“Sure,” I said. “I just cleaned under that one. You want a drink first?’”
“No, I’m fine. This won’t take long. I still have decorations to help Ava get up.”
“Cool,” I said as I sat. “What’s up?”
“Well,” he said, folding his hands over themselves and scooting up in the seat. It squeaked under him, and I made a mental note to convince him to let me replace the faux-leather seating with something else. “I wanted to ask you about how things were going with Becca,” he said. “I heard that maybe she was back to staying with you?”
“Yeah, she is, actually,” I said.
“And how is that going?”
“Honestly?”
“Honestly.”
“It’s fucking amazing,” I said.
Mason’s face brightened up, and he smiled wide. “That is good to hear, brother. Very good to hear.”
“I really haven’t talked to anybody yet about it,” I said. “It’s still so new, and Nick isn’t quite on board yet…”
“I get it. And he will get on board. You guys have been best buddies since, what? Middle school?”
“It’s been a long time. I just hope he does get with the program, because Becca and I are made for each other.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “Mason, I swear, I’ve never felt like this before. Not only is she gorgeous and smart and funny, but everything about our relationship is incredible. We have this connection I can’t describe.”
“You don’t have to,” he said, holding out a hand. “I know what that is, trust me.”
I nodded. “Exactly,” I said. “You know how this feels, and that’s why I wanted to talk to you about it, too. She’s been so amazing to me, our connection and everything for one, but also helping me sign up for classes, and I’ve helped her look for work. It’s just falling together in a way I couldn’t have planned if I wanted to.”
“Well, I am certainly glad you have her in your life,” Mason said. “You seem worlds happier, which, let’s face it, you haven’t been recently.”
“Yeah, especially really recently,” I said. “I know it’s affected me not knowing what was happening between us.”
“I can imagine,” he said. “So, how is the school thing going?”
“Oh, yeah, I start classes next semester,” I said, seeing movement in my periphery. It was Jordan, coming up beside us, a soda in one hand and a giant cardboard cutout of David Hasselhoff in the other.
“I missed most of what you two have been yakking about,” Jordan said, taking a sip of his drink through a straw. “But I caught the part about the classes. Congrats, man.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“He’s also been waxing poetic about Becca,” Mason said. “I think our brother is head over heels in love.”
“Well, hell that’s worth a congratulations too,” Jordan said. “I’d drink to that, but all I have is a soda and The Hoff here. Maybe after we close, we can do a round in celebration of no more Pouty Tyler?”
I laughed. “Is that what you’ve been calling me?”
“Sure,” Jordan said, “when we were being nice about it.”
The three of us laughed, and Jordan walked away, carrying the sign to the front of the bar and sitting it at the table that displayed our meager merchandise in glass cases. The picture had him pointing, so Jordan set it up so he was pointing at a T-shirt of the bar. I shook my head.
“Alright,” Mason said, “enough of this fucking around. Let’s get to work.”
With that, the two of us stood, and Mason held out his hand for me to shake. I took it, and he patted me on the shoulder as he did.
“I’m really happy for you, Tyler,” he said. “If there is anything I can do to help, let me know.”
“I appreciate that, Mason,” I said. “Just having all of you guys’ support means the absolute world to me. Seriously.”
“Well, you always have that,” Mason said. “Family comes first, and that doesn’t just mean the bar. It means making sure we are all able to find our own happiness. I will support you finding your happiness no matter where that leads you.”
I went to the back to get more decorating supplies, excited to get a busy night ahead of me and fall into the rhythm of work. Doing that would allow my brain to wander, and I knew right where it would wander to. A hot, soapy, bubbly bathtub, with the most gorgeous, sexy woman I had ever met in my life, naked and sparkling clean inside.
26
Becca
Before I even opened my eyes the next morning, I could feel Tyler lying beside me. It was definitely my favorite way to wake up in the morning. I loved just lying there, feeling the warmth of his body and knowing he was so close. The way his weight pressed the mattress down, creating a little dip I could roll into and nuzzle up beside him made me smile.
Part of me felt like I could just stay right there, just like that. I didn’t need to open my eyes. I didn’t need to wake the rest of the way up and face the day. I could just stay in the in-between time of sleep and wakefulness, enjoying being close to Tyler.
But a bigger part of me wanted to look at him. Just feeling him close wasn’t enough. I rolled over onto my side and opened my eyes. He was still sound asleep. Lying on his back, he looked peaceful and content. When I stretched out beside him, he wrapped around me and held me against him. It was almost like even in his sleep, he didn’t want me too far away.
I let out a sigh and propped my chin up on my hand as I supported myself on my elbow so I could look into his face lovingly. I ran my hand lightly along the side of his face and traced the strong edge of his jaw. A few seconds later, his breath changed just slightly. Whether it was in response to my touch or just because he was coming awake, his head tilted a tiny bit back and his eyes fluttered open.
His head rolled to the side so he could look at me. I smiled at him, and he shook his head.
“You realize it’s really creepy that you’re just lying there watching me sleep,” he said, a joking lilt in his voice to take away the edge of the accusation.
