Chapter 10

Zoe

I left the house, because I felt like I'd go crazy if I stayed there any longer. I figured I was overdue for a night out. The first person I thought to call was Howard, but I quickly changed my mind.

He and I had barely talked after we'd started this little game. I decided, if he was going to ignore me around other people, then I wasn't going to talk to him at all. I wouldn't receive his calls because I was still a little bitter. I'd only just started replying to his texts a few days ago, and only because the bitterness in my chest was no longer sorely pointed at him. Now, I wondered if it wouldn't be best for us to just stop seeing each other like this for good.

It was no wonder Dad didn't want us being together. Before, I'd just figured it was him being protective, but it was more than likely his selfish side rearing its head, and I wasn't sure how to feel about it. A part of me felt like I should be angry that he could do things without talking to me, but I needed to talk him into accepting what I wanted, and he was being stubborn about it.

Well, he is the dad, so it's different.

It still wasn't fair, though.

There was no way I could face Howard at the moment, anyway, and not just because of his avoidance game. I didn't know if he knew yet, but this affected him, too. So, instead, I called a friend of mine. It was a weekday, but this late, she should be off from work. I was relieved when she answered on the second ring.

"Hey, Zoe! It's been a while. How've you been?"

"Sorry, Kayla," I sighed. "I've just really been busy recently, but hey. If you have some free time, would you like to meet up? I feel like going out tonight."

"Really?" Kayla sounded excited. "Of course! I want to go out too but I couldn't find someone with the free time. You saved me from going alone! Where are you? Do you want me to come pick you up? Or do we meet up somewhere?"

"We can meet up somewhere. I'm about to grab a taxi."

"All right." Kayla gave me the name of the place to meet her. "I'll be there in thirty minutes."

We cut off the call. Since she was going to take her time getting there, I walked for a bit. I was dressed in a black, knee length sheath dress and short black heels that should be fine for whatever Kayla had in mind. When I got into a taxi and headed to the place she'd mentioned, I sent her a text and realized I'd arrived early. We were meeting at a bar. I could see the inside from the door, and it looked like a classy place. I figured the drinks would be expensive, but just as well, I didn't plan on drinking too much since I still had to go home.

Kayla appeared five minutes later, and pulled me into a hug. Kayla was shorter than me by about two inches, with red hair she had up in a ponytail and green eyes. We'd known each other since high school, and since I couldn't turn to Dad after Mom's death, I'd gone to her often when I needed someone to talk to. She and I were close, but Kayla had gone the business track in college while I went sports and had a nine to five office job now, so we couldn't meet up as often as I'd like.

We went inside, Kayla tugging me by the arm. The place was a little crowded, and we had to go around a few tables and people walking around. We made it to the bar and found some room, then sat down.

"What can I get for you, ladies?" The bartender asked, coming over.

The lighting in the room was low, with strobe lights and some music playing. The bartender was tall, probably around our age with blond hair and blue eyes. Kayla gave him a dreamy look, and I had a sudden idea why she'd thought to bring me here, specifically. Surprisingly, even though he was built and definitely handsome, I didn't feel the slightest attraction to him besides noting in my head that he was a little pretty.

"We'll have some cocktails, please. Zoe, is that okay with you?"

"It's fine."

"I'll be right back with you."

Kayla watched him as he walked away, and I nudged her. She caught the smile on my face and pouted a bit. I laughed.

"What," she said defensively. "I can look if I want to, can't I?"

"I didn't say anything. I do wonder how often you've been coming here to stare. Ever think of doing something more, maybe? You didn't actually need to come here with someone, right?"

She sighed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Honestly? Yes, I have thought of it. But I feel like he's out of my league, and while he is pretty, he gives the same smile to whoever walks in here, so I don't know if he's interested or just really good at his job."

"You could always make the first move."

"Maybe I will, but for now, just ogling the eye candy is good enough for me. Besides, you and I are the same kind of girl who'd hesitate to make the first move. Anyway, what's up with you? I feel like it's been weeks since we last saw each other. Is work keeping you busy, or..."

Her smile was coy, and I pursed my lips so I wouldn't smile back. Being around Kayla always made me feel relaxed. Even when we were talking about heavy topics, she was someone I felt I could open up to. If I could talk to no one else about this problem, I would definitely talk to her and she would be supportive. I'd definitely made the right call instead of coming out to brood by myself.

