by Piper Rayne
Now we’re all outside, Kingston and Palmer included. Kingston is doing his best to sign what’s being said to Palmer though he misses a lot of it. I smile because it will only help her even if she doesn’t understand all the signs yet.
“Does that happen a lot?” Sedona asks.
Gina looks up from her iPad and back at me. “Some people think they’re special.”
I cannot believe this woman is still acting like this. So I step forward, ready to lower my voice and give her what for. I can’t believe I let her intimidate me to the point that I wouldn’t return the minivan until now.
But Sedona’s hand lands on my chest and she steps up in front of me. “I’m not sure who you think you are, but this man right here is amazing.”
Gina huffs and rolls her eyes. She goes inside to the office and we all follow.
Sedona looks Gina up and down, saying in a judgmental tone, “He made a mistake. Lots of people do. Maybe you’re familiar with the concept.”
“Let’s just go. King, stop signing,” I say.
“Why? We’re helping Palmer,” he says, his fingers not stopping.
Sedona shrugs out of my hold on her upper arm. “I’m not going anywhere. You can’t talk to people like that. He’s a human being. I know he’s some huge celebrity in your eyes and I’m sorry that what he did disappointed your son, but believe me, he carries the burden of that every day. But he’s human—he fucked up, and he’s worked hard to get back to a good place in his life.”
“Well, I don’t know how to sign that word,” Kingston says from behind us. “Probably for the best. I’ll just say you made a mistake.”
I shake my head. I should’ve done this myself—not that it doesn’t feel good to watch Sedona defend me.
“When he’s getting paid all that money, he has a responsibility to his fans,” Gina says.
Sedona throws her hands in the air. “Are you kidding me? He’s fucking human.”
“You’re making this hard, Sedona,” Kingston says.
“Just because he’s so talented in soccer doesn’t mean he lives his life for you. All you know about him is what you read in gossip magazines.” Sedona looks behind us, where Kingston bites his lip while Palmer waits intently for him to sign. But Sedona picks up Palmer and turns her toward the woman. “This girl is the luckiest girl in this world to call this man daddy. He’s gentle and kind and loves her with his whole heart. So from now on, why don’t you keep your judgments to yourself? You don’t know him, and you don’t know our family.”
Palmer squirms to get free, and Sedona sets her down. I move to get her, but Palmer goes to a desk on the side of the counter, picks up a coffee mug, and chucks it at the lady.
Gina darts to the side to prevent her leg from being hit. “Great work on your kid. I see the apple didn’t fall far.”
Sedona rushes the desk, but I hold her back, bringing her into my arms.
Kingston grabs Palmer, picking her up, and chuckles. “Oh shit. I told you she’s been hanging around Savannah and Brinley too much.”
“Let’s just go before we’re in Buzz Wheel for a fight in the rental car shop,” I whisper. “She’s not worth it.”
Sedona calms a bit but turns around once more. “You’re right, King. I guess you need to work with her on her aim.”
Kingston belts out a huge laugh and I chuckle. Sedona snatches Palmer out of Kingston’s arms and bolts from the place.
“Shit, man, if that’s not a declaration of love, I don’t know what is.” Kingston pats me on the back as we walk out of the rental place.
Damn, my heart was already floating out of my chest from being with her, but I’m riding sky-high now.
Twenty-Eight
Sedona
“So he’s renting a house but really he wants to buy it?” Phoenix rolls her eyes and walks a beat faster.
I put my hand on her arm. “Can we please slow down? I just got my okay to exercise last week.”
We’re walking on the path surrounding the bay in Sunrise Bay for a change of scenery, me pushing Palmer in a stroller while she naps. My sister has been in LA, and this is my first time seeing her since Jamison and I got back together. As expected, she’s not thrilled about the news.
“Explain it to me again. Ethel and Grandma fixed you up, and so you just slept with him.” She raises her hand before I can answer. “Please, for the love of God, tell me you used protection.”
