The fact that I can’t even bring myself to tell my best friend that the first test is positive tells me that if the second one matches, I have a lot of growing up to do and I better do it fast.

How am I going to tell Ethan?

I turn the water off after I’ve taken care of business and set the stick on the counter as I wait for the longest three minutes of my life to pass.

Ethan

My father is riding my ass more and more lately. I avoid his calls and keep the ones we do have to a minimum, telling him only what he wants to hear, like all the other times. I can’t keep lying to him because he’s smart. I think he’s already on to me and I need to tell someone. I need someone to tell me how to fix this mess I’ve made. My left leg bounces uncontrollably as I drive to the gym.

“Can I ask you something?” Logan looks at me curiously.

“Sure,” I say, turning onto the gym’s road.

“Why do you want to buy a house here? You always hated this place.”

“Things change. People change. I have a reason to stay here now.”

“Yeah, but you started the paperwork on the house before you and Kelsey hooked up. What’s going on with you two? Because I’ll beat your ass if you hurt her,” he says in a firm voice. I like knowing that she has had someone in her life who looks out for her, but he doesn’t have to do that anymore. I’m not going anywhere, but if I want him to trust me, I need to tell him everything.

“Okay. So hear me out before you say anything and try to keep your fists out of my face until I’m done,” I say, pulling into the gym’s parking lot and turning off my truck.

“My dad wants to take the BA from Sara and her father.” Logan snaps his head at me. The look in his eye is a good warning for how I need to word the next part. “I thought I wanted to help, but not anymore.” His jaw twitches. “I didn’t mean for anything to happen with Kelsey, but it did, and she means more to me than what my father wants. I’ve been lying to him and pretending I’m helping him when I haven’t been doing anything more than what Sara asked of me. She is smart when it comes to that place, and I don’t believe anyone could run it better. But now my dad is on to me, and I have this bad feeling everything is about to blow up in my face.”

“Is that why you started things with Kelsey? To get dirt on Sara for your father?” he asks. “Because if you’re still looking, you’re not going to find anything.”

“No. Everything that has happened between Kelsey and me has nothing to do with my father. And I want Sara and my uncle to keep the bar. Grandpa gave it to them for reason; my father doesn’t deserve it. I just … Kelsey doesn’t know any of this and I don’t know how to tell her.”

“Well, you better tell Kelsey soon because if she finds out what you’re up to from anyone else, she won’t see things clearly and she won’t be as calm as I am. Now if you’re done being a girl and causing a whole lot of drama in my life, let’s go kick some ass on the court. Oh, and grow a fucking pair. Tell your dad to go to hell,” he says, getting out and slamming the door shut.

He’s right. Max Connelly can fuck off. Kelsey is more important, and it’s time I started acting like it. I’ll tell her everything tonight. If she feels that same about me as I do about her, she’ll understand.

* * *

I pick Kelsey up for dinner and ever since she got in my truck, she’s been acting weird. She hasn’t spoken much, and every restaurant I mention, she’s against it. It started to snow first thing this morning and the roads are getting icy. I hadn’t wanted to drive far, but now we’re driving down the road with no specific destination in mind.

I plan to take her any place she wants tonight. I trust that she will believe me, but having her in a good mood when I tell her why I originally came to help Sara with the bar will help.

My hands are sweaty as I grip the steering wheel. I can’t wait any longer. I need to just tell her. I glance over to see her eyes are glazed over as if she is about to cry.

“Are you sure everything’s okay?” I ask her for the hundredth time. Last time she snapped at me, but I don’t know what else to say.

She lets out a frustrated sigh that sounds exaggerated.

“Yes, I’m fine, Now will you please stop asking me that?”

“You’re very snappy, and to me that means you’re not fine.”

“Snappy,” she huffs. “That’s a polite way of calling me a bitch.” She crosses her arms. Her eyes narrow as she fixes them on me, and I’m quickly regretting what I said.

“I don’t mean it like that, You’re just … acting standoffish. That’s all.”

“Let’s just drop it, okay? We can just go to the BA or something. It doesn’t need to be a special night,” she says and her body freezes. “Wait, never mind. Go wherever you want.”

If she wants to go the BA, I’ll take her to the BA. I don’t like it when she isn’t happy, and I will do anything to change that.

She doesn’t say anything as we find a parking spot. Nor does she say anything when we join Logan at one of the tables inside. She just sits in silence, staring off into space, and I really wish I knew what she is thinking right now. I reach my hand under the table to give her thigh a light squeeze. If I knew what was wrong, maybe I could fix it.

Whatever mood she’s in, it isn’t giving me the encouragement I need to tell her about my dad. I don’t want to make her even more upset, and right now that seems to be all I’m doing. Tonight is definitely not the night I tell her, but fuck, I’d better do it before it’s too late.

Chapter Twenty-three

Kelsey

“Ethan,”

The deep boom of a man’s voice causes us all to jump. Standing next to our table is a man whose presence instantly makes my skin crawl. He stands tall, with dark hair and even darker eyes. He scans the table, pausing briefly on each one of us with those disapproving eyes. When his eyes reach Ethan they immediately turn to disgust.

Who is this man?

“So, this is what you’ve been up to.” He stretches his arms to his sides and twists slightly. “And here I thought my son was successfully running a business.”

Son.

Ethan sits still with his head hanging in front of him. He slowly withdraws his hand from mine, and his father watches him the entire time. Now is probably not the best time to make my announcement. Oh hey, you’re Ethan’s father, nice to meet you. Guess what? Ethan’s going to be a father. Congrats, Grandpa.

“Ahhh, and this, I assume, is the reason you haven’t been returning my calls,” his father says, raising an eyebrow directly at me.

I swallow hard and take a breath. Ethan hasn’t moved. An awkward silence falls over the table, and Logan slides out of his chair without saying a word. What could Ethan’s father be so upset about? Ethan’s only covering until Sara comes back— it’s not like he’s preparing to take over. And if my father spoke to me that way, I wouldn’t return his calls either.

“Don’t be a coward, Ethan. Look me in the eye when I’m speaking to you.”

Ethan slowly lifts his head. His eyes briefly meet mine before he looks directly at his father.

“Better. Now get off that stool and follow me to the office,” he demands.

Ethan doesn’t say a word. He just nods and obeys.

I don’t move from my seat until the office door is closed completely. The way Ethan is acting is completely strange. Why would he be afraid of his father? I spring off my stool and quickly make my way to the back room to find Logan. Something is going on and I am going to find out what it is.

“Logan, where are you?”

“Geez, I’m right here, Kels, so stop yelling,” he says, stepping out from behind the linen rack. I position my body right in front of him, putting my hand on my hips with my elbows out. I block any chance he has of getting by.

“What’s going on? What’s Mr. Connelly doing here?” I shout. “And don’t tell me you don’t know, because you slipped away from the table so fast, I know you know what’s going on.”