"I really have been busy, but today... I just wanted to come out before I explode. Honestly, Kayla, I don't know how I managed to stay sane over the past few days. It could be because I'm still partly in shock."

"Oh?" Her eyebrows arched. "What happened?"

"My dad got married," I blurted out.

Kayla's eyes widened. "Wow. When did that happen, and why wasn't I invited to the wedding?"

I growled. "That's the thing. There wasn't a wedding. I only just found out about it a few days ago and I've been slowly losing it ever since. Can you believe he told me over dinner with his new wife there? He just completely blind-sided me and I could only sit there like an idiot, because I didn't know if I should be happy for him or what, but I was mostly just shocked out of my mind. I can't even tell you how the rest of dinner went after I heard that."

Our cocktails arrived, just at the end of my long rant, and I picked up my glass and had a sip of the drink. It was cool and fruity, and I sighed as the taste slid down my throat. Having gotten the words out, my chest felt a little less suffocated, but not by much.

"So, your dad married Katie?" Kayla asked. "That was the woman you told me he was dating before, right? Unless there's someone else."

I nodded. "Yeah, Katie. I only knew about her some weeks ago, and I don't even know how long before then they were together. Then suddenly they're married! Dad didn't even warn me! He just called me out to dinner, I didn't know what was going on, but she was there, and then he told me they were married already right in the middle of dinner, can you believe that?"

That part was what made me most annoyed. He'd called and told me he had important news. He didn't even warn me that Katie would be there. I'd acted as if everything was fine, but how could I not feel awkward around Katie? The last time I met her, all four of us, including Howard, were there, and that was when Dad announced they were dating.

Actually, when I thought about it now, I should have known it would be something like that the moment I saw the two of them there at that table. I'd let my guard down because Howard wasn't there, and I thought Dad just wanted me to be close to his girlfriend.

"What about the wedding?" Kayla asked. "Or did they just sign the marriage papers, so there wouldn't be a wedding? A lot of women would insist on a wedding, even if it's just a small ceremony."

I groaned. "They eloped. He went out last weekend and I had no idea why, though to be fair, it's not like I cared. It turns out, though, they were going to get married. Again, to be fair, neither of them have relatives and one kid, so not having a ceremony isn't so far out there, but dammit, at least involve your kids in it. Dad did tell me he'd be out for the weekend, and maybe he would have told me why if I'd bothered to ask, but I do wish he'd offered up the information earlier!"

"Would you have tried to stop him?" Kayla asked. "Even if you guys had known, would you have tried to stop your parents from running off to get married?"

I opened my mouth, only to pause because I didn't know what to say to that. Would I have stopped him if he'd told me he was eloping? My first instinct was to say yes, but I knew that wasn't right. I would have at least tried to talk them into thinking of a different solution, but the truth was, both Howard and I didn't have any right to stop our parents from getting married.

We were all adults. While I still lived with my dad, at twenty-eight, Howard lived alone and supported himself. I didn't know if he would have tried to stop his mom, but I knew Dad deserved to be happy. Learning he was moving on had been a surprise, but the biggest surprise was that it had to be with Howard's mom.

I was more worried about Howard and I becoming step siblings than Dad getting married to another woman.

"Probably not," I muttered. "But I would have loved the warning. He ran off to Vegas on the weekend without telling me. Who does that? And now Katie's even moving in with us. That was the other big surprise. She hasn't moved her stuff over yet, but they'll be doing that over the week. I don't know what they're going to do about her house."

I hadn't heard Howard's side of the story. He was supposed to be there for the dinner, but for some reason, he didn't show. Dad had even waited, and it had been a surprise when he'd said he invited Howard himself, though that could have been why he didn't show. I didn't know if he'd found out yet, which was kind of another reason why I'd avoided talking to him until the last few days.

What would Howard think about it?

I didn't doubt that he'd be as bothered by it as I was. From his words to me, I didn't think he wanted to end things between us, so he would have to see this as a problem, right? Or would he ignore it and think of it as inconsequential?

What about his mom moving into my house? He'd told me already, that since he left to go for college, he hadn't slept over at his own house since, though I figured that was more because he didn't want to keep being a nuisance to his mom. Still, it was the house he grew up in, so if his mom sold it, would it bother him?

