Page 102 of Accidental Theirs

“I'm not sure,” I mumble.

Brendan huffs out a breath. “I know things have been hard for you since...”

I’m glad he lets his words just trail off. Hearing her name right now when emotions are so high might make me lose it.

“Hard is an understatement.”

He nods. “I know. I know, Bash. If I lost Vicky, I don’t know what I’d do.”

A brief wave of bitterness rushes through me.

Why should he have everything that I can’t? Why is the universe so cruel?

“This isn’t about her. This is about Olivia.”

“Everything’s about her for you, Bash,” he says gently, and I’m embarrassed that tears sting at the backs of my eyes.

Luckily, the server returns with our entrées, and I have something else to focus on.

“How do you feel about being a father?”

“I haven’t thought about having kids in fifteen years, Brendan.”

Not since Sophie.

Now that he’s brought her up, she’s all I can think about.

Can I ever love anyone else the way I loved her?

“You told her you’d be there, though. You did the right thing.”

“Of course, I did. I’m forty-two, not twenty-five. I’m old enough to take responsibility for my actions.”

“Is she?”

I groan, putting my fork down and settling back in my chair. “She’s not eighteen, Brendan, she’s in her late twenties. She’s not a kid anymore.”

He holds out his hands. “Sorry. She was a kid last time I saw her, that’s all.”

“Well, she grew up, okay? And you can’t judge me for an age gap, isn’t Vicky like twelve years younger than you?”

“Eleven,” he says, sounding offended like that’s so much better.

“This isn’t about the age gap.”

“What does Richard think of all this?”

I take a deep breath. “He doesn’t know.”

Brendan’s mouth drops open. “He doesn’tknow? How are you going to keep a pregnancy from him?”

My shoulders stiffen. “We’re not. But right now, we don’t know who the father is. There’s no reason to get him worked up for nothing.”

“For nothing? Haven’t you been fucking his daughter?”

I squeeze my eyes shut briefly, frustrated.

Brendan has always been pretty blunt. I shouldn’t be surprised.