I flung my hair back off my neck, gripped the metal door handle, and tugged it open. The fantastic aroma of fresh coffee beans and sugar engulfed me. I took a big whiff, savoring the deliciousness of the fragrance.
“Mickie,” Drew called out, waving at me.
I pointed to the front, indicating my need for coffee. He nodded and met me at the end of the line. His arms circled around me, pulling me into a tight hug. Our lips met in a kiss that could ignite the skies. This was exactly what I needed. My fingers curled into the hair at the nape of his neck. It had grown an inch or two since we got back, and I made him promise never to cut it that short ever again. He pulled back, his cocky smirk and deep dimples teasing me to take things further. The barista cleared her throat. I turned around, a little embarrassed at what she’d just witnessed.
Drew nuzzled the side of my neck as I placed my order. The warmth of his breath on my skin felt mystical, but it also tickled. I squirmed and giggled, forcing him to tighten his hands around my waist. He walked behind me to the bar and waited with me until the barista handed me my drink.
Back at the table, Drew scooted my chair close to him, his hand resting on my thigh. We talked a few moments about the weather and about how he’d heard from Gavin. They were coming home in the next week. I told him about Jared and how he was to return home over the weekend. Drew never mentioned Olivia, and for once I was glad.
Drew glanced down at his watch. “Okay, Mick, I feel I need to warn you…”
“Hmm?” I sipped my coffee, peering up at him.
“…about my client. He’ll be here any moment, and…”
The glass door opened and a warm breeze rushed in. I glanced in the direction of the newcomer, not even thinking about what I was doing. A tall man with reddish brown hair, wearing sunglasses, entered the facility. I did a double take, realizing who this man was. “Andy,” I pointed, cutting him off, “look. It’s Nate.” I grabbed Drew by the arm, giving it a quick shake. His lips flattened in a thin line as I smiled and waved at my ex-fiancé.
Nate lowered his sunglasses. His swollen, bloodshot eyes found mine for a moment, then he pushed the glasses back up his nose. He gave me a slight nod and got in line to make his order.
“Wow, talk about a small world,” I stated, leaning back in my chair, nestling up to Drew. While he wrapped his arm around me, he now felt stiff and a little standoffish. “Andy?”
“I was trying to tell you, Nate’s my new client.”
“What? When did this happen?”
“It hasn’t happened quite yet. He called me this morning, requesting to see me…to see us. He wants to hire me, but he wanted to tell us something, together, before he acquired my services.”
I rubbed my hand along my jaw. “Why would he need family counsel?”
“I have my suspicions.” Drew twirled a strand of my hair around his finger. “You see, I ran into him…”
“Drew. McKenzie,” Nate greeted us, interrupting Drew.
I looked at Drew, then up to Nate. This felt off. Something wasn’t right. Out of kindness, I stood up and gave Nate a hug. “Hi. It’s good to see you again.”
He wrapped his free arm around me, holding me tight to his chest. The familiar scent of his cologne jogged my memory. Nate and I might’ve ended on somewhat bad terms, but that didn’t mean I stopped caring for him. He was a good man, and I knew one day he’d find the right girl that would make him want to settle down. I simply wasn’t that girl. “It’s good to see you, too. You look amazing.” He released me. I returned to my seat next to Drew, and Nate sat down across from me. He reached out and shook hands with Drew. “Thank you for agreeing to this. I know it’s unorthodox, but what I have to say and why I asked for McKenzie to be here will make sense very soon.”
“I’m sure it will,” Drew replied.
Overall, Nate looked terrible. Facial hair darkened his jaw and his normally sculpted hair was a wild mess. He was dressed similar to Drew—jeans and a t-shirt—but his were a bit wrinkled, probably from being smashed into a suitcase. He removed his sunglasses and dropped them on the table. I winced at how irritated his eyes looked.
“I’m going to skip formalities here,” he started. “What I need to say has to be said now before I lose my nerve.”
Drew drummed his fingers on the table. “Should I be taking notes?”
