Chapter 16

Christopher

“Excuse me, what did you say?” I asked.

“Yep. I want you to come over and meet my girlfriend,” Justin said.

“Is this a joke? Is someone watching me with a camera?” I asked.

“Quit being an asshole, okay? I want you to come meet Roxy.”

“Holy fuck. Are you dating a stripper?” I asked.

“No, numb-nuts. It’s the redhead from the bar.”

“She’s got a fucking stripper name, Justin. What does she do for a living?”

“She’s a paralegal for a law firm here in L.A.”

“That’s—hm—not a cover job for a stripper,” I said.

“I want you to come over tonight and meet her.”

“She gave me her number, remember. I’ve already met her.”

“Then come meet her again. Quit being a dick about this. I don’t want you to meet the girl from the bar. I want you to meet Roxy. My girlfriend.”

“I’m never going to get used to hearing that, but okay. I’ll be there. What time?” I asked.

“Six o’clock. And leave your dick attitude at home.”

It was still strange to me that Justin had a girlfriend, but he sounded happy on the phone. And what was I going to do, refuse my best friend? I sure as hell was gonna give him a hard time, but I was also happy for him. It was about damn time he focused on dating instead of simply fucking.

Maybe that would make it easier to tell him I was fucking his sister.

I got to Justin’s townhouse and got out of my car. I was a few minutes early, but it didn’t really matter. There was a good chance Roxy had been here all day with Justin, so I was bracing myself for the smell of nasty ass sex the moment I walked in.

But a soothing voice caught my attention as I stepped onto the sidewalk.

“Chris? That you?”

“Hey there, Jessi. Did Justin call you, too?” I asked.

“Yeah. He said something about meeting a girlfriend. Did I hear him right?” Jessi asked.

“Trust me, I asked myself the same thing.”

I looked down into her arms and I saw Caleb. I took in his big blue eyes and his light brown hair. My eyes fell onto the dimple on his chin and how broad his smile was. He was staring straight at me. Like he knew the secret everyone was so intent on keeping.

The small boy was adorable, and without thinking I reached out to touch him.

I tickled his stomach and he giggled at me. I ran my finger along his cheek and he turned to try and take it in his mouth. I felt my cheeks being pulled into a grin as my eyes rose to meet Jessi’s, and I saw her staring at me with this look in her eyes.

It was a mixture of surprise and confusion. But I really couldn’t put my finger on it.

I’d never seen that look on her face before.

“Hey guys!” Justin said. “You, uh—just gonna stand out here?”

“Sorry,” I said. “This little guy’s too cute.”

“I know. Time flies when he’s around. Come on in. Roxy’s in the kitchen.”

I tried to shake Caleb from my mind as Justin ushered us into his home. It was hard for me to take this seriously with all the memories we had of this place. I looked at the couch and saw all the women I’d caught him bending over it. I looked down the hallway and saw all the women he’d had sprawled out on the carpet. We turned into the kitchen and instead of seeing Roxy, I saw all the women I’d fucked right there on that counter in his own damn home.

Shit, this night was gonna be hard.

“Well you look familiar,” the redhead said. “I’m Roxy, if you don’t remember.”

“Oh, I remember,” I said, with a smile. “How are you doing?”

“Very well, thanks for asking. And you must be Jessi, Justin’s sister.”

“How do you know Chris?” Jessi asked, as she shook Roxy’s hand.

“Your brother and I met when I gave my number to Chris in a bar and he passed it off.”

“He passed it off?” she asked.

Jessi’s eyes panned over to me as she gazed at me with a quizzical look.

“Doesn’t sound like Chris,” Jessi said.

“Well, it was that night,” Roxy said. “And I’m glad it was. Your brother is a good man.”

“You sure we’re talking about the same person?” I asked.

“I’m sure we are,” Roxy said, with a giggle.

“I’m sorry. You passed on this beautiful woman’s number? When do you ever do that?” Jessi asked.

“Ever since he started seeing some mystery woman,” Justin said. “He won’t tell me about her, but he sure as hell wouldn’t pick up women with me. At the bar or at Dad’s record release party.”

