by Heather Long
I had time to knock out the last book on the AP reading list, and I could curl up with ice cream while I did it.
I’d just opened the fridge when the door lock jiggled but didn’t open. I paused and stared at the door. Then it did it again. Locking it was automatic, especially since the guys all had keys. I doubted it was one of them, since they usually texted me when they were on their way. I closed the freezer and headed for my phone.
No messages.
The hard knock as I glanced at my screen made me jump. My heart hammered, even as the knock turned almost violent, like a fist hitting the door.
“Open this damn door, Frankie, I see your car out here.”
Maddy’s voice had me sagging in relief. Not that I wanted to see her, but the last thing I wanted was the sudden vision I had of Mitch being the asshole knocking on my door.
Blowing out a harsh breath, I walked over to the door. I could just ignore her. She couldn’t actually see inside and her keys didn’t work. Another hard knock, and I debated it.
My phone buzzed in my hand.
Maddy: We need to talk.
No, we really didn’t.
Maddy: I’ve given you more than enough time to indulge this tantrum.
Tantrum.
Just like that, I retreated from the backdoor, opened the freezer, and pulled out the pint of ice cream. That and a spoon in hand, I walked away from the door and headed for my bedroom. I fired off a text to the group chat about her being outside the door and that I wasn’t answering.
Archie: I’ll wrap up and head there. Definitely don’t answer the door.
Jake: I’ve got one more order to deliver and I’m coming.
Coop: I just dropped off an order. I can head there now, but I’m 30 minutes away.
Ian: Coming, Angel.
I smiled at the near instantaneous responses.
Me: I’m fine. Just do your thing. I’m not answering the door. I’m in bed with ice cream and a book. It’s all good.
There was a beat, then my phone vibrated madly with several texts.
Archie: Definitely coming now.
Ian: Wouldn’t miss it.
Jake: Killing me, Baby Girl.
Coop: Fuck all three of you for being closer than me.
I cracked up and rubbed a hand over my face. They wouldn’t change their minds, and I didn’t mind the backup, either.
Maddy: You can’t hide from me forever.
Maddy: We have a lot to discuss, you and I.
Maddy: And if you insist on using lawyers, I can do that.
Maddy: Eddie told me yours is one of his. I can ask him to put a stop to that.
Maddy: I’m trying to cut you a break.
One text after another hit my phone, and I could almost hear her spitting the words out.
Maddy: Frankie, you could at least talk to me. You owe me that much.
I stared at the phone screen as I spooned out another bite of ice cream. I didn’t owe her shit.
Maddy: Call me. Don’t make me do something you’ll regret.
Nope.
I took screenshots of the messages, then sent them all to Mr. Wittaker. He didn’t answer, but it was evening and the man probably had a life. Still, I didn’t get a single word read or relax while I sat there eating my ice cream, until the sound of the backdoor opening made me jump.
“It’s me,” Ian called. “Arch is right behind me.”
Yes.
Much better.
Chapter Eleven
Boom Clap
The guys may have speculated amongst themselves about Maddy’s surprise visit, but through unspoken agreement, they didn’t discuss it with me and I was glad for that. Avoidance and denial weren’t positive coping techniques. Erin would not approve.
But ambushing me was also seriously not cool.
Everyone stayed over, but Jake and Coop won rock paper scissors to sleep with me, and I had never been so amused in my life when they wanted rematches over and over. Still, Coop crowded me right into Jake, and I slept soundly.
Jake left super early and retrieved donuts for us, and they were in the kitchen when I came out from my shower. Coffee and donuts here was kind of nice, and the fact that my apple fritters were hot and fresh had me kissing Jake enthusiastically enough that all the guys were adjusting their jeans. I never thought about the idea of affecting them as crazily as they did me, and it was a heady kind of power.
“Oh,” Coop said around the donut he held between his teeth as he dragged his backpack open. “Before I forget.” It came out a lot more unintelligible than that, but I could speak Coop. He dug out a stack of familiar, if slightly crumpled and thoroughly beaten up envelopes.
Archie went to snatch them, but Coop yanked them away and scolded him, his voice muffled by the donut between his teeth. When Archie cut a look at me, I grinned.
“He said, you and I had a deal.”
With a roll of his eyes, Archie pinned Coop with a look. “Boyfriend tax. Hand it over.”
Boyfriend. Tax.
I spluttered and the coffee came out my nose, then I was coughing and my eyes were watering. Ian rubbed my back gently and gave me an amused albeit sympathetic smile. “It’s part of boyfriend privileges,” he explained, his eyes practically dancing as I tried to quiet my gasping for air.
At the distraction, Jake snagged the envelopes and then grinned. “What will you give me for them, Frankie?”
“I’ll give you a fat lip,” Archie threatened, but the absolute lack of violence in his voice promised he wasn’t serious.
“Right,” Jake said, his grin growing. “That’s why I’m not asking you.”
“Let me guess,” I managed to say, no longer spluttering, and at least I’d managed to not get coffee all over myself. Score. “You want a kiss.”
Wearing a sly look, Jake cocked his head. “I’m open to negotiation.”
