Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 61542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61542 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
He’s getting more and more finicky about wet and dirty diapers. Maybe it’s time for potty training.
Ah, parenthood. Just when I think I’ve got the hang of everything, the rules change again.
In any case, I have too many things going on in my life to pay any attention to anybody other than William.
Sure, Sawyer’s conversation with Adam sounded intriguing, and I’m really tempted to play detective.
But who’s got time for that? Not me.
Adam
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” I ask Sawyer again. We’re left alone at the dining table as Katie takes William away.
“Yeah,” he says unconvincingly. “I mean, Katie’s a grown-up. She doesn’t need my permission to do anything. In fact, if I tried to tell her not to do something, it usually just makes her want to do whatever it is even more.”
“You say that, but you don’t seem very comfortable with the idea.”
“What can I say? She’s my sister and it just feels weird to be meddling in her relationship stuff.” Sawyer narrows his eyes at me. “You don’t have a sister, do you?”
“No.”
“That’s what I thought. Just take my word for it; it’s just weird.” He pauses. “How would you feel if I told you to find your mom a date on some dating app?”
I think about sifting through inappropriate, overtly sexual messages from middle-aged men in order to find a gentleman for my mom. As I twitch at the thought, Sawyer laughs.
“See? Now you know what I mean,” he says.
“The kid, who’s the father?” I blurt out, unable to stop the question that’s been brewing in my mind since I laid my eyes on her again.
Katie. My Katie. My kitten.
I’m sure it’s her. There’s no question about that.
The only question that remains in my mind is . . .
Is that my boy?
“Are you thinking . . .” From the way Sawyer stares at me, I can tell he already knows why I asked the question, but he can’t bring himself to finish the sentence.
I know. It seems too crazy to be true.
He works on a case for two years, gives up, and in the end realizes the person he’s been hired to find is his sister all along?
On top of the shock of me possibly being the father of his nephew, maybe Sawyer’s also assessing his life choices, considering he couldn’t even find someone who was right under his nose the entire time.
“Yes, I’m thinking whatever you’re thinking,” I say. “Do you know who the father of your nephew is?”
“No.” Sawyer appears dazed, like he’s in shock and still grappling with the mind-blowing implications of our conversation.
“How old is the boy?”
“He . . . uh . . . just had his second birthday not too long ago.”
My heart stops, although I was expecting and hoping for that very answer. “And by ‘not too long ago,’ do you mean about, say, three or four months ago?”
Sawyer goes quiet as he thinks. “Maybe.”
“Hmm . . . ‘Maybe.’” My fingers tap on the wooden dining table.
That’s Katie—I’m sure of it.
And the boy’s a little over two years old.
My heart hasn’t stopped pounding since I saw Katie in the kitchen. I can’t go home like this and spend the whole night in suspense. That would be torture.
I usually prefer to use more care and calculation before making a big decision . . .
But I’ve already spent so many nights pining for Katie, wishing I could see her again. Even jerking off has become a sad affair, now that the only thing that can get me off is the memory of taking Katie for the first time in The Succubus.
But that won’t be the last time; now that I’ve found her again, I’ll make sure of it. Especially if that boy is really mine.
“Has your sister ever mentioned working at The Succubus?” I ask.
“I don’t know.” Sawyer draws a deep breath. “Honestly, a couple of years ago, we were both working so much we hardly saw each other.”
“But hearing that she might’ve worked at The Succubus doesn’t surprise you?”
“After hearing about how you might be the father of my nephew?” Sawyer asks. “Yeah, no. Not really.”
“Fair enough.” I nod.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Sawyer says.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re judging me for not being a better brother.”
“I’m not.”
“Look, when Katie and I were younger, we had to work our asses off. We had shitty jobs with shitty wages, so we had to put in a ton of hours just to make enough money to survive,” Sawyer says.
“Okay. You don’t have to explain anything to me.”
“We had many jobs, too. Both of us,” he keeps going. “I can’t keep track of all her jobs, and vice versa.”
“It’s okay, man. You did what you could,” I say. I’m starting to sense that Sawyer’s trying to justify his actions to himself and not to me.