Nate shook his head. “You won’t forget this, I promise.”
I leaned forward, reaching for Nate’s hand. He moved back from me, his eyes cast down at the table. “Nate, what’s wrong? Are you in trouble?”
He reached one hand up over his chest, rubbing his shoulder. “Sadly, I am. But not the kind of trouble you might be thinking.” The desperation in his eyes was evident.
“Whatever it is, we’ll help,” I proclaimed.
Nate looked up at me, his eyes watering. “That’s if you don’t hate me after you hear what I’ve got to say.” He held his coffee cup suspended between the table and his mouth, contemplating his next words. Placing the cup on the table, he leaned forward, resting his weight on his elbows, both hands linked around the cup. “Let me first start by telling you both how truly sorry I am. I’m an ass. More than that. I’m the dingleberry that hangs off an ass.”
“Nate, stop,” I cautioned.
“McKenzie, that’s one of the things I always loved about you. It pains you to see others hurt, even when they deserve it. You have a heart of gold.” His lips pursed and he took in a deep breath, blinking several times. “I guess the best place to start is after we broke up.”
Drew rested his hand on the back of my seat and pulled us closer to the table. My legs bounced underneath it, my toes pressed hard against the floor. This whole thing made me nervous.
“When we broke up, I’d like to say I was devastated, but I wasn’t. Don’t get me wrong. I was hurt and I didn’t want to lose you, but it came almost as a relief when you left. I didn’t have to pretend anymore. Sure, I did what any normal man would do—calling, begging, etcetera—but in my heart, I couldn’t deny you’d done the right thing by dumping my ass. I didn’t deserve you.”
Drew slowly trailed his thumb along my neck down to my shoulders. The repetitive motion felt good and eased my nerves some.
“When you refused to reconcile, my pride was more hurt than my heart. I threw myself into work. It’s the only thing I’ve ever been good at, and the only thing I’ve ever loved. I didn’t give you a second thought. I was free and I loved it. That was until I saw you on the beach with your parents and Drew.” Nate looked between Drew and me, then returned his focus back to his cup. “When you finally agreed to meet with me, I’d promised myself I’d win you back. In my mind, we deserved another try, and Drew was nothing more than a rebound guy.”
“But things didn’t go as planned,” Drew noted, his voice almost eerily calm. For the first time since we got together, my Neanderthal didn’t rear his vicious head. The green-eyed monster that always lingered inside Drew had been tamed.
Nate shook his head. “No. She rejected me. I kissed her and she pushed me away.”
Drew squeezed my shoulder. I’d never told him the details about occurred between Nate and me that night. It didn’t seem pertinent at the time. We weren’t together. I blushed and reached for Drew’s hand, bringing it down to the table, clasping it with mine.
“It was then,” Nate continued, “that I accused her of sleeping with you. If she didn’t want me, that was the only other alternative.”
“We weren’t,” I whispered.
“I know.”
I cocked my head to the side. “You do? How?”
“Because that same night you rejected me, Drew rejected Olivia.”
I bent my neck to look at Drew. “Is that true?”
He looked down at our linked hands. “She showed up uninvited. I was arguing with her when you called. When you hung up so abruptly, I reacted in anger. I told her to get out of my house.”
“She ended up at Finn Daddy’s that night,” Nate
added. “I went there after McKenzie left my place, needing to blow off some steam. We bumped into each other and started talking. One thing led to another, and well…”
“You slept with Olivia?” I bleated.
Nate lifted his eyes, his chest rising and falling. I could only imagine what was going through his mind. “It’s not something I’m proud of, but yes. You have to understand, I was drunk and pissed and stupid.”
I reached out, taking Nate’s hand. “It’s okay. I’m sorry I made you feel like that.”
He slipped his hand away from mine, his Adam’s apple bobbing hard with each breath.
“There’s more,” Drew pressed.
“Much more.” He clasped his hands in front of him and turned to Drew. “You see, that night, Olivia told me a story, one that was unbelievable to me until we ran into each other in Boston.”