“Yeah, there was a box of condoms in the welcome basket.”
She stops cold and I take the opportunity to catch my breath. “You didn’t?”
“I told you I slept with him. I told you we’re a couple now.”
“No, I mean you didn’t use the condoms they supplied, did you?” Her face indicates she’s thinking you cannot be this stupid, Sedona.
“What were we going to do?”
“They probably put a pinprick in them.” She stares at my stomach as if I’m already growing a baby inside.
I cover my stomach with my hand. “I doubt it.”
She widens her eyes and walks again. “You know how much she loves to brag about how many great-grandchildren she has. Just sayin’.”
I look down at my belly for a second. No. Definitely not.
“Where is Mr. Wonderful anyway?” She looks like those mall walkers, hips swaying, arms that could injure a passerby.
“Not sure. He just said he’d be by for dinner. Did you know he’s coaching Calista’s soccer team now?”
I’m not going to say anything—because I’m on Operation Get Phoenix to Like Jamison—but the last few days have been odd. He’s not hanging out at my apartment as much as usual and he canceled on me last night, saying he was tired. A pit in my stomach says something isn’t right. Maybe he’s mad that I won’t move in with him? Feels like I’m giving him the cold shoulder?
I’ve never ignored my gut, and I’m not going to now. Jamison has never given me a reason to be jealous. Ever. Even when I was anyway. So I’m trying to give him space, but I think I’m going to ask him about it at dinner tonight. We have to live our lives like an open book, and if something is going on with him, we need to discuss it whether it’s difficult or not.
“Hmm,” she murmurs.
“Will you please stop it? We’re giving it an honest shot, and you, as my sister, need to be on my side.”
“I’m on your side, just not his.”
I struggle to keep up with her. “That’s it, you’re taking the stroller.”
She stops ten paces in front of me and waits for me to catch up with Palmer. I hand it off to her and keep going.
“Oh, this is good. More of a challenge than just walking,” she says.
“Thanks for making me feel like a complete loser.”
She pats my back. “You just had a baby. I have no idea what that’s like. I might soon though.”
I stumble a step. “Is there something you have to tell me?”
She gets that look in her eye. The devilish one after she’s done something bad.
“I’m pregnant,” she whispers loud enough for me to hear.
“What?” I screech and stop on the trail.
People behind us mumble and go around me.
“Shh!” She walks again and I have to try to pry my jaw up from dragging along the asphalt. “The worst part is that now Griffin wants to marry me.”
“That’s a bad thing?”
Phoenix shrugs. “I don’t want him to marry me just because he knocked me up. What if Mr. Wonderful had proposed to you when you were preggo with Palmer?”
Truthfully, I thought he would. I wouldn’t have thought twice about it. But he didn’t. “I don’t know.”
“What if he proposed to you now?”
“He asked me to move into the house with him.”
Now she stops, and I welcome the break to inhale a full breath. “And you said no?”
“Yeah.” I take another labored breath. “I don’t want to rely on him anymore. I want my own money and independ
ence, which means, to me, living in a place I pay for. At least for a while.”
She punches my shoulder. “Way to go. Stick it to him.”
“I’m not sticking it to him.”
“You kind of are. I’m sure he wants to just pick up where you two left off and forget how much he fucked up.”
Spotting a bench, I take the stroller from her and detour to it.
She follows me. “What’s the deal? I cannot let this baby ruin my figure. I gotta workout during the pregnancy and right after.”
I roll my eyes. The joys of being a pop star. “I’m not walking with you. In fact, I’m not going to talk to you anymore.”
“What are we, six again and I cut your Barbie’s hair?” She does lunges in front of the bench.
She’s so annoyingly in shape. Talk about feeling bad about where your body is at. Try having a twin who’s like staring at a picture of your old self live and in person.
“I love him, Phoenix. I always have. My reasons for not moving in with him have nothing to do with any doubts. I’m the one he scorned, and if I can forgive him, you need to as well.” I cross my legs and my arms.
