Page 67 of Up In Smoke

Anton taps his arm with the back of his hand. “You know? His best buddy’s younger brother who needed some help.”

“Wait,” Teddy says, looking around the group before raising his eyebrows at me. “The famous one who got into trouble and went to rehab?”

“It’s funny you should mention that,” I mutter, shaking my head. “I’m serious. Caffeine first, then I’ll spill my guts. And Foster, are those pancakes burning?”

“Oh, shit,” he squeaks, spinning back around to tend to the stove.

“You heard the man,” Captain Valentine’s low voice rumbles. “Let’s get something in our bellies before those tones go off.” Julian must have come down from his office. I swear he doesn’t even go home some days. But I’m grateful he’s here when he squeezes my shoulder and gives me a warm smile. “So the secret’s not so secret anymore, hmm?”

“Hold up,” Beast says, looking at us with a slightly hurt expression. “You knew, Cap?”

Valentine scoffs. “Who do you think signed off on all the paperwork? And someone had to be a witness.”

“I can’t believe you didn’t invite us to your wedding,” Sawyer says, sinking into a chair, staring into the middle distance and looking heartbroken.

“Ahh, guys,” I say, addressing them all. Now I’ve had a couple of sips of coffee, I’ve got some energy back to deal with this properly. “It wasn’t like that, I promise. It’s complicated. But I would have had you all there if I could.”

“It’s okay, Lieutenant,” Yara says cheerily, but I can’t help but notice that her eyes are wet as she rather aggressively beats some eggs. “I’m sure you had a good reason.”

“Did you get him pregnant?” Lili says with a smirk and a devilish flick of her brows.

I roll my eyes, but Anton looks thoughtful. “You know, if he’s trans, he could actually be pregnant.” He throws a questioning face my way.

“Nobody’s pregnant, calm down,” I say with a huff.

Coffee can only go so far, apparently. But the smell of bacon is placating me a bit. Rocky, too, apparently. When I sit down at the table, he comes and puts his head in my lap, wagging his long tail as he looks up at me with his big brown eyes. I strokehis back, steeling myself. I need to just spit it out and hope they don’t poke too much into the timeline of my little white lie.

“The decisionwaskind of rushed. So here’s the Cliffs Notes version. Yes, Jesse’s the younger brother of my best bud from school. We were dating on the down low for a while, but the situation was kind of delicate.”

Sawyer smirks. “Because you were scared big bro was gonna kick yourassif he found out.”

“Something like that,” I mutter. “Look, I know I talked about it before, but the other reason we kept it quiet is because Jesse is an addict. He was in a bad place, but I knew if we got married, my insurance could go a long way to getting him the help he needed. So that’s what we did.”

Lili’s jaw drops as she reaches over and slaps me on the shoulder. “You committed tax fraud?” she asks in a scandalized whisper.

“Nobody committed any fraud,” Valentine says firmly, and Lili has the good grace to shrink back slightly.

“Of course not,” she says, clearing her throat. “Don’t know why I said that. What a crazy idea.”

I sigh and twist my ring with my right fingers. “Well, the timing is kind of suspicious. That’s why the insurance company are now sniffing around.”

The mood in the room shifts immediately. “Oh, shit,” Teddy utters.

“I was joking,” Lili says guiltily, but I shake my head.

“I know, don’t worry.”

Sawyer frowns and cracks his knuckles. “Penny pinching bastards.”

“Are you okay?” Del asks me. “Do you need a lawyer? You know Colt would represent you pro-bono.”

I wave him off. “Thanks, man, but I don’t think we’re there yet. If the situation gets more serious, though, you guys will be my first call.”

There’s a brief pause as the group settles at the table and Teddy and Yara place various bowls of breakfast foods down. Gene comes ambling in from the direction of the bunks with a newspaper tucked under his arm. “What I miss? I could here the squawking through several different brick walls.”

“Rico got married in secret!” Yara cries excitedly. “He was just explaining why he didn’t tell us.”

“Yeah, I’m still not really sure why you had to lie?” Lili says, eyebrow arched accusingly. “Did you think we’d be dicks about it?”