Page 42 of Seein’ Red

“Nash?” Kenzie asks.

“Keller?” Sylvie tacks on.

“Because there is another Nash in our life?” I snark reflexively, before swallowing hard, heat radiating off my cheeks like a sunburn. There’s no hiding from it now. I should have told them a long, long time ago. So, I do the only thing I can. I nod.

“Okay, so I’m just going to ask the obvious question here,” Bronwyn says. “Why is Nash blowing you up like lives are in danger?”

Here goes…

“Because I’m pretty sure I’m pregnant,” I answer, the words spilling out of me like horses out of the chute after the starting gun. There was no holding them in any longer, but there’s more to the story. All three mouths fall open, and I haven’t even gotten to the good part. “With his baby.”

And there it is…

Kenzie blinks hard, then nods. Looping her arm through mine, she smiles. “This is going to require coffee. And probably cake.”

Ten minutes later, we’re seated at a round table in the corner of the coffee shop, drinks in hand, assorted pastry on the table. None of us says anything. Or touches the food. The soft din of the crowd fills the silence, but it doesn’t help to ease the tension.

I’ve been lying to my best friends for years and just had to come clean. In a parking lot.

“Just answer me this,” Kenzie says, breaking the silence. “Is hate sex as good as makeup sex? Because we skipped the hate sex part, but makeup sex is…phew…”

I laugh, all of my emotions spilling out as I do. Relief, happiness, and so much more as the awkwardness eases. I look to each of the three women surrounding me, their smiling faces full of love, ready to take in whatever I have to say.

“Yeah, it’s pretty fucking spectacular.”

“All this time?” Sylvie asks.

“All this time. If one or both of us have been late to something over the last ten years, it’s because we were off somewhere sneaking in a quickie.” Sylvie’s eyes go wide and I nod, letting that time span speak for itself. Turning to Bronwyn, I give her a guilty smile. “Including last fall at the Gobble Wobble while all your drama was going down. I’m sorry.”

“You’re fine.” Reaching out, she takes my hand, giving it a squeeze. “Would have been nice to know then, but we all survived.”

She’s being kinder than I would be given the hell this town put her through when she first moved here and that morning in particular. I owe her.

“So when we couldn’t find you at the Southern Brothers New Year’s Eve party?” Sylvie floats.

“Nash and I were in the back room.”

“And Fourth of July fireworks a couple of years ago when Camden couldn’t find Winston?”

“Yup.”

“And the guy at the Miss Georgia pageant that you claim was the best sex of your life?”

“He pulled me into a dressing cubby, dropped to his knees, and licked me until I saw outer space. He didn’t stop until they were calling my name to go on stage.”

“But you two hate each other!”

“Or do you?” Kenzie second-guesses.

Isn’t that the million-dollar question…

“It’s complicated.”

I take a sip of my drink, hoping that will buy me time. I know better than to think that it’ll end there. That they’ll accept complicated as an answer. I wouldn’t. And after everything I put Kenzie and Sylvie through with their men, I have whatever they want to lob at me coming.

“Catch me up,” Bronwyn says. “You were close in high school, but then something happened. Right? What happened?”

I sigh, my shoulders slumping. Time to let it out.