She didn't know? It had been a coincidence that she'd brought up the subject? Shade glanced at Adam. Did he lie to her as much as he lied to everyone else? "You haven't told her?"
"Told me what?" Madison asked, her eyes on Adam as she slurped her soda.
"Nothing." Adam nodded toward her cup. "Do you want another drink?"
Nice try, Shade thought. "You'd better tell her. It might be yours." Shade shook his head. "No sense in making this worse than it already is."
"What might be yours?" Madison asked, frowning at Adam, then at Shade, and then at Adam again.
"It's probably mine," Owen said. "Damn party in my pants was bound to get me into trouble sooner or later."
Once Madison understood the situation-carefree band orgy turned lifelong responsibility-she completely lost her cool, going so far as to threaten Adam with a plastic fork. "How could you do this to me, Adam?"
Amanda hadn't taken the news quite so hard, but then Madison and Adam had been seeing each other off and on for over a year. Shade was surprised Madison wasn't angry about him cheating with another woman. Her only concern seemed to be that he hadn't used protection and might have contracted an STI. Huh. Where did Shade find a woman like her?
"I did wear protection," Adam insisted.
"Then how could you potentially be the father of this baby, Adam?" She jabbed him with her fork. "How?"
"We all wore protection," Shade said. They had. He wasn't just saying that to put Madison at ease.
Madison looked unconvinced. "Then how is she pregnant?"
"Wish I had the answer to that," Owen said.
Shade didn't remember all the details of their wild night with Lindsey and her friend Vanessa, but he'd fucked them both, he couldn't deny that. But he was certain he'd used a fresh condom each time he'd penetrated. He sure as hell didn't need two baby mamas in his life. A loving wife and several kids at home? Sure, he could go for that. But it was hard enough dealing with one court order for visitation-how the hell would he handle two? If Lindsey's baby did turn out to be his, he'd deal with it. He'd never turn his back on his own child. But he prayed this situation didn't further complicate his home situation. He was already struggling to stay an important part in his daughter's life. Was he capable of adding another kid to his mix of responsibilities?
"If you all wore protection, what's to say she got pregnant by any of you?" Madison's question jerked Shade out of his troubled thoughts. "Maybe she's a goddamned liar."
Maybe. If she was capable of fucking six guys and her best friend in a single night, who knew how many potential fathers she'd spread her legs for. She could have fucked the entire state of Idaho and all of its potatoes for all he knew.
". . . make her get a paternity test," Madison was saying. "Prove it isn't any of yours. Get rid of her once and for all."
Lindsey had a few more months before she gave birth, so worrying about what could be was going to make for a long summer. "We'll have one done as soon as the baby is born," Shade said. "Until then, we're just playing a waiting game."
"Fuck that," Madison said. Shade had never heard her cuss before. She must be really upset. Not that he blamed her. "They can do the test during pregnancy now. You don't have to wait until she delivers."
Well, hallelujah! He'd be sure Lindsey had the test as soon as possible. Then the poor sap who had drawn the knock-up-a-groupie card from the Game of Rock Star could figure out how he was going to handle the situation before the kid took its first breath. The rest of them could get on with their lives and thank their slow-swimming sperm.
When Madison and Adam started arguing about Adam's decision to get a vasectomy, Shade shifted uncomfortably on the bench and decided it was a good time to leave. Conversations about permanent nut alterations should never be discussed over a fine meal. He went back to the food truck and ordered all the remaining crawdads for the crew. Soon they were headed back toward the venue with Adam and Madison trailing them on their noisy rented Harley.
"He still isn't writing any music," Shade said to Owen as conversationally as possible. He didn't need to say who he was referring to. They both knew Adam was the catalyst for the band's creative output.
"I guess he has writer's block."
"Any suggestions as to what we should do about it?"
Owen thought for a moment and then shrugged. "I don't think we can do anything but wait it out."