Page 67 of Act Like You Don't Care

“Can’t let it go to waste,” he mumbled through a mouthful.

“You haven’t even gotten to the point where your kids never finish their food,” Kade said, laughing.

Nick swallowed hard. “No, but I have to get into practice, right?” he said when his mouth was finally clear.

Shane laughed and shook his head. “Sure, Nick. Not everyone would believe you, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.”

Nick grinned and leaned back in his chair.

The deck went quiet at that point and I felt my shoulders begin to tighten up.

Finally, Kade broke the stiff tension in the air. “So, what brings you back to Oceanport, Tam?”

Might as well get it out there. “I’m pregnant.”

“Were you expecting us to do something about that?” Shane asked.

Kade gave him a sharp look and poked him in the side. “Shane!”

“It’s a valid question.”

“No, I wasn’t,” I interrupted before they could start fighting between themselves. “I could have done something about it myself. I don’t want to, and that’s the problem.”

Kade looked at me with deep understanding in his eyes, but the other two just seemed puzzled.

“So, why not keep it, then?” Nick asked. “I mean, you can afford a nanny.”

“You are doing okay financially, right?” Shane asked, sudden worry in his voice. “I mean, you haven’t gone and spent everything?”

“Shane!” Kade sounded frustrated with his husband, but I didn’t need him to defend me.

“No, I haven’t spent everything,” I snapped back, my tone icy. “I’m not an idiot.”

Shane shook his head. “I never said you were. But you do have an expensive…lifestyle. And I sometimes wonder if you’re starting to take after your dad a little.”

That stung. On top of being an excommunicated Vinist, he’d also been a spendthrift. “Trust me, I have no desire to be anything like that asshole.”

Shane relaxed back in his seat and stared at me with a puzzled expression. “Then I don’t see what the problem is. Maybe here in Oceanport you’d have trouble getting along, though Dean’s brother-in-law managed even before he got back together with Jake’s father. But aren’t they used to that sort of thing in L.A.? Single omegas having babies?”

I shrugged. “It’s not the same thing.”

Kade put out a hand. “Let me see if I can explain it. I think I know what Tam’s worrying about.” He nodded at me, or maybe my still-flat belly. “Tam’s spent a lot of time building a career based on not being an omega. Or on not being treated like one. Bet that’s still a fight, isn’t it?”

I nodded. He had no idea. Or maybe he did—he was, after all, an omega with a husband and child, trying to carve his way back to a stable career through the jungle of the music industry.

“You’re trying to figure out how to have your cake and eat it too?”

I grimaced. “I wouldn’t put it like that, but yeah. Pretty much. I’ve worked too hard at this to lose it now, but…” My voice trailed off because I still wasn’t certain why I wanted this baby so much.

“What does the father of the baby have to say about this?” Shane asked gently.

“He doesn’t know.”

“You don’t think you should tell him?”

I turned away to watch Shane’s two oldest playing in the yard. I knew I would have to, but… “It’s complicated.”

Shane looked at me with raised eyebrows and refused to dignify my comment with any kind of response.