Chapter Eight
Declan
I carried a sleeping Wyllie into Mia’s. I hadn’t eaten good Tex-Mex in two years. Suddenly, I was starving. Cassie walked next to me, designer diaper bag on her shoulder; most likely an extravagant gift from her mother. Cassie wouldn’t feel the need to carry butt paste in a thousand-dollar bag.
The look on Brice’s face when I walked up, carrying his nephew with my hand on the small of his sister’s back, was priceless. I chuckled. “Good to see you, man. It’s been too long. What was it, September? The last time you came to visit? That would have been right after Wyllie’s first birthday.”
Brice shook my outstretched hand and kissed Cassie loudly on the cheek. “Yeah, it was September. We went down to the French Riviera, spent the week with those gorgeous redheads. Remember?”
I narrowed my eyes. Asshole. He knew what I was doing and I knew what he was doing. That’s what decades of friendship will get you. I pulled out Cassie’s chair so she could sit. “How could I forget? Didn’t you get crabs?”
Cassie snorted into her water glass.
“No, I don’t think I did, man. Let me hold my perfect nephew. I haven’t seen him in weeks.”
Reluctantly, I handed off a now awake but groggy Wyllie to my possibly former best friend. Wyllie’s face lit up when he saw who was here with us. Ugh, guess I couldn’t really hate Brice if Wyllie loved him that much. We ordered. Then…nothing. No one said a word. The awkward silence at the table was agonizing. Luckily our round of beers came quick.
Cassie sipped hers, her eyes darting between me and her brother. Clearly waiting to see what would happen.
Brice tickled Wyllie and turned to Cass. “Hey, what did you think of the remodel Mom did to Wyllie’s playroom? Isn’t that slide the coolest? I wish we would have been allowed to have an indoor slide when we were little.”
“Oh, uh, actually I haven’t been by the house yet.” Cassie tore up pieces of tortilla and handed one to Wyllie. He grinned, his two lower teeth sticking out.
Brice’s eyes went wide. “Running errands? You could have brought Wild Man by my office. I would have watched him for you.”
Cassie glanced over at me before answering her brother. “I was with Declan. We went over to look at an investment property he just finished.”
“The one off Lemmon?” Brice shoveled chips and salsa in his mouth, careful not to spill any on the happy baby in his lap.
I nodded, taking a pull of my beer. “Yeah, we’re going to stay there tonight. Since your parents won’t be home until tomorrow anyway.”
Brice looked at Cassie. “We? You and Wyllie are staying with Declan tonight? Why?”
Cassie grabbed Wyllie and put him in the high chair that was placed between her and Brice. I was irritated that the highchair wasn’t between her and me. We were his parents.
“We are. Declan and I needed to talk about some stuff.”
“Like?” Brice held his sister’s gaze.
She took a deep breath but didn’t answer him.
I rolled my eyes. “Like the fact that Wyllie is my son.” Brice’s gaze darted over to me. “Are you going to explain why you never told me Cassie was pregnant? Are you going to sit there and tell me that you didn’t know he was mine?” My words were harsh, but my tone wasn’t. We were in public after all. You could take the boy out of high society, but you couldn’t take the high society out of the boy.
Brice sighed. “Of course I knew he was yours.”
“You knew?” Cassie’s shock was real. No one was that good of an actress.
“Seriously, Cass? Wyllie looks just like Declan. Plus, I knew y’all had ‘dinner’ together before he came to meet us for our camping trip. I’m not stupid.”
I lifted my beer in salute. “I think your stupidity could be debated. So could calling that weekend a camping trip, but whatever.”
Cassie looked over at me, confused. “You still went and met up with Steven and Brice? After everything that happened between us?”
I shrugged. “Yeah.” Remembering things I’d long forgotten, I said, “I had a hickey.”
Cassie let out a quick laugh. “You did? Did anyone notice?”
Brice chuckled, shaking his head. “Steven did. I’d forgotten about that until now. When he asked about it, Declan told him he’d just spent the night with the girl of his dreams having the best sex of his life.”
I tensed up next to Cassie. I hadn’t been lying when I’d said that. But now was not the time to talk about it. I could tell her mind was going a mile a minute. “Why didn’t you tell me Cass was pregnant, man?”
“At first, I was afraid that the baby was Steven’s. I knew how you felt about Cassie, and I thought telling you she was pregnant with Steven’s baby would upset you. But then, after Wyllie was born… I mean, she named him Wylder and he looks so much like you. The thing was, dude, I had spent time with you in Europe. I’d seen the life you were leading over there. Hell, I’d led it with you.” He took a sip of his beer. “Cassie had changed so much, had become so happy, so sure of herself. I was afraid of what would happen if you came home. What would happen to her, to you, to Wyllie.” He shook his head sadly. “I may have been wrong in not telling you. But I was only doing what I thought was best for my baby sister. I’m sorry if I hurt you, and for lying.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. Kind of took the angry wind right out of my sails. How could I fault a guy for wanting to protect his family? I understood where he was coming from, his logic. I had been a happy man-whore in Europe, but it didn’t make it hurt any less.
It didn’t give me back the time I’d lost with my son.
I simply nodded, and then Brice smiled and nodded back. We’d been friends for over twenty years.
I guess words weren’t really needed.