“What’s going on, honey?” she asked, stepping out onto the front porch.
That’s when I saw her toes.
Her toenails were painted a glittery pink that was so bright that I could see them from where I was parked.
“What are you doing here?” Destiny snapped.
“I live here. What are you doing here?” Verity returned.
I chose not to call Verity on her lie. Instead, I dropped the helmet to the bike frame, then headed for the porch stairs.
The moment I came within reach, which happened to be at the bottom of the steps, Verity launched herself at me.
I caught her easily, pulling her securely into my body and closing my eyes as her scent and the feel of her body washed over me.
I didn’t notice the way I rocked back on my heels when she threw herself at me.
The other two people standing there watching me did, though.
And they made it a point to comment on the fact.
“Even a big man like your ex can’t handle her…”
I stiffened and turned, dropping my hold on Verity’s ass as I did, and felt her go preternaturally still as she tried to figure out what I was about to do.
“Uhh,” Verity started to say.
I held my hand up to stop whatever it was she was about to say.
“You come onto my land, insult my woman, and expect to make it off of this property alive?” I asked him incredulously.
Kenneth’s mouth kicked up into a smirk.
“Just saying what I saw,” he shrugged. “Not my fault it’s true.”
I took a threatening step forward, but stopped when I saw a third person get out of the car.
“Boys and girls,” Eugene grumbled. “This is not the time, nor the place. You came here to say something, Destiny, so say it.”
Destiny’s mouth tightened.
“I’m pregnant.”
Verity, who’d been leaning against my side, stiffened.
My hand clenched onto her hand and held on when she would’ve marched her ass back inside.
“Please,” I said. “Enlighten me on how, exactly, something like that would’ve happened.”
Destiny’s mouth tightened.
“You really want me to give you the talk of the birds and bees?” she sneered. “Because I can if your big, muscled brain can’t figure it out.”
I laughed.
“If I use a condom, and you use your own form of birth control, how would that happen?” I repeated. “And say some sort of accident did happen, how far along are you?”
She gritted her teeth. “Five months.”
I blinked.
“We broke up more than five months ago, and it’d been over two months before that that we had sex. So correct me if I’m wrong, but the timing is not good…right?”
My voice was so sarcastic that it was apparent to not just her, but even the dumbass at her side.
Destiny’s eyes narrowed.
“I never said it was yours,” she hissed.
I sighed and rubbed my hands down my face.
“Then what, exactly, is the problem?” I grumbled tiredly. “Why am I even involved in this?”
“Do you mind if I talk to him by myself for a few?”
Eugene’s authoritative voice had me blinking in surprise. He almost sounded like a normal male—one not afraid of his own shadow.
“Sure,” Kenneth grumbled, tossing Eugene an evil look.
When the two of them went to head to my front door, I stopped them.
“I don’t think so,” I snapped. “We’ll go inside, and y’all can stay out here.”
Kenneth growled low under his breath, and I had to resist the urge to laugh at the stupid fucker.
“Come on inside, man,” I said, pocketing my keys since I wouldn’t be needing them.
The minute I got close enough to the door, my eyes caught Verity’s, and she gave me a guilty look before scampering away, leaving the door open.
I would’ve laughed had this situation not been seriously fucked.
Didn’t she know I was trying to protect her?
Eugene followed me up the stairs of the porch, and I gestured him to precede me inside.
“What’s up, Eugene?” I asked as I closed the door on the couple that was standing in the driveway looking like two complete dolts.
They were looking around, not talking to each other, and trying to act like they weren’t as mad as I could so obviously tell that they were.
“I need a drink,” Eugene muttered. “Once I swallow the bile back down, I’ll enlighten you.”
I sighed, thinking he was exaggerating a little bit, but nonetheless got him a glass of ice water and handed it to him.
He devoured it, sucking it down so fast that I immediately got him another.
“Thanks,” he said, taking the second glass.
Verity, who was standing next to the sink peeling potatoes, sneaked a look at me, and immediately returned to what she was doing.
“I’m glad to see y’all are back together.”
I gave him a pointed look. “Get on with it, Eugene.”
He thrust his hands through his hair and took a seat at the table, dropping down so heavily that I wondered if he was sick.
Was that why he drank so much? Was he dying?
His next words had me realizing that no, he wasn’t dying. Though, he may soon wish he was dead.
“I slept with Destiny a week and a half after y’all broke up, but I didn’t realize that I did until I found out that I had an …STD.”
I blinked.
“I’m clean,” I said. “Got checked after I found out she was cheating…why would you think this…”
He sighed.
“I’m not sure what or how it happened. I just think it’s fucking comical that I catch crabs around the same time she tells me that she has crabs, and that was a day and a half after she stayed at my house,” he grumbled under his breath. “I don’t even know how it happened. One second I was sleeping, and the next I was having sex. I wasn’t even aware that it wasn’t a dream until...”
“Until you got crabs,” I supplied.
Verity sounded like she choked, but I couldn’t be sure without taking my eyes off of Eugene, and I suspected if I showed the least bit of reaction, he might very well flip a switch.
“And how did they even know that this baby wasn’t Kenneth’s?” I asked, really tired now. Was it acceptable to sleep a solid twenty-four hours? “And why are they here?”
“I convinced Kenneth that you might be able to help.” He wiped some sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. “She came to my house, drunker than a skunk and high on…something I haven’t been able to identify yet, and spent the night.”
“And fucked you while you slept…”
Eugene nodded once.
“Fuckin’ A. Why’d y’all have to bring me into this bullshit?”
“Because it was either bring you in, or tell Kenneth that I slept with her…and I know how much you like my face…”
Verity, who finally chose to stop hiding the fact that she was listening to every single detail, turned and surveyed Eugene’s face.
“There’s more to it…” Verity added in her two cents.
“The baby has a genetic anomaly that causes birth defects, and they said that if the baby makes it to term, the baby may need an immediate liver and or kidney transplant.” He licked his lips.