Her eyes roll so hard, I’m surprised they come back around to stare at me. “Ugh. Fine. It’s just he hurt you so much.”
“I know, but life is too short, and he’s Palmer’s father. I need to forgive and forget for myself and my daughter. You need to as well.” She jogs in place and I watch with annoyance. “Can we talk about you and Griffin now?”
“There’s nothing to say. He wants to get married and I said no.”
“Phoenix,” I sigh. “Why?”
She gives me an expression that says I should already know this. “Because he feels obligated. I’m not getting married just because we got drunk one night and had sex without protection.” She does lunges again.
“The man loves you. Have you told Maverick you’re pregnant yet?”
“No. We’re waiting the full three months before we tell anyone.” She points at me. “So mum is the word, blabbermouth.”
“Blabbermouth? I keep all your damn secrets.”
She blows out a breath and shakes her head. “Everyone knows it’s only Rome who keeps secrets in this family. So if word gets out, I’m coming after you.”
“Are you excited about the pregnancy though?”
A large smile transforms her face. “Excited and nervous.”
“You’ll be a great mom.” Unable to see her working out anymore, I stand. “Let’s get this over with. I’m tired.”
“Tired from too much sex?” Phoenix elbows me.
We get back on the path and I peek in the stroller to see Palmer is still out. “It is nice to get it on the regular.” I fight the smile that wants to come out.
“There’s something to be said for when you know each other so well. Nothing like wasting time with a guy who can’t use his tongue properly or someone who’s crazy attractive but just cannot give it to you the way you need.”
I keep to myself the fact that I wouldn’t know. Jamison has been my only partner. But I love having sex with him, and I don’t feel as if I’m missing anything.
Phoenix nods at the stroller. “And how is Palmer handling him being around so much?”
“She loves it. She loves him. You should see how she looks at him.”
She nods. “Sucker.”
“Phoenix, I’m serious. This has to stop. You have to stop saying things like that. I’m with him, and you need to push your negativity away. It’s my life and my decision. I don’t agree with you saying no to Griffin’s proposal, but you won’t see me making comment after comment about it.”
Her face softens and her pace slows. “Well then, explain that to me?” Phoenix nods behind me.
I turn to see Britani with one T and two I’s crying in my boyfriend’s arms.
Twenty-Nine
Jamison
I’ve been keeping a secret from Sedona and it sucks. I never intended to. Everything just snowballed and now I have to figure out how to get out of this.
“Everything crumbled around me. How can they just act like I’m not their daughter?” Britani’s hand lands on my thigh.
I glance around. We might be in Sunrise Bay, but I’ve seen things that happened in other cities show up in Buzz Wheel from time to time.
“It’s hard to accept, but you have no control over their reaction. You can only control your own,” I say, but my thoughts aren’t on her. They’re on Sedona. If she saw this scene, she wouldn’t understand.
“I’m their daughter. Can they honestly just not forgive me?” she cries.
My heart squeezes because I can empathize with how she feels, but I’m not comfortable having her draped all over me.
An elderly couple walking down the path side-eyes us. The walking and biking path is booming today. After my AA meeting, Britani and I came down here because I’ve decided to offer to be her sponsor. But she won’t stop touching or hugging me, and I don’t feel comfortable with it.
“Most times, once the addiction hits rock bottom, the family is done. It’s not to say they don’t love you. But you’ll get through this. In time, when they see that you’ve taken control of your life, perhaps they’ll change their minds.”
She looks at me as if I hung the moon. Fuck me. Then she’s in my arms and crying some more. She’s clinging to me like a damn koala bear and I pat her back awkwardly.
“Phoenix!”
I turn. As I feared, there isn’t a different Phoenix in Sunrise Bay—it’s my girl’s devil twin sister, sprinting toward me with a murderous look in her eye.