Ian shook his head as I scooted around the table and Jake grinned. Planting one hand on the table top, I leaned in close. Jake’s pale blue eyes flared, and his lips parted. “Negotiation?” I murmured.
“Negotiation,” he agreed. The clean fresh scent of him was aftershave free. He didn’t always wear it. That was a good thing.
“Good to know.” I closed the distance, then licked him from the corner of his mouth to near his eye. He let out a bark of laughter as I snatched the letters and danced backward.
Amusement rolled around the table, and Archie caught me with both arms around my waist and pressing up against my back. “Well played,” he said.
“Thank you,” I laughed, but wiggled when he tried to get the mail.
“At this rate, we’re never getting out of here,” Coop said, grinning almost wickedly. Heat licked its way through me at the suggestion, and my nipples stabbed at my bra. Damn. Just spending the day together and playing like we had in Colorado? Yes, fucking please.
At my sigh, Archie stopped trying to pluck the letters from my hand. “You want to just call it and skip today, babe?”
Ian grinned at my expression. “I’m going to say the answer to that is yes. The real question is…”
“Will she be able to do it,” Jake finished for him. “Do you have any tests today? Any projects that you haven’t already turned in? I mean, technically, you won’t be at school on Fridays from this week for the next six or seven, right? So you could just get started early.”
“No tests,” I admitted, then chewed at my lower lip as I leaned back against Archie. Skipping wouldn’t kill me.
“GPAs are locked, Frankie,” Coop reminded me. “Colleges have already seen them. How are you on homework?”
“I got a lot done last night, and I’ve got one book left for lit.” Still…
“No tests. No projects due. No more Fridays with us for a few weeks…” It was that last wistful comment from Archie that clinched it.
“Sold.” And just like that, the twist of guilt in my gut vanished, and I tilted my head back to find Archie giving me a slow smile.
; “Really?”
“Yeah, you guys are right. I’d rather spend the day with all four of you than bouncing from class to class. I need to text Rach so she isn’t looking for me…” Fuck, there was the guilt again.
“Tell her she’s more than welcome to come hang out,” Coop offered, even as Jake and Ian swung their heads to half-glare at him. Unperturbed, he spread his legs as he sprawled back in the chair, donut in one hand and looking quite pleased with himself. “She’s almost as much of an overachiever as you, but she’d appreciate the invitation.”
“And if she accepts?” Jake asked dryly. “There goes some of our plans for the day.”
I grinned. “Only some?”
“Well, for them anyway,” Archie said with a grin. “I’ll still be taking you out tonight.”
True.
When he tapped my fingers, I let him have the letters as I twisted to press a kiss to his jaw. “Open them here where I can see them.”
He grunted, but gave my waist a squeeze as I retrieved my phone. Back at the table, I grabbed my next apple fritter and then perched in Ian’s lap when he gave me a tug, while I sent the text to Rachel before biting into the fritter. Multi-tasking win for the day.
Jake grabbed his keys and headed for the door. At my questioning look, he grinned. “Going to get coffee for our girl.” He dropped a kiss on my lips. “I might even get something for these guys—”
“What the fuck is this?” Archie muttered, and Jake pivoted even as I glanced over to see the paper in his hands. He had the first two envelopes open, and he set them on the table. Then the third.
Grabbing one of the sheets, I stared at…lab results?
No one said anything.
There were identification numbers listed for samples. Two samples to be exact. At the bottom of the page, it read No Match.
DNA reports.
Ice seemed to slick over my skin as I stared at each sheet as Archie set them out.
Four pieces of paper.
Four innocuous, wrinkled pieces of paper.
Each one with sample numbers.
One sample number was the same on every sheet.
The other was always different.
No Match.
No Match.
No Match.
Match.
The lab where the work was done was the same. All in New York. That was why none of the letters had return addresses. They were anonymous, I supposed.
“We don’t know what this means…” Coop had begun, but even he couldn’t quite make the words work.
Archie hadn’t even waited to speculate. He’d picked up the sheet with the words Match and pulled out his phone. Currently, he stood in the middle of the living room with his phone to his ear, snapping out something to the person at that lab. I kind of felt sorry for them. He was pissed.
Rubbing his chin gently against my shoulder, Ian tugged me back against him. Jake hadn’t left yet, he kept dividing his attention between me and Archie. Coop studied one of the pages and then asked, “What’s the date on those?”
I turned them around so he could see them. Honestly, there wasn’t enough information on there to make out anything.
Maddy’s name and information was in the report’s “requested by” field. She was also listed as a maternal match to the sample that had to be me, unless she had some hidden fucking kid out there. Hey, maybe that was what she wanted to talk to me about…
“Think Maddy had a kid she didn’t know she had?”
“Yeah,” Jake said flatly. “You.”
Okay. So, not really a joke. All the playfulness in the day kind of deflated.
“…then get someone on the phone who possesses enough of a clue to answer the question,” Archie snapped, and I winced at the frosty level of his tone. “No, I don’t want your apology or a call back. I want to speak to someone in authority about unauthorized samples and their analysis. You can find someone to answer those questions in five minutes, or you can expect to hear from my lawyer and government inspectors. Tick. Tock.”