“What do you mean?” I queried.
Nate ripped the paper sleeve from his cup. He proceeded to fold it over in triangles, making a contorted paper football. “After we finished,” he paused, shrugging his shoulders, “you know…she admitted to me it’d been awhile since she’d had sex,” he supplied. “According to her, Drew hadn’t touched her in months. She was pissed.” He closed his eyes, his head slightly shaking. “She told me how their last date was a pity date. That he’d only taken her out because McKenzie encouraged him to.”
“Yeah,” Drew agreed. “That was the night I allegedly got her pregnant.”
Nate dropped the paper football on the table and met Drew’s gaze. “Allegedly is the perfect term, because Olivia realized she made a stupid mistake that night. You see, she hated that you showed more interest in McKenzie than her. And it was even worse that you only took her on a date because McKenzie requested it. So she decided she was going to throw you off by making you believe McKenzie had a thing with Jared. But there was one problem. You actually bought her line of bullshit. Not that I can blame you. There were many times I’d accused Jared of trying to move in on her.”
Drew snorted.
“What’s so funny?” Nate asked.
“He was trying to move in on her,” Drew stated, cutting his eyes to me, causing heat to rise in my cheeks.
“I’m not surprised.” Nate shrugged. “Anyway, you proceeded to get wasted. So drunk, in fact, that you spilled your guts. You told her you were in love with McKenzie but didn’t think she felt the same for you. Olivia convinced you, somehow, that your instincts were correct, that McKenzie and Jared were giving things a try. She dragged you back to the apartment and made sure McKenzie realized you two were together. Once in her room, Olivia undressed you and put you to bed, but you were so far gone nothing happened. Not long after that, McKenzie moved out and you broke up with Olivia.”
I waved both hands, trying to make sense of what he’d just said. “Hold the phone! You’re saying…?”
“Drew’s not the father. He couldn’t be. By Olivia’s own admission, he didn’t have sex with her.”
The squeal of Drew’s chair backing up sent shivers up my spine. “Are you certain? Olivia told you all of this?” he demanded. Nate nodded his head.
“No. No. This has to be joke. Tell me you’re joking, Nate.” I pointed my finger at him, tears brimming my eyes. “Olivia wouldn’t do that to me. We’ve been through too much. No. You’re lying.” I tried to quell my sudden panic, but it nipped at my chest with such ferocity that I found myself struggling to breathe. My world had just flipped upside down. Everything I thought I knew was wrong.
Nate licked his lips, his eyes filling with tears. “I’m not lying. She and I made jokes, and I’m so sorry for this, McKenzie.” He scratched his scruffy cheek. “About how you would never touch Drew because you’re such a martyr. You’d rather suffer than hurt someone you loved.”
“You made fun of me?” Dismay and confusion swirled up inside me. This was simply too much for me to take.
“I’m so sorry. I was mad, my pride wounded. But, McKenzie, I was wrong. You deserve happiness. He makes you happy.”
“Is that all?” I demanded, feeling sick to my stomach.
“Is what all?” he asked.
“Have you told Drew and me everything? Or are you holding out?”
He rubbed his nose with the back of his hand. “I’m not holding anything back.”
“So, Drew’s not the baby’s daddy. You are?” I clarified.
“Unless she was sleeping with someone else…” Nate choked back a sob as he continued. “But I swear, McKenzie, I had no idea she was pregnant until I ran into the two of you in Boston. I tried contacting her while there, but she refused to speak to me. That’s when I started putting the pieces together. You have to believe me.”
I raised my hand, tears streaming down my face. “All of this,” I waved around, “everything we’ve been through was because of your twisted pride?”
“No. Not mine. I let you go. Especially after seeing how happy you were in Boston. You look so beautiful in love. He’s what you need. I couldn’t let her steal that from you. I’d done so much to hurt you in the past, I needed to redeem myself.”
