Page 27 of The Biggest Secret
“Morning bro, you look like shit.”
“Gee thanks. You’re so kind.”
He claps me on the back. “Just keeping it real. Where are we at this morning?”
I ramble off the chores that need to be finished before we move to the next step on this house. My timeline is strict but efficient, and that’s why I’m the number one company around here.
It’s warm today. We work without breaks until midafternoon when Jackson shows up with sandwiches for the guys. I eye him, already knowing what’s coming.
“Alright, thirty-minute lunch break.” I watch my crew grab some drinks and their lunch and head towards the shade for a quick rest.
Billy and I follow Jackson to the back of his truck, and I jump onto the tailgate, yanking my shirt off, open a water bottle, and pour it over my head trying to cool off. Unwrapping the turkey and Swiss on rye, I settle in for a conversation I’m not ready for but know is coming anyway.
“Good thing Chelsea came back with Dominic. Your dad bod is on point.” He pokes my ribs and laughs. I don’t have an ounce of fat on me, and he knows it, but he’s just gotta push my buttons.
“Fuck off.”
Billy laughs. “Just saying, you wouldn’t want that to go to waste without having a kid to show for it.”
Jackson chuckles but doesn’t stop Billy’s taunting. “Come on, big bro. Want some advice of how to get and keep the girl?”
I side eye him, but the guy just keeps going.
“So, it’s obvious you’ve had her once, what with your mini-me running the show now.”
“Billy,” I warn him.
“But how to keep momma happy, well that’s adifferent story.”
I snap. “How would you know how to keep a woman happy, Bill? Do you give them gas money on the way out the door? Maybe a coupon for half off next time?”
Billy laughs and grabs his chest. “Right for the heart, bro. I do have coupons for condoms. Maybe I should have given them to you.”
Before I know what’s happening, I’ve got my baby brother by his shirt and pushed up against the side of the truck.
“Adam. Damn brother, calm down. He’s just messing around.” Jackson is next to me, trying to get us apart.
“Don’t talk about Dominic,” is all I can growl out. I step away from him, and Billy just grins while he’s smoothing his shirt down.
“I’m happy to see some emotion from you, but you need to tone it down with me, Adam. I love that kid, too. I’m glad he’s here. That wasn’t a dig about not wanting him here.”
Sighing I lean back against the truck. “What the fuck am I doing?” I say out loud not wanting an answer but knowing I’ll get one.
“Chess told me you guys talked last night. I’m assuming it didn’t go well?”
Jackson hands me a fresh bottle of water. Taking it from him I absentmindedly unscrew the cap and gulp it down. “I don’t know what she wants. Or what I want. She’s taken so much from me. And I don’t know how to move on from it.”
“She’s also given you a lot,” he says softly.
I know he means Dominic. Christ, how did I not know I wanted something so badly until I got it?
I nod and drop my gaze to the ground. “Yes. I told her that. Dominic is the best thing to come from this mess.”
“It’s only a mess until you clean it up, Adam,” Billy says.
“And how do I clean it up? Just jump into being father of the year? Fuck it. Might as well go for husband of the year too, right?”
He shrugs. “The courthouse isn’t far,” he says with a smirk.
