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“Then why are you firing me?”
“I’m not,” he bit out. Thrusting his hand through his hair, he stood from his seat. “I’m not telling you to leave. I’m…I’m asking you to…to be my second.”
My confusion quickly morphed into deeper confusion. “Are you racing at Thunder Road?”
“What? No, I mean at the delivery.”
“Hell no,” I said without a moment’s hesitation.
“See, that’s how I know we’re not best friends,” he pointed at me. “If we were, you would take my place in an instant. We are no Danny and Kinnicky.”
“We’re also not talking about racing cars. If we were, I’d stand in for you at any time. But we’re talking about different mechanics and I can’t put myself through that again.”
“I would do it for you,” he argued.
“And I already have done it for you multiple times. I’m sorry, I can’t do that again. I won’t, and you can’t make me.”
“Sinner,” he pleaded, walking around the desk and falling to his knees. “I can’t do this again.”
“Then stop getting her pregnant.”
“You don’t understand. I love all the after birth stuff, but…she’s a demon when she’s giving birth.”
My eyebrows shot up, not in surprise, but in disbelief that he would say that to me. “Yeah, I know.”
“Then… do this for me. Be the man I can’t be.”
I leaned back in my seat. “And what are you willing to give me?”
“Anything,” he answered quickly.
“Really? So, you’d be willing to take over the night shift at my place? You’d watch Kane for me in the middle of the night?”
“Of course.”
I chuckled darkly. “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into, and luckily, I’m a better friend than you. I would never ask you to do something that would undoubtedly make you question who you are for the rest of your life.”
“He’s not that bad,” Cap scoffed.
I grabbed him by the collar and hauled him against me. “Why do you think I came to talk to you?” I hissed. “That kid giggled with my wife and then shot me the evilest glare before he pissed in my face. It was intentional. I’m telling you, it’s like…like…” And then it hit me. “It’s like we’ve switched babies.” I released him and slumped back in my chair. “Switched babies. Holy shit, I have Knight’s kid!”
“You don’t have Knight’s kid.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because the timing doesn’t add up. His kid was born months before Kane.”
“Man,” I said, shoving a hand through my hair. “So, you mean my kid is gonna grow up to be a psycho and…it’s all my fault?”
“I’m afraid so.”
This was horrible. For just a moment, I had a glimmer of hope, but it was quickly squashed out with reason and intellect. I couldn’t rely on that. I needed hope, dammit. Hope that my son wouldn’t grow up to be a serial killer, that I hadn’t totally fucked him up. What if this was because of my job or because of the nightmares I still had from time to time? Was I sending off the wrong vibes to him?
“I don’t know that I can deal with this. I think…I think I need to be sent away.”
“We only have local jobs.”
My gaze shot to his. He was now back in his chair, leaning back and assessing me.