One Mistake(9)

“Liv, this is my niece and nephew. Carter and Callie. They’re twins.” William nodded toward the door. “That’s my brother, Bob.”

“Will. Good to see you.” Bob stepped next to William and slapped him on the back.

It was easy to tell that they were brothers. Bob was about an inch shorter than William, and his dark hair was speckled with gray, but other than that they were nearly identical.

Bob looked me up and down. “Who’s this, Will?”

“Olivia Harris.”

Carter was beginning to squirm so William set him on the ground but Callie had a death grip around his neck and refused to let go.

“It’s nice to meet you, Bob.” I shook his hand.

“Bob is just about the only sane member of the family,” William explained. He turned to his brother. “Where’s Courtney?”

Bob’s cheek twitched. “She’s having one of her moods. She won’t be joining us today.”

“Lucky Courtney,” I muttered, not realizing I had said it out loud.

Both Bob and William laughed. Bob slapped William on the back again. “I like her already, Will. Good work.”

“She spent twenty minutes experiencing the annual Carter parent interrogation. She’s fully indoctrinated now.” William forced a smile.

Bob laughed again. “Well at least now Jean can stop questioning your sexuality.”

“I need to pee,” Courtney announced emphatically. William and Bob exchanged a look.

“I can take her,” I offered.

Bob seemed relieved. “You don’t have to do that,” he protested lamely.

“It’s not a problem.” I held out my arms and was surprised when Callie lunged into them. “You two can have some time to catch up.”

“Thanks, Livy,” William said.

Callie had some trouble getting the process started so I tried to distract her. “I hear you like alligators,” I said, remembering that William had bought her a souvenir in Florida.

“And crocodiles,” she said with a big smile. “Uncle Will buys me one whenever he goes on trips. I have hundreds of them.”

“That’s pretty cool.” I breathed a sigh of relief when Callie finally let go. I didn’t have a lot of experience getting kids to pee and the alligator thing was really all I knew about her.

When she was done, she took my hand and led us back to where the guys were still talking. I could hear them speaking in hushed voices.

“I’m telling you man, you need to tell her now. Waiting is only going to make it worse.”

“I’m not saying anything until I know for sure.” William’s voice was strained. “What if it’s a lie? You don’t know how she is.”

“What if it’s not a lie? This isn’t something that’s just going to go away.”

“I need more time to think it over.”

“In about eight months, you’ll be out of time. Don’t wait until the baby is here to tell her.” Bob glanced up from their conversation and saw me standing there with my mouth agape. “Shit.”

“Daddy cursed!” Callie sang out with a giggle.

I couldn’t feel my legs. The world started to spin around me as William turned around. One look in his eyes said I hadn’t misheard- William was going to be a father.

“Olivia.” My name was nothing but a rush of air as it slipped through William’s lips.

I marched past him, grabbing my coat on my way to the door. “Take me home.”

“Wait. Olivia.” William grabbed for my arm but I jerked it away. He reached for me again and this time I actually shoved him away.

“Home.” I nearly yelled the word and Callie’s eyes widened.

William looked to Bob for support but he shook his head. “Take her home, Will. I’ll cover for you here.”

“Liv, you have to talk to me at some point,” William said, as he started the car. “Just let me explain.”

“There’s nothing to explain.” It was cold in the car but I was burning up. “You don’t owe me an explanation. You don’t owe me anything.”

“Don’t talk like that.” William pulled onto the highway.

“Why not? It’s true. It’s not like we are in a relationship or anything. We’re just fucking.” I squeezed my hands into tight fists.

“Jesus, Olivia. You don’t really believe that, do you?” William slammed on the breaks when the car in front of us stopped abruptly. It gave him the opportunity to look at me. “I just introduced you to my parents.”

“You sure did.” I flashed my eyes in his direction. “You introduced me to them, but didn’t bother to tell me you knocked up some other woman. So clearly this is a very serious relationship. Fuck off, William.”