I shook away the crazy thoughts, kicking myself for not looking deeper into him from the very start. There was no reason for me to have his mom’s phone number since I wasn’t dealing with a kid underage. Plus, before today, I wouldn’t have had anything nice to say to her. To my knowledge, she did her best job keeping my kid from me.
“Fuck,” I mumbled, the warmth from my breath fogging the glass tumbler.
One thing was for sure, he was my kid. I’d done the tests to prove it.
“Hey, Daddy, another round?”
Only one other person had called me that other than Avery.
My eyes shifted from my empty glass. “Colton. What are you doing here?”
“I picked up another gig. You’ll still find me at Bluff City, but I’m splitting my time between the two now.”
“That’s good. Great. Uh, yeah. I’ll take another.” I tapped the rim of my glass.
“Looks like you’re having a rough day. Hope that doesn’t have to do with our girl Avery.” He pinched his eyebrows together as he topped me off.
Knowing Avery would find out about all of this made my stomach sink like an anchor to the bottom of the ocean. I was supposed to be the one to make her life better—easier. Not complicate it more by bringing my son, who was also her ex-boyfriend, into the picture. The same ex-boyfriend who was blackmailing her and only added to her hurt.
“Nothing to do with Avery,” I lied, and before I could sip the high-end bourbon, my phone buzzed, rattling against my glass.
“Speak of the sexy devil herself.” Colton winked, nodding toward my phone.
I thought twice about answering, not exactly sure of how far away Jackson was from meeting me here. But I needed to hear her voice. I needed her to help me get through what was about to be the hardest conversation of my life.
A pit formed in my stomach when I thought about how by the end of this, I could lose the girl I lovedandmy son.
“Avery, baby.” I picked up my phone, turning on my practiced voice from earlier.
“S-S-Spencer. I need y-your help!” Her breath came through the phone as if she was crying. Slightly out of breath.
There was noise in the background, making her voice sound hushed. Slot machines rang, and I wasn’t sure if it was on her end or mine. Either way, the hair on my arms immediately stood.
“Avery. Where are you?” I stood from the bar stool, looking out toward the casino.
“Spencer. My ex … He—” The line went dead.
When the call cut out, I instantly tapped her name, calling her back. Because why the hell had she mentioned her ex when he was supposed to be meeting me?
The phone rang, and rang, and rang.
No answer.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Colton asked, worried.
“No fucking clue. But I have to go.” I dug a couple one-hundred-dollar bills out of my wallet and threw them on the bar.
Without a lead or direction to go, I followed the walls along the casino floor.
Slot machines.
I swore I heard the bells from both ends of our brief call. If Jackson wasn’t at the bar with me, but told me he would be meeting me here, he had to be around here somewhere.
As I searched through the casino, I continued to call her, hearing her phone ring without an answer. Every time her voicemail hit, I cursed myself for not sharing my location with her.
Without talking to Jackson, I had no idea what he knew. How much he knew compared to me.
Everything was supposed to be resolved with her ex. She had the money to pay him off and she told me she was going to get it done just after we got back from Denver.
