“Not you too,” I scoff. I do not need every person I know walking on eggshells around me. I’m fucking fine.
“Hey, no, I didn’t mean it that way. I just wanted to know if you’re excited.”
Relieved that I don’t have to defend myself again, I sag against the cushions. “Yeah.” Thoughexcitedisn’t the descriptor I’d used. I haven’t so much as touched a woman since Samantha. My sex drive took a huge hit during this bout of depression.
So, naturally, I’m afraid of getting hurt again, of being lied to.
My father’s voice worms its way into my brain.You’re just like me, son. Meant to be single.
Before it can take root, I will the intrusive thought away. I don’t want to be a lonely old bastard like him.
“I can cancel my date,” I say to Cam. “I feel bad ditching your ass.”
“No, it’s cool. That’s on me for dropping by unannounced. I’m perfectly fine kicking up my feet. I’ve got a bunch of photos to edit for that resort in Italy.”
As I’m finalizing my Uber reservation, a notification banner pops up on my screen.
@islandboykanewants to send you a message
Opening Instagram, I click on Requests and?—
My heart lurches. “What the fuck?”
Cam scoots closer, peering over my shoulder. “What is it?”
I read the words again, shock and nausea battling for top billing.
@islandboykane:hi. yea so this is random and weird, but is rob masters your dad? i found your name and picture in his house and i think you might be my brother.
5
Ezra
IN A MATTER OF MINUTES,I’ve canceled my date. People get scammed online all the time, but deep in my marrow, I feel it. This is real. I respond to@islandboykane—a.k.a. Kane Adams—right away, and within a minute, we switch to video.
A teen with a mop of blond hair pops up on the screen, and behind him, a wooden sea turtle hangs on the wall of the bedroom I would stay in when I visited my father as a kid.
“Uh, hi,” he says, his expression etched with apprehension.
“Hey.”
Silence.
My heart is racing and my mind is swirling too quickly to form coherent thoughts.
Cam knocks the side of my leg, urging me to carry on.
I inhale deeply and hold it for five counts before letting the breath out slowly. “I don’t even know where to begin. How am I just now hearing about you? Rob never mentioned another kid.”
“Probably because he didn’t know about me.” He scoffs. “And I didn’t know about him either.”
Bewildered, I blink at the kid. “Okay?”
Kane goes on to explain that his mother recently passed away from an aggressive form of cancer. Shortly before she died, she contacted Rob, and with a blood test, they confirmed paternity. Kane’s mother, Wren, lost both her parents in a car accident when she was eighteen, which leaves my dad as the kid’s next of kin.
I try holding back the tears in front of him, knowing this has got to be a difficult subject, but I can’t help it. “How old are you?” I choke out.
“Fifteen.”
