Sticks (Black Addiction #2)

by T Gephart

  “Do you mean you’re not sure I’m the father?”

  I waited for the hand to come flying toward my cheek. My balls also retreated a few inches as well in case the aggression was redirected. You could never tell these days and she’d already threatened worse.

  “Yes, I’m sure.” She rolled her eyes but gave me nothing more than a backhand across my bicep. The half-hearted hit barely leaving a mark. “The last person I had sex with was with you, so unless I’m walking around with the second coming of Jesus, this baby is yours.”

  Kenzie wasn’t the Virgin Mary or any virgin for that matter, but she wasn’t a whore either. Like me, she enjoyed sex, and was really fucking good at it. The difference was she didn’t have a different dude every night. Obviously I mean girls in my case, but you get the drift. And looking like she did, it was totally not because of lack of opportunity. Hell, I remember what I had to do to get her in the sack, screwing around wasn’t her style.

  “So why do we need the test?”

  She leaned forward, her eyes going wide as her mouth dropped open like I’d asked her to blow me, or something. “Aren’t you the slightest bit worried I could be taking you for a ride?”

  “Well, no.” I laughed, the thought not even crossing my mind. “It’s you. You wouldn’t do that.”

  “Joey, do you understand that you guys are sort of famous?” She spoke slowly, confused why the thought hadn’t occurred to me. “And with the new album you’re probably going to be even more famous. People are probably going to take advantage of that.”

  “What? Pretend they’re having my kid? Seems like a lot of effort. I remember who I’ve had sex with.”

  The extra attention we got these days sure was nice. Most of the time I didn’t even have to try and get girls, they just kind of found their way onto my lap. It’s like my cock had become a pussy magnet, and I can’t say I was disappointed. We had definitely made some waves in the industry and getting recognized was really kind of cool, but we weren’t tossing Benjamins around or crusin’ in Bentley’s just yet. No point in anyone trying to shake me down. I didn’t even own a house. So unless you wanted a share in my DW drum endorsement or to pink slip my new truck, there was little reason for anyone to come after me. Other than my dick of course, but that was the burden I was just going to have to bear.

  “Please, do everyone a favor and not be so trusting, okay?” Kenzie rubbed my arm, her concern sort of touching. “We’ll get the test and you can give the paperwork to your lawyers. It will make this whole process easier.”

  “Whoa. Lawyers? What for?”

  First tests, then lawyers. This shit had gone from zero to a hundred in like a second. Shit needed to slow the hell down. The last thing I wanted was to turn this over to anyone else. This was between Kenzie and me.

  “They are going to want proof. Trust me.” She continued with her line of conversation, obviously dealing with shit a lot better than I was.

  “Fuck the lawyers. If you say it’s mine, it’s mine. I know you.” Not sure why we were still discussing this. We’d already established that Kenzie wasn’t the kind of girl to fuck me over, and I’d already said I believed it was my kid. I didn’t give a fuck whatever anyone had to say about it.

  “God, I hope this child doesn’t have your blind faith. That kind of talk is how people wake up in an ice bath with no recollection of why they are missing half their internal organs. News flash, Joey. Not everyone is a good guy.” The look Kenzie gave me hovered between disbelief and confusion with a little frustration thrown in.

  “Fine, we’ll do whatever you want but no more talking of ice baths and missing organs.” And especially not violence directed at me. “Just to be sure, I think we need to hide the knives for a while.”

  “You don’t need to hide my knives, but you should probably leave.” She tried unsuccessfully to kill a yawn, her tired eyes also clueing me in that it was way past her bedtime. “I get really tired these days.”

  While she wasn’t wearing the sexy threads I was used to seeing her in— and my brain had been fried with information overload—there was no denying that the girl in front of me was still knockout beautiful. That and the fact she had my-bun-in-her-oven meant leaving didn’t seem like such a good idea. Maybe it was some caveman throw back, but heading back to my place wasn’t what I wanted to do. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d stayed over, so it wouldn’t be totally crazy to suggest it.

  “You sure you don’t want me to stick around?” Not really sure why I felt so compelled, yet leaving didn’t feel right.

