I poured myself a cup then downed the caffeine like it was liquor. Then another. The way I was going, I’d be high and jittery before Chloe arrived. I finished the brew.
The doorbell rang.
Not exactly fifteen minutes. Then again, Chloe didn’t live but two miles away.
On my way to the door I shook away the jitters, muttering a quick prayer before I let Chloe in.
She was bundled in her parka and didn’t appear as distraught as she had the day before.
I could hear Kross’s voice as he talked on the phone.
“Would you like to go somewhere more private?” I asked.
“No, this won’t take long.” She settled down on the bottom step of the staircase. “It’s probably good your brother is here.”
I couldn’t tell if she was sad or scared or both. Usually Chloe would be giving me some clue. Whether that was playing with her hair as she had yesterday, or crying, or raising her voice. But she was content and calm.
“Kelton—”
“Let me talk first.” If I didn’t, I would explode. I dug my hands into my jeans pockets as I found a spot next to her. My stomach knotted. Whether I was the father or not, I would man up. Chloe and I had history, and while I wasn’t in love with her, I wanted to see her happy. She deserved to be happy. “When you said you were pregnant, I couldn’t breathe. I panicked. But I will do the right thing.” Letting people down was over. I had to be the man my father had raised. I had to be the man Kade had drilled into us. I had to be the man for me. I had law school ahead of me, a life of what I didn’t know, but I had to step into my future with pride and determination, taking the chances I deserved, overcoming my fear of relationships. After all, I was a Maxwell, and we protected our family and friends.
A small, sad smile formed on her lips as she angled her body toward me. “I know you don’t want to hear this again, but I love you.”
Surprisingly, I wasn’t running like I had the first time she’d told me she loved me. In fact, it didn’t spark any emotion in me, or make me cringe, or want to disappear. Yet, when Lizzie had confessed her love for me, my reaction had been quite different. At first, the blood had rushed out of me. More from my own fucked-up fear of her leaving town. But I was beyond happy that she’d never stopped loving me.
“You’re not running again.” She pinched her eyebrows together. “Okay, this has to be a monumental moment.”
Epic moment was more like it. I was done running.
“And while I love you,” she went on, “you’re not the father. I wanted you to be. I wanted to lie and say it was yours. But my parents didn’t raise me to be dishonest. And that wouldn’t be fair to you or the father. I came to you yesterday so you would hear it from me and not Zach.”
“Come again?” I gritted my teeth. We had a fucking code. Friends didn’t worm their way in on exes.
“Kelton, we were never going to be more than a good time in bed. I did want more with you. But you didn’t. Zach was always there for me whenever you and I called it quits.” She sat prim and proper and shuddered out a breath. “He’s a good man. He loves me, and I love him.”
I pushed to my feet, trying to absorb the idea of Zach and her. “If you two love each other, why all the crying? Why ask me to take you to the art gala? Why ask Lacey to talk to me?”
“The art gala was for my father. I wasn’t ready to tell him we’d broken up again. He’d always told me you’d break my heart, and I was trying to prove him wrong. Sad, right?”
I’d always suspected Jeremy Pitt didn’t think I was good for his daughter. I couldn’t say I blamed him.
“Then between having to tell my parents and beating myself up for not insisting on Zach using protection, I’ve been a basket case. Zach and I have also been fighting about who was going to tell you. I wanted to be the one because I didn’t want you to think I’d cheated on you. I never did.”
Zach and Chloe together shouldn’t bother me, but it did. “Okay, but why didn’t you or Zach tell me you two were seeing each other? I’ve always been honest with you.”
“Really? He’s your friend, Kelton. We were both worried that you would kill him.”
That might be true. I had no say in who Chloe dated or even Zach. I’d never hidden my dates from her. But I’d never dated any of Zach’s girlfriends either. My head was pounding as fast as my heart was ramming into my ribs. A slow burn crawled up my chest as relief pushed it down. I glanced up the staircase. I didn’t know for sure if Zach was home, but I was about to find out.
Chloe popped up. “Don’t, Kelton.” She raised her voice and her hands.
Kross came out of the library. “Everything okay?”
I let out an evil laugh. “That’s why you said it was good that my brother was here.” Kudos to her for knowing me so well. “Chloe, get out of my way.” I wanted Zach to man up.
Kross jumped in between Chloe and me. “Bro, turn around. You’ve punched enough shit in the last twenty-four hours.”
Footsteps padded on the landing above.