“You just look so peaceful,” I said. “So comfortable and content.”
“Only because I get to lay next to a beautiful lady named Becca.” His hand rested on my back, and he lifted up to kiss me. It was just a quick kiss at first, but as soon as our lips parted, he kissed me again. A bit more slowly this time, it was the exact way I wanted to be greeted every morning. I tried to hide my happy smile but ended up with my cheeks hurting.
“You hungry?” he asked.
I nodded. “Starving.”
“Good. I’ll go make breakfast. Relax for a little while if you want, and then come meet me down there.”
I admired him as he got out of bed and threw on some lounge clothes, then walked out of the room. Sighing, I rolled over onto my back and stretched out happily. I could definitely get used to this. I only stayed there for a few seconds, not wanting to be away from him for too long. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t just spend my entire day in bed with Tyler. Eventually, the real world would beckon, and I would have to go.
Until then, I would relish getting to be with him.
As I walked down the stairs, I heard him moving around in the kitchen. He already had the stove going, a pan with bacon just starting to heat up at the front and another pan on the front waiting for the eggs he was cracking into a bowl.
I opened the refrigerator door to get out some orange juice. I had just tipped it into my glass when the bacon heated up enough to send its rich, smoky smell into the air. Usually, I loved that smell. It was one of those things that could always get me out of bed and lure me into any kitchen. It brought with it all kinds of memories of holidays and special occasions.
Not so much that morning. The second the smell hit my nose, an intense wave of nausea hit me. It was so strong, it made me put my juice back down and turn my back to the stove. I drew in a couple of breaths, hoping it would pass. But the sick feeling only got worse.
&nbs
p; I walked up to Tyler and kissed him in the middle of his back. “I’m going to run back upstairs and take a shower.”
“Breakfast is almost ready,” he said.
“I know. But I’m feeling really grimy. And kind of foggy. If I take a shower, it’ll wake me up and I’ll feel better.”
I was already heading out of the kitchen when he responded.
“Okay, I’ll wait for you before I eat. Don’t take too long. I’m hungry,” he called after me.
I rushed into the bathroom and stripped out of my clothes. I had just managed to get the water running in the shower when the nausea spiked up and I got sick. It was a shock, and I lowered myself down to the floor, sucking in breaths to try to settle my stomach. Another couple of waves of the sickness came over me, by the time I was finished, I was shaking and felt weak.
I managed to pull myself up off the floor and climb into the shower. As I stood there with the water streaming down over me, I tried to figure out what could be going on. I didn’t know anybody who had been sick recently, so I didn’t know how I managed to pick up a stomach bug. Especially one that happened that quickly.
Maybe it wasn’t a bug. Maybe I got food poisoning. I went over everything I ate in the last couple of days, but there wasn’t anything unusual. I reached for the shampoo and had filled my hand with the fragrant gel when my stomach turned again.
That was when it hit me. My period. Or, more accurately, my lack thereof. There had been so many other things going on in my mind the last month, it hadn’t even occurred to me that I should have gotten my period a couple of weeks ago.
A whole new sick feeling rolled over me. There was no ambiguity in what was going on now. When I turned into the stream of water and the hard water pressure hit my breasts, making them ache, I was even more convinced.
My eyes closed, and my face crunched up as I groaned with the thought that went through my mind. Nick was going to kill Tyler.
That wasn’t even taking into consideration how Tyler was going to react. I leaned my head against the wall. I had no idea what he was going to think. We had never discussed whether either one of us wanted children or what it would be like to raise kids. It wasn’t like we were having those big, dramatic conversations at this point in our relationship.
The truth was, I didn’t even know how he felt about children. Maybe he didn’t like them at all. I knew he brought up his niece or nephew from time to time, but that was different. That was somebody else’s child. He could enjoy doting on them and have all the fun he wanted, then turn the child back over without having to take on any real responsibilities.
There was a huge difference between enjoying a young child when they were a relative, and actually wanting to raise one. I didn’t know how Tyler was going to cope with the idea of becoming a father.
But I couldn’t stand around in the water all day thinking about it. Eventually, he was going to get suspicious and come into the bathroom to find me. It would be better if I just went about my day and didn’t let on that anything was unusual. I didn’t want him thinking something was wrong or prying until I blurted everything out.
I got out of the shower and got dressed. When I got downstairs to the kitchen, Tyler looked at me with a questioning expression in his eyes.
“I was wondering what happened to you. Come on. Breakfast is ready and I don’t want it to get cold.”
We sat down at the table, and he dished out eggs, bacon, and potatoes on two plates in front of us. He added a couple of pieces of buttered toast and dug in. I knew he would think something was off if I didn’t eat, so I nibbled on a few bites. I was surprised to find eating actually helped to settle my stomach a bit. I couldn’t eat a lot, but it was enough that he didn’t question it.
After breakfast, we cleaned up, and then Tyler had to get ready to go to work. As soon as he was gone, I headed to Melissa’s. I couldn’t handle this completely on my own. I needed to tell her and have her there with me.
She opened the door with a wide smile, but it dropped as soon as she saw my face.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I think I might be pregnant.”
