Page 126 of That Girl
Shelby stuffs her phone away and grabs Prez’s arm again, pulling him back. “Stop. Not here. I swear to God, I will knock you out flat with my taser if I have to.”
“What is he talking about?” I ask her.
“Is Connor my son?”
I rock back in confusion, his question like a physical slap to the face. “Why in the hell would you ask me that?”
“Rory did a DNA test.”
“What?” I shout, and Connor opens the door and runs up behind me.
“Daddy, why are you yelling?”
Prez’s gaze locks again on my son, and I step in front of Connor, blocking Prez’s view. What the hell is going on?
Shelby steps forward just as Connor peeks around my legs. He’s gripping the material of my sweatpants.
“Hey, Connor, do you remember me from the party? I’m Rory’s friend, Shelby.”
Connor nods his head yes.
“Why don’t you and I go play while your daddy and Prescott talk? Rory told me you like boats.”
He nods again but looks up at me for permission.
“It’s okay, bud,” I tell him, squatting down. “Go on with Shelby and once I’m done, we’ll play out back and then go find Aurora.”
“Okay,” he says, reluctantly taking Shelby’s proffered hand.
Once Shelby and Connor are inside, I close the front door and stand in front of it, arms crossed. “Explain yourself, right the fuck now,” I tell my old friend.
“I think it’s the other way around,” he counters, matching my stance like we’re two gladiators facing off.
Still completely dumbfounded but getting pissed as hell as each second passes, I say, “You don’t get to come to my house and start throwing around wild accusations. You first.”
“I saw Shelby’s text string with Rory.”
Cocking my head to the side, I ask, “Why were you snooping around on Shelby’s phone and reading her private conversations with Aurora?”
“That’s none of your business, JD.”
My pissed off just went nuclear. “It sure as hell is if it involves my son or Aurora!”
Prez calmly states, “Rory thinks Connor is mine. Apparently, she’s having a DNA test done.”
Dead silence as I stare at him, my life unraveling before my eyes.
“No, she didn’t. We would have to do mouth swabs or something. I would remember if I consented to something like that.”
Aurora’s words from last night come back.I need to tell you something, too.I recall something else. I remember how odd it was that both my and Conner’s toothbrushes went missing at the same time. That happened around the time Aurora first came to dinner at the condo. Uncertainty claws at me.
“I should have seen it the other day at the party,” Prez says, his voice low but hard.
I’m shaking my head, not willing to hear him. “Candace said he was mine. My dad backed her up.”
My dad.Jesus Christ. He was the one who told her where to find me. Why would he do that after what he did? After he forced me to leave, after he gave me no choice but to do what he wanted or else he would—
“He looks just like me, JD.”