“How long before Archie tries to buy the lab?” Coop asked, and my gut bottomed out.
“He won’t.” Ian rubbed a slow circle against my abdomen. The gentle, rhythmic action soothed some of the disquiet looking at the tests triggered.
I mean, you didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to recognize paternity tests or at least DNA matches that suggested paternity.
Four tests.
Four candidates for my father.
Gentlemen, come on down. You’re the next contestants on Who’s Your Daddy?
Wow, Maddy needed tests to figure it out, because what? She’d been with them too close together to know for sure?
My stomach sank all over again, and I reached up to tug on my ponytail.
“Good,” Archie snapped suddenly. “Then you can answer my questions. I have a test here with the following sample numbers… I need the identities to go with the numbers, as well as when these tests were requested.”
A beat of silence then.
“You absolutely can if you’re authorized by one of those who was tested. Or are you in the business of invading someone’s privacy at the whim of another? Because I can assure you, she did not consent to have you analyze her DNA.”
“You know,” Jake mused. “I really kind of like it when he gets all arrogant and issues orders in his obey me or else tone.”
“Me too,” I exhaled. That was much nicer to think about over the actual content of the call or even the reasons behind it.
Three sets of eyes focused on me with such intensity, I had to smile. “I think you’re all sexy as hell, too. Don’t be hating.”
They all laughed, and Coop’s eyes warmed as he covered one of my hands with his and squeezed. Beneath his amusement—well, all of theirs really—was a thread of relief and tension. Ian’s arms tightened where he held me, and Jake cupped the back of my neck and I tilted my head obediently for another kiss.
“I’ll get the coffee. You still want it, right?”
“I’d kill for it right now,” I admitted.
“You want to go with me?” The offer was light, but I saw it for exactly what it was—a lifeline to get out of the conversation if I wanted it.
I had thought I couldn’t love him more.
I was wrong.
“I’ll always want to go with you,” I told him. “But I want and need to stay here too. Especially if Archie needs me to tell someone that I didn’t spit in a cup or give any samples for this.”
“Could have been hair,” Coop speculated. “Could have been—”
“Let’s not.” The sharpness in Ian’s tone silenced Coop, and I found myself wanting to soothe them.
“Yeah,” Coop agreed. “For now.” But he didn’t seem remotely bothered by it.
“I’ll be back,” Jake said, but I didn’t miss the way he glanced at me and then gave Coop a hard look. I would assume he did the same to Ian, but I got it. They were worried.
Me too. The door closed behind Jake, and I chewed on my thumbnail, staring at Archie as he paced. Tiddles sat right in the middle of the coffee table, tracking his motions as his tail lashed. I wanted to be on that call and nowhere near it.
I wished we’d never opened the stupid letters.
And I wish I’d never let them sit there for months.
Did she not care about them? I mean…they’d come in when she was still semi-around. Technically speaking. So, why not do something with them? Why keep them…?
“When were the first results sent?” Archie’s question had me shifting again. I was still nibbling on my thumbnail when Ian gripped my hand and tugged it away from my mouth. Dammit, I’d stopped chewing my nails years ago. I squeezed his fingers, and he tightened his grip on mine. Whatever the people on the phone said to Archie, he quieted, because his response didn’t carry.
I should be the one calling and raising holy hell. I was still processing the fact there were DNA tests in the first place. I glanced back at the three not mat
ches sitting on the table. “Do you think…” I didn’t know what to think.
“Not gonna speculate,” Ian said quietly. “We don’t know enough, and the minute we start speculating or assuming, we invite a lot of assumptions. We have no idea what all this means, Angel.”
“Don’t borrow trouble?” It was pretty good advice.
“More or less,” Coop said, agreeing as he pulled out a sprinkles and chocolate covered donut and held it up to me.
“I’m good,” I said with a shake of my head, ignoring his askance look. Yeah, I didn’t usually turn down food. Turning down chocolate and sprinkles was worrisome, but the two apple fritters I ate earlier—savored really—sat like hard lumps in my stomach.
I glared back down at the papers again. Fucking Maddy. It had been a good day right up until we opened those letters. Letters I’d been carrying for months, so yeah, maybe I should have opened them, but I kept forgetting they were there.
There were so many other more important things. But fucking Maddy kept destroying everything she touched.
I picked up my phone and tabbed over to the text messages from her the night before. One after another, I scrolled through them, and then I scrolled up to the handful—bare handful—we’d shared over the last few months.
We’d talked so little, it took almost no scrolling to get to last summer and the messages canceling our trips back east to see colleges because she was “working.”
The empty promises.
The excuses.
The lack of interest.
“I want the names,” Archie said as he walked back into the kitchen, his shoulders squared and his eyes blazing. “I’ll give you until Monday, but consider you and your entire lab on notice. I will be contacting my attorneys today, and if it takes filing suit against you for invasion of privacy and damages, you can be damned sure I’ll do it.”
He didn’t look away from me once when he gave a mirthless little smile at whatever the man on the phone said.