As for me, living with his mom in the same house, I definitely couldn't put up with it for long. If anything was going to happen between Howard and me, I had to figure out a way to move from that house. But then I would have to stop playing sports agent for Dad's sake and deal with getting a job first before I could even think of moving out.

"My life is just completely crazy," I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose as I felt an ache start in my head. "I know what I want to do, but I don't know how to go about it for now, so I'm stuck in that really awkward atmosphere at home, and I don't think Dad and Katie even notice it."

"Why?" Kayla asked, sipping her drink. "Your dad just got married and you have a new step mother now, but you're all grown up. It's not like you'll live at home forever either, right? You won't have to worry about it when you finally move out."

I groaned again. "That's not the problem. I don't mind that she's my stepmom. She's fine with me calling her Katie, and honestly, for now, she's just a stranger I have to interact with, but that's fine. What isn't fine, is the fact that Howard is now my stepbrother, Kayla. You know? The guy I've been sleeping with for the past couple months?"

Her eyes widened. "Oh... I don't know how I forgot about that."

Kayla, of course, knew everything. As one of my closest friends, when I found out about Dad dating Katie, I'd gone to her to vent. I'd stayed away from Howard for a while at the time, because it was awkward, but somehow, things between us didn't end back then. He and I had run into each other while I was out shopping with Kayla, and I'd briefly introduced the two of them before he talked me into going back to his apartment with him.

I wondered if this really was where we stopped, and I felt my stomach clench at the thought. Now more than ever, that option wasn't something that would make me happy.

"You guys weren't serious, were you?" Kayla asked. "You told me you just hooked up occasionally, right? So, it's not like you're dating. Can't you just end it?"

I grimaced, because no, I couldn't just end it. I didn't like the idea anymore, which was why I was willing to wait until Howard got his shit in order before we continued our relationship, if that was what I could call what we had. Also, hooking up 'occasionally' didn't sound right, because while we didn't meet up every day, we met up often. I definitely saw more of Howard than I did of my dad, and we lived together.

Besides, now I had a legitimate reason not to besides my own feelings.

"There is a problem with that, though," I murmured. "I can't just cut things off with Howard, least of all now. Kayla, I think I missed my period."

"What!"

She was a little loud, and I stared at her with wide eyes. The music and murmurs in the room wasn't that loud, a few people looked over, wondering about the noise, and I ducked my head down, pretending to be focused on my drink.

"Okay, that could be a problem," Kayla said after a moment, sounding dazed, but at least she was quiet. "Crap, Zoe, what are you going to do? If your parents find out, what will they say? Wait, are you even sure? Are you pregnant?"

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "I missed my period and that's never happened before, but I don't know if I'm pregnant or not. I've been trying not to think about it since I realized, and then this whole mess happened, so I don't think I should put it off."

"Of course not!" She hissed. "You can't run away from it if you are pregnant, Zoe. You need to know right now!"

I looked at her, startled. "Right now?"

"Yeah! This isn't the kind of thing you waste your time on. Actually, stop drinking that right now." She took my cocktail from me. "The alcohol content is low in this, but you shouldn't be having any at all if you're not sure."

I blinked, then frown. "Right. I'd totally forgotten. Good thing I didn't drink any beer, then. And I only had a few sips, so it should be fine..."

Suddenly, though, I was worried. How could I have forgotten something so basic? It had been a while since high school, but I already knew things like drinking and smoking while pregnant were bad for the baby. Especially when I wasn't sure yet, I shouldn't accidentally hurt my baby just because I wanted a fucking drink!

Kayla finished both cocktails, then paid the bartender and dragged me right back out of the bar. We walked around until we found a pharmacy and bought a pregnancy test. I didn't want to go home with it. Dad usually came home late, but Katie could be home. So, Kayla took me to her apartment.

The test didn't take long. I had to drink a lot of water and wait for a while before I could go to the bathroom and use the test. Kayla kept me distracted with what was going on in her own life. She didn't have any big news like I did, but there were a lot of interesting stories from her office that I did find interesting.

Ten minutes after I walked back out of the bathroom, I had the result. It was positive.

"Well, damn," Kayla said.

I dropped onto her couch. "What am I going to do?"

More importantly, how was I going to tell Howard about this? How would he even take it, especially with the news of our parents' marriage?