  “Do you seriously think I’m going to have sex with you?” Kenzie’s voice rose as her ass levitated off the couch so fast I wasn’t sure if she’d gotten some wicked superpowers with the new mama status. No exaggeration, she was on her feet before I realized what the hell was going on.

  “No. Of course not.” I scoffed. I hadn’t meant stick around so we could fuck. Well that hadn’t been my first thought anyway. Although, now that she brought it up, I wouldn’t say no. She was still freaking hot beyond words and those fucking tits were enough to get me on my knees. “I mean, unless you wanted to. Then I would totally be okay with it.”

  “Joey.” Her head tipped to the side, the edge to her voice gone. Obviously she wasn’t as mad as I thought she would be. Bonus. I hadn’t even planned on sex tonight, so that was pretty fucking sweet.

  “Yeah, baby?” The grin spread across my face as the front of my jeans started to get a little tighter. My dick needed very little encouragement and the woman in front of me was always able to give me a hard-on.

  “I think you should hide those knives.” A chill blasted through the air.

  “So is that a no?” I had to be sure. It’s not like she hadn’t played hard-to-get initially. Maybe she just wanted me to chase her a little more. Make her feel wanted. My dick and I were certainly up for that.

  “Get out.” Surprisingly she didn’t yell. Though the evil look she was throwing my way clued me in she wasn’t kidding. Her finger pointing to the door was another hint in case I needed it.

  “Fine, I’m leaving.” I moved off her couch and got my feet heading toward the door. “Call me about the appointment on Monday. I’m coming to the Obi-Gee Kenobi.” Whether I was sleeping with her or not, that shit was non-negotiable. I was going even if I didn’t know what the hell I was walking into.

  “OB/GYN,” she corrected, fighting the slight grin that was working its way across her lips. “And I’ll call you, so you can leave now.”

  “Leaving.” I raised my hands in mock surrender as I crossed the floor to the door. My feet hesitantly took me the rest of the way out of her apartment.

  Leaving Kenzie wasn’t exactly what I wanted to be doing. Putting aside the sex part, which as I mentioned I totally would have been on board with, spending time with her was never hard. Unless by hard you were talking about my dick, which was most of the time when she was around. It wasn’t his fault though. Not when she looked like that.

  But it was more; she wasn’t like the other girls. Maybe it was because she’d never wanted anything from me, or perhaps it was because she was in a band so totally got the lifestyle. Who knew the reason, but she was more than just a fuck, she’d been a friend first and if I had any say in it, I was keeping her as one. This was one relationship I couldn’t afford to screw up, especially not now.

  The drive back to my pad in the Bronx was brutal, and not because of my ride. Since we’d signed the deal and gotten a little coin, I’d traded my old Chevy Blazer for a brand new, fully loaded Ford F350. But even the sweet new pair of wheels hadn’t made the trip more enjoyable. The thoughts turned in my head on an endless loop, with my mood flipping between disbelief and holy shit as I put the miles between Kenz and me. I really shouldn’t have left her.

  “Bye, sexy.” The chick Max had obviously spent some quality time with was standing in the doorway when I climbed the front steps. “Thanks for tonight.” She giggled before turning to me. “Hey, Joey. M
issed seeing you. You have fun?”

  Clearly she knew who I was even though I was playing guess-who.

  “Yeah, had an awesome time. Looks like I missed the party.” Not that she’d offered or that I would have been into a threesome. Well, not tonight anyway.

  “Maybe next time.” She ignored me, her attention being on the dude who’d obviously made her come. “See ya, Max.” She gave him a little finger wave that I never really understood. Was it supposed to be cute? Anyway, whatever.

  “See ya, babe.” The smooth bastard gave her a smile as we both watched her climb into her Hyundai. The ignition broke the silence as she started her piece of shit five-door and drove off.

  “It’s not like you to push them out the door.” The raised eyebrow was unavoidable as I walked past Max and into our place. Not going to lie, the company leaving was a positive given the mood I was in tonight, but Max was usually classier than that. Him doing the bacon-and-eggs deal in the morning wasn’t uncommon and he didn’t do drive-by fucking.

