Chapter Twenty-One
Karacameandgotme from work the next day, her excuse that she missed Hank and me, but I knew her true motives. She wanted gossip. Lucky for her, I was feeling like spilling my guts. I told her to pick me up with lunch already in the car if she wanted me. There was no way I was going out in public until I absolutely had to. Not when everyone knew I was boning the Steele brothers.
She didn’t disappoint, which was how I knew she was desperate for the tea. She showed up with an entire pizza and two massive slices of chocolate cake, to be paired expertly with a giant Diet Coke. I strapped Hank into his car seat and then sank into the passenger seat.
“You look…rough.” Kara looked me over, the smile dying on her lips instantly. “What happened, Mal?”
I calmly put on my seatbelt and stared straight ahead. “Just drive, okay?”
“Jesus. Did you rob the place? What’s with the grim expression?” Even while questioning me, she pulled out of the lot and drove away from town. “There’s an overlook up here that we can park at.”
“Julian is Hank’s father!” I screeched the words out and then buried my face in my hands. “Oh, god. I said it. I said it and it’s out there.”
Kara slammed the car to a stop on the side of the road. “What?”
I looked back to check on Hank and then turned to face her. “Hank. Julian Steele is his father.”
“No, that’s impossible. You just started dating him.”
“I’m not dating.” I shook my head. “I mean, no, never mind. I slept with him before. It was that day I met you at the bar after I left that asshole Niall.”
“I’m not understanding.”
I tugged at my hair. “I had sex with Julian that day. In the parking lot. We slept together and I got carried away and didn’t use protection. Hence, the little bundle of joy in the backseat.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“I wish I was, Kara. I really wish I was.” I dry heaved, the stress turning my stomach. “I’m going to throw up.”
Kara pushed me away from her while rolling down the window. “Not in my car! I just got it cleaned!”
I laughed through a dry heave, hysterical. “Are you kidding? That’s not supportive.”
“Sorry that I’m not being supportive when you’re telling me that you had Julian Steele’s baby! I’m having a little bit of a hard time computing this. You sleep with Julian and get pregnant, and then what? Did you tell him? Did he know this whole time?” She looked at my face and then swore. “You never told him. He still doesn’t know, does he?”
“No. None of them know. I’m a monster.”
“How the fuck did I manage to set you up with a set of triplets, one of whom fathered your fucking child?” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Obviously, you need to tell them. Julian deserves to know he has a son. And as much as Julian isn’t my favorite Steele brother, he’ll be a good father.”
I shoved open the car door and hung my head out the side to get some fresh air. “Everything’s going to change.”
“Yeah, it is. Hank will have a father. And uncles. He’ll have a bigger family and more love.” She smacked my arm. “And you’ll be fine. This doesn’t mean you’re losing Hank. He’s your baby, Mallory. No one can take him from you. You’re a good mother.”
I blinked away tears. “I don’t know how any of this happened, honestly. I thought I could stay away from this place, away from Julian. I didn’t even know his last name. I thought he’d never know or care. And then you set me up with his identical triplet, and it all went to shit. I like them. I like them a lot and I’m going to blow it all up.”
“Side note. I did really fucking great setting you up, didn’t I? I knew you’d be just kinky enough to love having three men. And they’re good men. Good men who are a good match for you. They like you. They’re not going to drop you. Just explain things to them.”
“I think I might just throw up instead.”
“Not in the car.”
“I know!”
“You don’t have to shout at me. I’m sitting right here.” She sniffed like she was upset. “It’s not like I’m the one who got you knocked up with a Steele baby.”
“Kara, I’ll push you off the overlook and be glad for it.”
She laughed. “Relax, Mal. Yeah, this is big, but the guys will understand. You’re just going to have to talk to them. Today. Now. Literally right now. I’ll drive you back.”