Page 84 of Fierce-Baker

“Dickhead. And that’s why I don’t like human dicks. Give me the fake ones any day.”

He rolled his eyes. “Brittany.” It just pained him when she talked like that. Whether she was with a man or woman, he didn’t care. He didn’t talk sex with his sister.

“What?” she asked innocently. “It’s the truth. Why lie about it?”

“Not all men are like that.”

“And we’ve got such a great example of it at home living with Mom?”

“Your sarcasm is ready to peel the paint from the walls. But I’m not like that and none of my friends are.”

“I get it, I get it,” Brittany said, waving her hand. “But those few examples are enough to taint most people.”

“Well, it did her. So she hadn’t told anyone other than her best friend, and now me, who Micah’s father is.”

“And the asshole didn’t want to be part of his kid’s life?”

“That’s the thing,” he said. His head went back and forth. He couldn’t get the words out no matter how much he was trying.

“I wouldn’t have even told him,” Brittany said. “Sorry. After what he did to her. Fuck him.”

“Seriously?” he asked. “You would keep that secret?”

“Yeah. I’m not sure I’d want that kind of influence in my child’s life. Most wouldn’t agree, but I don’t care. When you’re hurt you do things to shield yourself. You know, like when a plane is going down, the mother takes the oxygen first so she’s strong enough for the kids.”

He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it that way.

It was not as if Tasha hadn’t admitted that she knew it was selfish. And that it couldn’t be that way forever.

That months turned to years.

“Well, I’m trying to stay out of it for now. I’ll be there for her though.”

“I don’t get where you’re struggling,” Brittany said. “Just that she’s a single mother? Or the relationship she had with the ex? Do you think she knew he was married and she lied to you?”

This was where he didn’t want his sister to make those snap judgments. “No. Never that.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Fuck. You didn’t hear this from me.”

Brittany grabbed his arm. “What?”

“Guess she thinks more like you than I would have realized.”

“She didn’t tell him she was pregnant?”

He shook his head. “No. She said she needed time to process it. Then once Micah was born, she just wanted to enjoy him, and now time has gotten away from her. Only her best friend and I know. Not even her parents.”

“I want to say good for her, but I get it. Being the guy, maybe it’s not the right decision. But what he did to her, that wasn’t right either. That’s where you’re struggling?”

“Yeah.”

“I think considering she hadn’t told her parents and still told you says something more than words could.”

He nodded his head. “That too.”

“Which is eating at you almost as much as the knowledge of Micah’s father?” Brittany asked, her voice low, almost sympathetic. He nodded. “It doesn’t sound as if Tasha is anything like Alexa. She can take care of herself.”

“No shit.”

“Then wipe that from your mind. If her biggest secret was about Micah’s father, and she told you and not even her own family, then you should be content that she isn’t going to blindside you.”