Page 20 of The Way We Collide

Her brown eyes widen, and she seems flustered, which is new. When we were together, she was so confident and bold. She was funny, and our chemistry crackled in the air around us.

“Is he here?” Dylan emerges from the kitchen, with a dark-haired baby on her hip.

I frown, confused. No one told me Dylan was pregnant. Has it even been nine months since I saw her last?

“Yes.” Raven’s voice is quiet, and her eyes are worried. “Hendrix… I didn’t know you’d be here so soon. We didn’t exchange contact information, and I… I needed to reach you.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“We have a little surprise!” My sister is using her baby-voice as she bounces the infant on her hip, then she smiles up at me brightly. “Hendrix, meet Hayden. She’s your daughter!”

My chin jerks back in surprise, and my face cools as all the blood drains from it. “Mywhat?”

“That’s right!” Dylan leans forward, rubbing her nose against the little girl’s and making her smile. “Raven brought us another baby to love. Sweet little Hayden Lucille Bradford. Isn’t sheadorable?”

“I’m sorry…” I’m having trouble speaking around the boulder in my throat. “I don’t have a baby.”

The room falls quiet. My eyes move quickly over the crowd of familial spectators all watching me.

“Sorry, bro.” Garrett steps forward with that smug grin on his face and slaps the top of my shoulder in a forceful way. “Looks like you do.”

“Get off me.” I shrug him away, stepping closer to Raven and lowering my voice. “But we used condoms every time.”

“We did.” Raven nods. “I was so impressed by how responsible you were.”

“I’malwaysresponsible.” I’m doing my best not to raise my voice. “I’m responsible so this doesn’t happen. How did this happen?”

“I don’t know.” Raven’s voice is equally quiet. “I guess one… failed?”

I swallow air. “Condoms cannot fail. Condoms have one job, and that isnotto fail.”

Raven’s eyes drop, and her tone is placating. “I didn’t want to tell you this way. It’s a shock, and you…”

“Want to hold her?” Dylan extends the baby to me like Rafiki inThe Lion King.

“Whoa!” Both my hands shoot up, and I take a step back while I try to restart my brain.

The small human blinks at me with wide blue eyes, just like mine.

She’s weirdly like looking in a mirror. Her head is covered in shiny dark hair that ends in soft curls around her chubby cheeks, and as I study her, her tiny lips press into an angry scowl.

I don’t know shit about babies, but I’m pretty sure this one’s about to scream in my face.

Raven steps forward quickly, taking her out of my sister’s hands and hugging her little body close to her chest. “It’s okay, Haddy.”

The baby puts her head on Raven’s shoulder and two fingers in her little mouth, sucking furiously.

Then Raven turns to me. “We need to talk.” She catches my hand, pulling me with her through the double doors into the kitchen.

We leave my family in the dining room, buzzing with chatter, and if I know my brothers, they’re having a field day with this one.

If I know my little sister, she’s floating on cloud nine and making all kinds of plans for preschool and baby swim lessons and holy shit.

Raven turns to me when we’re alone. “I’m really sorry. This wasn’t my plan, but I didn’t know how to reach you. I didn’t have your number, and I had the worst morning sickness the whole time I was pregnant. I actuallylostweight. Then after she was born, it took me a minute to get back on my feet, and the longer I waited, the harder it seemed. I knew I had to tell you, but I didn’t know what to do.”

She pauses to breathe, and I can tell she’s stressed. I’m fucking stressed, but when I see other people stressed, I snap into action. It’s what I do.

We’re adults. We can fix this.

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