She pulled me into her apartment and closed the door. “What’s going on?”
I dropped down onto the couch with a huge sigh. “I missed my period. My boobs hurt like hell. I’m sick to my stomach.”
She nodded as I rattled off the symptoms. “Alright. We’re just going to stay calm and take this one step at a time. Come to the bathroom.”
I followed her into the bathroom, and Melissa crouched down to rummage through the cabinet under her sink. She emerged with a box of pregnancy tests clutched in her hand. I looked at them strangely.
“Why do you have those?” I asked.
“When I had that scare, I bought about a million of them to make sure. When they came back negative several days in a row, I decided that was it and put the rest in the cabinet,” she said. “But now they’re here for you. Take a couple of them just to be sure.”
Melissa stepped out of the bathroom, and I took two tests out of the box. After thinking about it for a few seconds, I got out another.
Just like I had, Melissa sat outside the bathroom door while I took all three tests. I lined them up on the counter for the three minutes I had to wait for the results. That time dragged on until finally the timer on my phone went off. I took a breath and stepped up to the counter to look down at the tests.
Positive. Positive. Positive.
There was no questioning that.
I opened the door and looked out at Melissa. “What am I going to do?”
27
Tyler
The bar was a little slow that evening, and I was glad for it. A night where I didn’t have to run like crazy the entire time was a welcome change. Obviously, the busier we were, the better for the bar’s bottom line, but I wasn’t going to turn my nose up at a night where I could relax a little. A few of the regulars were there, nursing their drinks the way that regulars tended to do.
I had just run a plate of fries out of the kitchen for one of the ladies who came in once a week like clockwork when I saw the door open from across the bar. Light from the parking lot poured in and created a shadow over the person, so I couldn’t tell immediately who it was.
When the shadow had finally gotten to a point where I could tell who they were, it was a shock. Nick stood just feet from me, with a look on his face I couldn’t quite decipher. I raised my hand in a short wave, and he responded with a similar one and took a seat at the bar. I didn’t bother to ask him what he wanted, since as my best friend, I knew. I brought him a Jack and Coke, sat it in front of him on a napkin, and rested my elbows on the bar.
“Hey, Nick,” I said, trying not to let too much emotion one way or the other into my voice. “What brings you in?”
“I just needed a drink,” Nick said.
“There are a lot of bars you could pick in Astoria,” I said. “Yet you picked this one.”
“It’s the best one around,” he said, taking a sip.
“You’re not wrong,” I said. “But if you’re only here for the alcohol, I’m sure there are other bartenders who could make you a decent whiskey and soda. Why me?”
“Who said I thought you’d be working tonight?”
“If anyone else other than me knows my schedule, it’s you,” I said. “That’s why.”
“Fair,” he said. “Very fair.”
“So, what is it?”
Nick turned the glass around in his hand a few times while he pursed his lips to one side. I waited for him to say something, filling a drink or two while I waited. Finally, he sighed.
“Look, I know I was a bit unfair when I acted out toward you,” he said.
“A bit unfair?” I said sarcastically. “You basically accused me of being a predator.”
“I did not,” he argued. “I insinuated you were a traitor, though. And that was wrong. As much as I don’t like that you started dating my sister, you’re both ad
ults. I think the thing that bugs me most about it is you didn’t tell me.”
“You know why she didn’t want to tell you is because of how you reacted anyway,” I said. “She knew that reaction was coming whether she told you or you just found out. But she wanted more time, to see if it was something real before bringing you into it. Because she knew it would be a hassle for you to find out, and if it wasn’t necessary, why do it?”
“But it was necessary,” Nick said.
“Was it?”
“You two are together, aren’t you?”
I hung my head and smiled for a moment.
“Not any thanks to you,” I said. “When you left, she did, too, and I didn’t hear from her for two weeks. She and I just reconnected, but I can’t tell you how close it was to never happening.”
“That was because of me?” Nick asked.
“Yes,” I said. “She felt so guilty, so upset at how you treated her, and how our relationship soured, that she ghosted me for weeks.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Nick said, his voice suddenly lower. There was still a swagger there, something I didn’t like, but it was nice to hear him apologize, even if I wasn’t sure he meant it.
I went back to helping other guests, and Nick had another drink. Then another. He was getting low on his third when I decided I wasn’t going to serve him anymore and had just told Ava the same thing. I was about to ask her to grab Mason to be the one to cut him off, since I figured me doing it would just cause extra grief, and I wasn’t going to ask Ava to do it for me. But coming from Mason, it would be smooth and charming and make it seem like it was Nick’s idea all along. Mason had a gift for that.
“Look,” Nick said, cutting me off in mid-whisper to Ava and waving to get my attention. “Look, Tyler, I am sorry. I am. Really. And if you want to be with my sister… if you really, really want to be with her… I’ll allow it.”
I rolled my eyes so hard I thought for a second that I could see my brain. As if Nick ever really had control over who Becca or I decided to date. Especially in dating each other. She might not feel comfortable, but that was her choice. Not his.
His Best Friend's Sister: A Secret Baby Romance Page 14