  “She has work in the morning, and you’re one to talk. When was the last time you let a girl stay over?” Max laughed as he followed me inside, the door slamming behind him as we made our way into the living room.

  “Yeah, well I can’t sleep with people in my bed.” My ass sunk into the couch, my mind too juiced up to sleep. “I run hot, all that cuddling shit just makes it difficult. They get annoyed when you tell them to lay off the hugs after sex.”

  Real talk. I could cuddle like a champ until it was time for lights out, then I wanted to be left the hell alone. I didn’t need a human throw rug. Fuck. That. I wanted to spread out, chill and sleep. Girls unfortunately didn’t really dig being told to stay on their side of the bed. It’s not like there wasn’t room, there was no need for them to be all up in my grill when we were catching Z’s.

  “Imagine that.” Max laughed as he planted his ass in the opposite armchair. “Everyone is so sensitive these days.”

  “Right?” I nodded in agreement, the dude obviously on the same page.

  “So, you going to tell me why you had to fly out the door like the club was on fire the minute we’d finished the formalities? If I had to guess, I’d say it had to do with a certain blonde guitar player who looked pretty pissed.”

  I’d assumed that I’d be getting twenty questions when I eventually got home. It’s not like they hadn’t seen A: Kenzie call me an asshole and B: Me bail on the band the minute the launch was over. If Rusty and Angie were here, I’d be catching heat from them too, so I should be thankful it was only my best friend who was doing the grilling.

  “Yeah, well. You’d be right, my friend.” My head fell back against the couch. “Kenzie and I had shit we needed to discuss. It couldn’t wait.”

  “What kind of shit? Is she okay? Does she need help or something?” True to form, Max was concerned about Kenz and the situation. He had always been a smooth bastard, his nice guy routine getting him more than his fair share of pussy. He genuinely cared too, it wasn’t just an act.

  “Okay is not a word I can use tonight. And as for helping, nothing you can really do.” Or anyone for that matter. Hell, I could barely get my head around it and I’d had hours.

  “What the fuck, Joe. What the hell is going on?” Max dug a little deeper, his need to know more from a place of concern than because he wanted to shoot the breeze. “And don’t tell me nothing. Obviously there is something and it’s serious because you haven’t even made a crack about how good her tits looked tonight.”

  “You looked at her tits?” My head swiveled fast to face him. Max didn’t like to double dip and him knowing Kenzie and I had history should have put her in the no-go zone. “Dude, don’t fucking go there.”

  “No, I didn’t look. But usually that would be the first thing out of your mouth, so I would say my point has been more than illustrated.” He rolled his eyes, the needling used to get me to talk. “What gives?”

  “So. Kenzie.” I paused between each word wondering how the hell I was going to say it out loud. “Is pregnant.” Yeah didn’t sound any better hearing it from my mouth rather than letting it roll around in my brain. It still felt like a dream. Clearly the issue on whether or not we’d slept together had been put to rest. Ironically this was not the kind of proof I’d wanted, Max knowing there was no way on earth I’d ever joke about this.

  “Holy shit. Are you serious?” Max’s eyes peeled back in disbelief, the same what-the-fuck I’d been wearing for the last few hours.

  “Yeah, that’s what I said.” The memory of my reaction in the not too distant past. “But it seems like I have super swimmers or something because even though I didn’t finish inside her, we still made a baby.” My fingers worked their way up to the bridge of my nose and gave it a squeeze. The headache that had taken up residence, the least of my problems.

  “Please tell me you know you can still get a girl pregnant even if you don’t finish inside her?” The bastard’s voice rose in disbelief. Like the information should have been fucking obvious.

  “C’mon, dude. What are the chances? I pulled out, there should have been like a zillion-to-one possibility of it happening.”

  And if the chances had been bigger they should be sign-posting that shit. Like instead of these dipshit infomercials trying to sell steam mops and Sham-Wows, a PSA should be circulating. Don’t do drugs, stay in school and oh, even without the happy ending you can still be rocking a baby nine-months later.