Something inside me snapped. It was pointless to try to contain my emotions. My pain, my hurt, my anguish exploded inside me, morphing into something I’d never felt before. Hatred. Pure, unadulterated hatred. I hated Olivia for putting Drew and me through this. I hated her for treating me like a servant when she knew all this time the baby wasn’t his. And most of all, I hated her for playing on my sympathies, for using my own heart against me. I was angry with Nate for his part in this, but realized, in the end, she played him just as much as she did Drew and me. She made me look like a fool. I defended her. I trusted her. It was I who sought redemption for our friendship, and yet she threw it all back in my face like some twisted joke.
“Excuse me,” I muttered.
“Mickie?”
“McKenzie? Wait!”
Their voices were ghosts to me. Hatred fueled me. There was only one thing I could do. It was time I came face to face with the wicked bitch herself. She would answer for everything she’d done. She would look me in the eye and confess everything, and nothing, not even God, could stop me from confronting her.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Andrew
“Fuck! She’s running away,” Nate clamored. He ripped at his hair, his body buckling forward. “I didn’t mean it. I only wanted her to know the truth.” He howled. “Jesus! What have I done? She doesn’t deserve this. This is all my fault.”
“Calm down. She’s not running away,” I stated, my hands held out flat in front of me.
Nate looked up at me, his eyes wild with distress. “She is. She always runs away when she’s hurt.”
“She’s more than hurt. She’s pissed. She’s not running away. I know exactly where she’s going. Now, I need you to calm down.”
“Calm down? How the fuck am I supposed to do that? Better yet, how the hell are you so calm?”
It was a good question. One I really had no answer to. Inside, I was a mass of conflicting emotions. I felt angry, hurt, confused, but most of all, I felt relieved. All of my fear, my worries, vanished when he uttered those simple little words that confirmed what my heart already knew. I wasn’t the baby’s father. There was a reason I felt no connection to the child. I wasn’t broken or twisted by my past. There wasn’t something terribly wrong with me. My hatred toward Olivia wasn’t clouding my judgment. The fact of the matter was, I wasn’t the baby’s father.
“I’m more distraught than you realize. But right now, I need you to calm down. McKenzie and I need something from you.”
“O-okay. What do you need?” He sucked in air, his bottom lip quivering.
“I need to know what your intentions are regarding the child. Do you want my services to gain custody?”
“Why do you think I want custody?”
“I don’t. That’s why I’m asking.”
Nate clenched his teeth, his despair turning to anger. “Jesus. You heartless as
shole. You don’t care about your girlfriend. You only care about my business.”
I slammed my fist on the table, standing halfway up, hovering toward him. “You listen here. You don’t know the first thing about me. I’m worried sick about Mickie right now, but before I choose my next move, I need to understand yours. You see, you changed everything today. I’m fucking free of that bitch, but she’s going to pay for what she’s done to you, to me, and most of all, to McKenzie. So, if you’re serious, truly serious about taking custody of the child, I need to know now,” I demanded through gritted teeth. “Otherwise, there are other legal matters I need to tend to regarding Olivia. She’s going to regret ever hurting McKenzie. You understand?”
Nate leaned back in his chair, trying to put distance between us. I wasn’t about to have it. I was calm but furious, and on the verge of losing control. I might’ve handled myself throughout his little tale, but the whole while I fought my inner demons. I wanted to strangle him for having any part of this mess. He supposedly loved McKenzie at one time, but his vengeance proved there was no true love in his heart. Pride consumed him. “I want custody,” he stated, his timber low but certain.
I nodded. My anger for Olivia wanted to destroy her, but there was still the child to think about. There had to be some good in Nate. He did care enough to confess to McKenzie and me. Time would be the judge of him, whether or not his desire for the child was out of love or retribution toward the woman who attempted to fuck us all over.
“Good. Now, pull yourself together. We have to catch up with McKenzie. She’s about to face off with Olivia, and she’s going to need our support.” I stood up, collected the cups from the table, and disposed of them. As I made my way to the door, I looked back at Nate. “Well, are you coming?”
The Truth Be Told (The Truth in Lies Saga #3) Page 22