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I look around the gym when I get there, debating over what I should do first. Run. As fast as I fucking can. Getting situated on the treadmill, I crank up the speed and my feet hammer down with each step. If only I could run faster than my thoughts.
***
“I’m here for Jessie Carver,” I tell the front desk receptionist. She motions for me to go on back. After getting home from the gym and showering, I received a text from Macie saying what room Jessie was in. I swipe my sweaty hands down my jeans as I walk down the hallway. I can do this. We don’t know if she’s mine, and we won’t know for a couple days. I steady my breathing before rounding the corner into Jessie’s room.
“Aiden!” Jessie squeals. “You’re here.” A voice that I once enjoyed sends chills of disgust down my spine. Even though she could be the mom of my daughter, I will never forgive her for what she has done. I will play nice for the sake of Presley, but if she thinks we’re going to play house, she’s crazier than I thought.
“I’m here for Presley, Jessie. Let’s get that straight,” I remind her. She rolls her eyes and huffs.
“Did you bring your fiancée?” she says, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Because I don’t want her anywhere near our baby.” I swallow the words, wanting to jump out of my mouth. I suck in a deep breath, letting it out slowly through my nose.
“Jessie…” I pause to get a better handle on my emotions, “…if Presley is mine, Addison will be a part of her life.”
“You think so, Aiden?” Jessie sits up straighter in her bed. “You know, maybe I don’t want my baby to have a paternity test. Maybe you don’t deserve to be her father if you’re going to have a dangerous person around my little girl. I mean, she tried to kill me.” Her voice raises a couple octaves.
“She did not, Jessie. And if you want to play this game, I’ll get a court order to have the DNA test. No matter what, we will find out the truth, so stop fucking with me,” I spit out.
“Okay,” Macie says, intervening. “Aiden, why don’t you go wait in the waiting room?”
I glance at her and then back to Jessie. “You know where to find me,” I mumble and then stalk out of the room. I stomp down the white halls of the hospital, mumbling incoherently. People walk past and look at me like I’m crazy.
No, I’m not crazy, I’m fucking pissed.
If she thinks Addison won’t be a part of my daughter’s life, she’s insane. And now she doesn’t want a DNA test? That shit isn’t surprising. I walk into the waiting room and spot Ryan and Max sitting down at a table in the corner, talking. I’m glad to see them. Maybe they can talk me off this ledge.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” I shrink down in one of the empty chairs; the guys stop talking and stare at me. “What?”
“You look like shit,” Max says.
A bitter laugh comes out. “I’ve had better days.”
“Did you go see Jessie?” Ryan asks.
My jaws clench. “Yes,” I hiss. They both tilt their head. “Can you believe this shit? She told me Addison couldn’t be anywhere near her child and maybe she doesn’t want a DNA test done.”
Max stares at me for a moment and nods his head slightly. “Do you want to know what I think?”
“I know what you’re thinking. The same thing I am. She’s supposedly two weeks late and now she doesn’t want a DNA test. Well, fuck that. She’s torn my world inside out for the last couple months. I’m going to get a DNA test done even if I don’t think this baby is mine just for confirmation.”
“You want me to call Jaxon?” Ryan says, sitting forward with his elbows on the table with his phone in hand. It comes in handy having a best friend as an attorney.
“Probably a good idea.”
“If you go that route, you know it can take weeks,” Max chimes in.
“I don’t think I have a choice.”
“You always have a choice. It just might not be Jessie’s choice.” I catch the undertones to Max’s voice. Max has people who can run the DNA test, we would just have to secretly get Presley’s DNA.
“Do it. I’m not waiting weeks to get an answer. She brought this on herself.”
A few hours later, Macie appears and tells us Jessie’s almost ready to start pushing. She talks about things I have no clue about. Like effacement and dilation. I don’t even want to know. She looks expectantly at me, waiting to see if I want to be a part of that. My eyes shift away.
That would be a no. She’s not taking that experience away from me with a child who isn’t mine. The more minutes that tick by this morning, the more convinced I become that Presley isn’t mine anyway.
She shakes her head in disappointment. She thinks it’s mine. I hate that Jessie has used her best friend. It’s going to crush Macie when she finds out.
“I guess I’ll keep you updated,” she says and spins around and stomps off.