  “Well, it looks like your number came up, didn’t it.” Max stated the fucking obvious. No, seriously. Surely I had more chance of being struck by lightning.

  “Yep.” My head nodded, my eyes clocking him from across the room. “And before you ask, she’s keeping it. We’re going to do this together.”

  Or so was the plan. I had no clue of how this was going to work but I’ll be damned if I was walking away. Fuck. That. I was a man and I took care of my business, even if the business wasn’t planned, and if I was honest, scared the fuck out of me.

  “How is that going to work?” Max echoed my exact thoughts as he pushed a little further.

  If it had been anyone other than him on the other side of this conversation, I’d have probably told them to go fuck themselves. A whole lot of none-of-your-business tossed in for extra measure. But with Max, I knew he had my back, his concern for me warranted in this instance, as I had no idea what the hell I was doing.

  “Dude, don’t even start.” My head shook for as much my benefit as it did to illustrate the point. “She seems to have it figured out though so we should be fine. I asked her to marry me but she shot me down.”

  “Joey!” His voice echoed off the walls. “A chick is going to have your kid and you’re going on tour in a couple months. Not to mention you threw in a proposal which she probably knew was offered under duress. No wonder she turned you down. Shit isn’t fine my friend.”

  “Dude, my mind is already in fucking free fall. Please don’t jump on my case as well. I thought I was doing the right thing. I seriously can’t even think right now.”

  “Joe, you know I love you like a brother, but this is the big leagues my friend.” There was no humor in his voice as he rose to his feet and got up in my personal space. His eyes so fucking serious I had to wonder whether or not he would take a swing. “You cannot fuck this up. That kid needs you to bring your A game, and if you can’t do that then you are going to have to be honest with Kenzie. Need I remind you about the useless oxygen thief that is my brother?”

  The reminder wasn’t needed. Phil, the older brother of the guy in front of me, had sown his wild oats and then taken a hike. Didn’t even know for sure whether or not his kid had been born. Just gave his ex-girlfriend a see-ya-later and good luck. Bastard not only turned his back on his responsibility but then twenty-five years after the fact decided he wanted to play daddy. Cue the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it when the daughter he abandoned ended up being Alison Williams, the girlfriend of our guitarist. There wasn’t enough i
t’s-a-small-world-after-all to get us over that shock.

  “I’m not Phil, and I have no fucking plans on bailing.” My ass lifted off the couch as I met him eye-to-eye. “I’ll do whatever needs doing, and my kid is not going to be tossed aside because I wasn’t ready. I’m not that guy.”

  Not exactly sure where all of that had come from, but I meant every single word. I wasn’t ready. But that was my problem and I’ll be damned if I let Kenzie do it alone. Or worse, let my kid grow up thinking his or her dad didn’t give a shit. Oh hell no.

  “Good.” Max gave me a nod, the answer coming out of my mouth what he wanted to hear. “Go get some sleep, you’re going to need it. Well talk more tomorrow if you want.”

  “Yeah, thanks, man.” Not sure sleep was going to happen tonight but getting out of these clothes and horizontal sure seemed like a good idea.

  “Night,” Max called out as he followed his own advice and headed to his room.

  “Goodnight.”

  My feet slowly ambled to my bedroom as my brain went through the scenario for the fifth billionth time. Yeah, sleep wasn’t happening. Not tonight anyway.

  Ugh.

  I felt like shit.

  Not sure if it was my momentous announcement to the father of my unborn child or the late night that subsequently followed that caused the feeling of utter crap I was dealing with today. Either or both could have been to blame as to why I was unable to close my eyes and get to sleep last night.

  Oh trust me, I tried. Counting sheep, warm milk, masturbating—all of which did nothing but mildly entertain me during the hours while I lay awake in bed. Actually, that’s a lie. The masturbating wasn’t bad.

  So it was official. Joey Shaw, my not-so-bright-friend-with-benefits, and I were going to raise this baby.

  Together.

  But not together.

  Sure the particulars hadn’t been ironed out—at least we had a few months for that—but for the most part we seemed to agree. The baby deserved two loving parents, who for better or for worse, weren’t going to be a couple.