Britani has no idea what’s happening and no way of preparing herself before Phoenix stands in front of us with her hands on her hips. Sedona joins us, Palmer asleep in the stroller. But then Sedona hits a bump and Palmer’s head jostles, waking her.
Phoenix kicks me in the shin. “You son of a bitch!”
“Phoenix, stop it,” Sedona says, but I don’t miss the hurt in her eyes.
“I will not. For the past hour, you’ve been working me to forgive him and look at him now. With some chick on a park bench in a neighboring community. How convenient. At least you were smart enough not to put your full level of douchebag on display in Lake Starlight.”
I dislodge myself from Britani.
“This isn’t what it looks like.” I speak only to Sedona.
Palmer whines in her seat, and when she sees me, she flails her arms to get out.
“You can’t even come up with an original line?” Phoenix steps between Sedona and me, blocking Palmer from seeing me.
It’s going to get ugly if Phoenix thinks she’ll keep me from my daughter.
“What is going on?” Sedona asks.
Thank God I’m with the rational twin who will hear me out.
I look at Britani and back at Sedona. I can’t tell Sedona everything because of the anonymity guidelines of Alcoholics Anonymous. “I’m just helping her with something. She’s going through a hard time.”
“And she doesn’t have anyone else to hold her and wipe her tears?” Phoenix puts her hands on her hips.
“I wasn’t wiping her tears.” I turn to Britani. “Give me a moment with Sedona, okay?”
Britani stands and grabs her purse. “I have a meeting to show the new condos that went up along the bay anyway.” She acts as though she’s got her life figured out and waves to Palmer as she leaves.
“Don’t wave to her,” Phoenix says.
Britani laughs.
Phoenix moves to follow her, but Sedona stops her. “Give us a minute.”
Phoenix points at me. “You’re scum.”
“You have no idea what yer talking about,” I say.
“Just go for a walk,” Sedona tells Phoenix, pushing the stroller over to her.
Phoenix takes the stroller and heads to the path where she walks away with Palmer in the opposite direction Britani took. That’s a small relief.
Sedona stands there, not kissing or hugging me hell
o. The wedge between us has returned.
“Will you sit?” I ask.
She sits, but on the opposite side of the bench. I blow out a breath.
“Is she just your realtor?” she asks, picking at her nails.
I slide closer to her, laying my arm along the back of the bench. “No. I met her somewhere. Somewhere where people stay anonymous.”
She looks at me, and instead of understanding, there’s sorrow. I don’t share much about my recovery with Sedona because after our dinner date, I realized she felt that I chose my disease over her. It couldn’t be further from the truth, but I respect the way she feels.
She looks at the ground. “Oh. You probably have a lot in common.”
“We do. Most of us do. We tend to fuck up our lives. She’s new to the program and I thought I’d support her like my sponsor did me so that her chances of success would be better. I used her as a realtor to help her too. I couldn’t and shouldn’t tell you, because she should remain anonymous, but I can’t allow you to think this was anything but me helping someone who’s going through something I’m keenly familiar with.”
She turns her head and looks at me. “It’s funny. I was never that jealous when you were a big deal in the soccer world. You’d travel, and sure, there would be rumors, especially with Johnny around.”
Johnny was a teammate and a cheater. Never faithful, but he was always a lot of fun to be around.
“But those last months when you didn’t come home at night and you’d show up so drunk in the morning… I wondered if there were other women. That maybe you were so out of it, you did cheat.”
“I never—”
She holds up her hand. “You don’t have to sell me on it. It’s in the past and I believe you. It wasn’t you then, it was your disease, and I’ve made peace with that. But right now when Phoenix saw you… at first, my heart lurched. Mostly because when we went to look for houses with Britani, the whole time, all I could do was compare myself to her. The fact she didn’t just give birth. As bad as she was with Palmer, I assume she hasn’t lived through two pregnancies. Her body is toned and fit, and here I am, barely able to keep up with my twin on a walk around the bay.”