He placed his empty glass down. “Does it matter?” Stephen asked feeling his anger rise. “The fact is, now you know he exists.”
“What the hell do you expect me to do about it?” he snapped. “If you’re looking for back…”
Stephen should not be surprised at the question Brenden just asked. “Fuck you, Brenden.”
“I did that already, remember,” Brenden retorted leaning back in the booth, crossing his arms over his chest.
“When did you turn into such a fucking asshole?” Stephen asked him. Brenden rolled his eyes and Stephen wanted to punch the shit out of the older man.
“Are you even sure he’s mine?” Brenden asked.
The fucking bastard!
He leaned forward so that only Brenden could hear his words. “How dare you!” Brenden didn’t look offended or regretful for his question. “I was never unfaithful to you, but if you need evidence…” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper and threw it to Brenden. He watched as Brenden picked up the paper, unfolding it, and quickly read it. “Is that good enough for you, Brenden?”
He had done the DNA test when he’d decided that he would tell Brenden about Nicholas. He didn’t expect to show it as proof, but the other man showed just how little he trusted him and didn’t value what they’d had together. Stephen was trying to keep his emotions in check, and he understood Brenden’s anger, but there was no reason for the man to accuse him of cheating on him. He was nothing like Brenden’s ex-wife. Stephen rested his elbows on the table, then covered his face for a few seconds. “Brenden, when I asked you here I wanted to come clean.”
“Why come clean now? How did you think I would react, Stephen?”
“Look,” Stephen sighed. “I couldn’t keep it a secret anymore,” he whispered. Stephen licked his lips. “I saw what secrets can do. I saw how it tore up two people who care about each other. And besides, Nick keeps asking when are you coming home.”
** ** ** ** **
Brenden knew what Stephen was referring to. Their friends, and how keeping secrets from each other hurt their relationship. Everything turned out well in the end, but still, secrets had brought a wedge between them. Ethan and Tyler, Jaxson and Christen.
Four fucking years. I’ve had a kid for four years, and I’m just finding out about him. It seems everyone was keeping fucking secrets.
“What do you mean he asks when am I coming home? What have you told him?”
Stephen sighed. “I explained the reason why you haven’t been around was because of your job. And when you find the time, you will come home and see us.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t tell him I’m dead,” Brenden snapped.
“I thought about it,” Stephen told him.
They stared at each other, tension now simmered between them. Long gone was Brenden’s lustful feelings.
“So, what, now that you’ve told me? Do you expect me to ride in on my white horse and save you from your lies?”
“I’ve never deliberately lied to Nick. He knows we’re not together. I just kept the part out about you not knowing anything about him.”
“How convenient for you,” Brenden bit out. “So if all that shit didn’t happen to our friends, would you have told me about me having a kid?”
Stephen looked outside again. “Maybe,” he said, turning back to face Brenden. He leaned back in his side of the booth and crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. But then again, you were the one that didn’t want any kids. And at the time, and for a long time after, I thought I was relieving you of that responsibility.”
Brenden furrowed his blond brows. “What the hell are you talking about? I never said I didn’t want kids. Fuck, we never talked about having kids.”
Stephen gave him an incredulous look. “I heard you, Brenden. You were talking with Agent Winston. I heard you tell her that you didn’t want kids or better yet how did you put it? You didn’t want anyone or anything holding you down. And at the time I was pissed…”
“And that was the night you broke it off, telling me you wanted things out of our relationship that I didn’t…” Brenden finished for him.
Stephen nodded. “Yeah, I had just found out that morning I was pregnant. It’s the reason I showed up to the briefing late. I didn’t know how to tell you I was pregnant. And then I heard you talking to Winston…”
“If you had fucking stuck around, you would’ve heard me say, that despite it all, I want to have kids someday.” Brenden never took his eyes off Stephen. To think their relationship ended because of a misunderstanding.
“Answer me this, Brenden, would you have wanted a child then?”
“I can’t answer that, but you never gave me a chance then, why give me a chance now?”
