“I’m sorry. Just...Can we set up a meeting? You can cancel if you change your mind, but at least set it up with me.”
I hesitated, my tongue poking out on the edge of my bottom lip to try to gather more of Brianna’s delicious nectar. It wasn’t there anymore. “Alright, one meeting. And I want a test done, Lydia. I won’t be dragged into this without being confident about the results.”
“Of course. I already have a clinic lined up for that.”
“You think of everything, don’t you?”
She laughed, the sound a strange explosion in the awful tension that filled the living room. I relaxed a little bit.
“Yes, I do,” she admitted. “Now I do. I won’t be making the same mistakes again.”
Nor will I. “Alright, let’s meet.”
We set up a lunch date for a few days later. That gave me time to back out if I found myself regretting getting involved in the situation.
After getting off the phone, I called my brother. The moment he picked up the line, I blurted, “You need to come over. Now. Bring beer.” And then, I hung up.
I couldn’t recall how much time precisely had passed until Austin knocked on my front door. I let him inside, grabbed a bottle from the twelve-pack he had picked up on the way to my apartment, and twisted the cap, taking a long swig as I returned to the couch.
“Brooding again, I see,” Austin teased. He flipped a switch for one of the low-light lamps. There was enough light to see, but not enough to be imposing. He sat next to me; his sandy brown hair and blue eyes a contrast to my more traditionally Hispanic looks. “Is it that receptionist again?”
“Crap, I forgot about Brianna.”
He arched his right brow, grabbed a beer, and popped it open. “Go on. Let it out.”
“What kind of father do you think I would be?”
Austin paused with the top of his beer bottle perched at the corner of his mouth. He nearly missed while taking a swig but recovered easily, swallowing loudly as he focused his gaze elsewhere. “I...don’t know that I’ve ever thought about that.”
“I have no idea who my parents were.”
He sighed heavily. “Same, man. Same.”
“We grew up in the system together. We made a pact, remember? We would stick together.”
“And we have stuck together. Through a lot.”
I raised my beer with a relieved grin. “We have.”
He clinked his bottle against mine, took another sip, and motioned for me to continue.
“You know my parents died when I was three,” I explained. “I just never thought I’d be faced with the prospect of being a father.”
The shock on his face told me everything—and it inspired me to tell him everything. I spilled about Lydia calling me and introducing me to my son over the phone. I told him about Brianna, how I had kissed her so hard that I thought I might wipe her mouth right off her face, and then I admitted to the fact that I had wanted to do that for years.
“I don’t know what to do,” I said. “I was an only child who survived a car crash with my parents. I didn’t have siblings—except for you, of course—and I never thought my instinct to protect people would extend past you.”
“You’ve always been a big brother, even in the system.”
I nodded. “I wanted to make sure no kid suffered like me.”
“You took care of us all, Marshall. You ever think it’s time for someone to take care of you?”
I stared at him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, if the paternity test turns out to be positive, maybe it’s time to think about settling down. You’ve been single for the past five years, man.”
“I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”
He gave me his signature knowing grin, the one that made me want to smash his face into a wall—in a brotherly way, of course. “Man, you’ve got it bad.”
“Austin, seriously.”
“You like Brianna, right? I mean, it’s obvious how much you care about her. Why don’t you ask her on a date?”
My breath hitched, realization dawning over me that Austin had no idea the ins and outs of aristocratic dragon families.
And that was because he had no idea I was a dragon.
Internally, my beast bristled, begging to be let to the surface. He was a proud jerk who always wanted to show off the soft sheen of his iridescent teal layers, scales as massive and monstrous as the windows of a great skyscraper.
I shook my head. “It’s complicated.”
“How complicated can it be? You two made out. I’d say that seals the deal.”
“We didn’t make out, Austin.”
He eyed me suspiciously. “Sure sounds like you made out.”
“Making out requires much longer than a few minutes.”
“Making out can totally be a few minutes.”
I groaned with frustration, though the way he chuckled with amusement encouraged me to smile weakly. I shook my head as he said, his words laced with snickers, “You’ve got it so bad.”
“You’re ridiculous. You’ve always been a huge dreamer.”
“And you’ve always been way too logical for your own good.”
I rolled my eyes, swigging my beer again and then swirling the remainder at the bottom of the bottle idly as I thought over everything that had happened in just a few short hours. “I suppose.”
“No, it’s true. You can’t fight this one.”
“Whatever.”
He smirked. “So, what’s the plan, Pop?”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Right, we need to wait for the test first.”
I groaned. “Austin, I swear to the heavens, I’ll smite you where you sit.”
This warning merely caused him to double over with laughter, some of his beer spilling on my carpet. And while I’d normally murder someone who acted so carelessly with their drink, with Austin, it just made me chuckle.
How could I be mad at him? He was my brother, my best friend, and the only human in my life who seemed to understand exactly who I was. Someone had to know me. Someone had to see me for the man I knew I was deep down.
So, why was I having so much trouble seeing that for myself?