrick?” It was Elaine, standing in the doorway, dressed now in her skirt and my shirt. “What’s going on?”
I crossed the room to her, all of my insides tight. “Elaine, this is Kenny.”
Elaine’s brow rose, and my stomach dropped. “Kenny’s a girl?”
I felt my guest approaching from behind. “You said you were alone this weekend—” Kenny started.
“Yes.” My eyes hadn’t left Elaine’s, and I saw the hurt growing there. Shit shit shit… “I was going to tell you about the mixup, but we got distracted and—”
“You told her you were going to be alone this weekend, so she came here to spend the night with you? And she’s pregnant?”
That’s when it all went to hell. Elaine’s green eyes glistened as they moved from me to the girl standing behind me.
“It’s not like that.”
“I didn’t know,” Kenny said.
“Oh my god, Patrick!” Elaine quickly moved around the room, collecting her shoes and her bag, but I was with her every step of the way.
“Wait,” I said as she pushed past me. Her face was crumbling, and all my insides were crumbling with it. “Baby—”