Jessi’s eyes were hot on me as she swallowed hard.

“Is that Caleb?” Roxy asked. “Your nephew?”

“It is,” Jessi said. “Would you like to see him?”

I watched Roxy interact with Caleb as I stood off to the side. The light in my best friend’s eyes was apparent. He was happy with this girl and I was happy for him, so who the hell was I to say anything? I’d always known Justin to be a player, but even the biggest of players sometimes met their match.

I only hoped she wasn’t playing him.

“How old is he?” Roxy asked.

“He’ll be nine months pretty soon,” Justin said.

“Is he eating all right? Sleeping well?” Roxy asked.

“People don’t usually ask me those kinds of questions. Do you have kids?” Jessi asked.

“I have a couple of very young nieces, so I’m sort of familiar with all that goes on in an infant’s world. Is momma getting enough rest?” Roxy asked.

“I’m trying,” Jessi said. “The late night feedings are hard sometimes. Or if he gets sick. He’s very clingy to me when he gets sick.”

“How do you like being a dad, Chris?”

Jessi’s eyes widened in panic as everyone’s eyes whipped over to me. That was it. That was all the admission I needed. I watched Justin’s brow furrow as I let out a nervous chuckle, my eyes falling onto Jessi. She was holding Caleb closer to her. Like she was trying to protect him from the barrage of anger that was about to come her way.

But I wasn’t going to let that happen.

This was not the place nor the time to discuss the blatant the truth.

“Uh, they’ve never even dated,” Justin said. “Right?”

“Nope. We’ve never dated. Jessi doesn’t know who the father is, but she’s got a wide network around her helping her with Caleb. And if she ever needs help, all she has to do is reach out and ask.”

My eyes fell back to Jessi and I watched as they glimmered in the lighting of Justin’s kitchen. I wasn’t sure if she heard me, or if she knew I was talking to her. But I was serious.

If she ever needed help, all she had to do was ask.

“I’m so sorry,” Roxy said. “This is why people should never make assumptions. I should know that from my job.”

“What do you do for work?” Jessi asked.

She peeled her eyes away from me and I felt like I could breathe for the first time in years.

“I’m a paralegal at a law firm downtown,” Roxy said.

“And here I thought being a model made me awesome,” Jessi said.

“I’d kill to have the body to be a model. It’s an honor to meet you, by the way. Some of the outfits you wear are stunning,” Roxy said.

The air was tense for the rest of the night and Justin kept his gaze locked onto me. Every once in a while, I caught him staring at Caleb. Analyzing him before looking over at me. I tried to play Roxy’s comment off as much as possible, but the seed was already planted.

And I knew once Justin wanted to know something, he would stop at nothing for the answer.

The moment Caleb started yawning, Jessi took it as an invitation to leave. She hugged Roxy’s neck, clearly impressed with the woman her brother had snagged. I didn’t go in for a hug, but simply watched her as she left. The last thing I needed was to give Justin any more ammunition to fire my way. Caleb’s small cry started echoing down the hallway as Jessi shut the door behind her, and my gut ached to follow them.

To quell the crying of a child I knew deep down was mine.

“So, Chris. What do you do for work?” Roxy asked.

I turned my attention to the redhead as Justin’s eyes locked onto me.

“He’s a choreographer for runway shows,” Justin said, flatly.

“I’m a choreographer for a lot of things, but runway shows are the bulk of my portfolio.”

“Oh, that's so awesome. Have you ever worked with Justin’s sister before?” she asked.

My eyes flickered over to Justin and I could see his eyes growing angrier by the second. Why the hell wouldn’t this woman shut up about me and Jessi?

“Last week actually, for a show we did yes,” I said.

And as Roxy rattled on about her perceived notions about the modeling world, I tried to keep my mind calm. Jessi was probably panicking and Justin was probably seething and there was no way to quell any of the tension being thrown my way.

The only thing I could do was keep the conversation focused on the girlfriend.

So that was what I did.