Page 99 of Secret Baby for My Brother's Best Friends

"Sure," I step back, allowing him to enter the living space. His scent encompasses me as he crosses over, and I close my eyes, inhaling it, savoring it.

Thankfully, I manage to get a hold of myself before he turns around.

"I think I owe you an apology," he says.

I cock my head, confused. "For what?"

"For how I acted yesterday. I was childish...jealous."

"Of what?"

"Of the fact that you introduced Adam as your boyfriend but not me. And how you and Sam almost seem to have your own secret language sometimes."

I gape. That's so surprising, I shake my head. "That wasn't... we were caught, and so I had to make up an excuse. And Sam and I–"

"I know." His lip quirks. "I want to make it clear that it's nothing you did or he did. It's my issue. I...I get very possessive over people I care about. Sam will tell you that I was an absolutepain when I sensed him and Adam getting closer together, even though I'm the one who introduced them in the first place and pushed them to be friends. But the second I sensed that they might eventually become closer than he and I were, I started acting like a jerk." He puts his hands in his pockets. "I think that's what ended up pushing Sam away entirely. My neediness."

He pushed Sam away? I thought they were friends, although I do notice that Sam tends to be with Adam more often than he is with Jake.

Sympathy drives to my chest. "What happened?"

"I don't know. I probably did something, but...yeah." He grins. "Adam says it's my mommy issues."

"Mommy issues?"

"My mom sort of left me when I was nine."

I gasp. "Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry."

"No, it's fine. It wasn't bad... or at least as bad as it could have been," he shrugs. "Truth is that my dad was a real piece of shit. A drunken, abusive, jealous bastard. My mother needed to get away from him, but she knew that she couldn't do that with me, so she surrendered me to the state and went."

"That must have been awful."

"It was, but even then I understood. It was a shitty situation all around, but I never blamed her for it. I also thought it would be temporary, just until she got back on her feet, and then she would come back for me. But that didn't happen, at least not for the first few years. She did get back on her feet a year later. Met a nice man, and they got married. Started a new life together. She even got pregnant by him and gave birth. My biological fatherpassed away from alcohol poisoning, so technically there was no reason why we should have been apart. But it still took her years to come back for me, and when she did, and took me home with them, it was awkward. She was different." He shrugs. "It was clear that she didn't want me there after some time. And I couldn't blame her. I reminded her of the most painful moments of her life, of one of her worst mistakes. I looked exactly like my father. Had his charm and mannerisms and everything. I guess a part of her was waiting for the day I’d snap and attack her."

"That's..." I try to temper my rage towards a woman I don't know, one who probably suffered unimaginable horrors. "She was wrong for that. You know that, right?"

"Yes. But I knew the best thing I could do for her was to let her live free of her past. So, when I was eighteen, I just left. I knew she didn't want me around, so I didn't remain around. I sometimes go home to visit my little brother and my stepdad, who is a great guy. But I don't stay too long because I know that will make her...." He stares at me, and a puzzled smile crosses his lips. "Are you crying?"

"No," I say thickly, even though my nose is pretty runny and my throat is tight, and my eyes sting because fuck, it's just so sad.

"Oh, baby, the last thing I want you to do is feel sorry for me."

"I don't," I shake my head, "I swear I don't." It's such a sad, familiar tale. Though my case isn't even half as bad, I recall having the same feelings, like I was a stranger in my own home, like my parents would have been better off if I hadn't been born. Like I should just leave it all behind.

It’s one of the things I bonded over with Claire, in college. Both being awkward freshmen and having shitty childhoods in her case, with her father being abusive too.

Maybe that’s why we were both drawn to Eric. Because he gave us both the attention we so desperately craved.

But, I didn't think Jake would have a similar story. I didn't think he would be like me, constantly excusing and overcompensating.

"It's shitty," I say with a thick voice. "That you got treated like that. No amount of trauma that she had makes it okay. You can sympathize with her and still know that she is a terrible mother for what she did to you, and you didn't deserve any of it."

He grins and swipes at my cheek with his thumb, pulling away with moisture from a single tear. "Thank you for saying that."

Then, without warning, he puts a finger up to his lips and licks it off.

A shocked sound leaves my lips as sudden desire combines with the sadness, creating a volatile mixture. He leans in and kisses me, and it's filled with salt and heat, and heart-pounding emotion that makes me never want to pull back.