The Inevitable

“What about them?” he asks, pointing at Sierra and me.

“Sierra,” Blakely says, turning to her sister.

“We’re actually late for our date,” I mention, glancing at the time on my phone. I have no idea what’s going on, but Keegan will fill me in later. “I can probably get us in for later, though.”

“That’s not happening.” Sierra scoffs, confusing the shit out of me. “We’re practically family.” She cackles, and Blakely smacks her arm.

Practically family? What the hell is she talking about?

“Really?” Blakely glares at her sister.

“Sorry.” Sierra shrugs.

“Can someone explain what the hell’s going on?” Keegan asks, obviously as confused as I am.

“I’ll watch Zane,” Sierra says to Blakely, “and you can go talk to Keegan.”

Shit, there goes our date…

“Do you really think it’s wise to be alone with him?” Brenton asks Blakely.

I can practically feel the sudden tension rolling off my brother. Locking eyes with him, I give a subtle shake of my head. Whatever is going on, he needs to keep his cool.

Blakely and Brenton go back and forth, arguing over whether she should be alone with my brother. I’m about to speak up when Blakely smiles, and says, “You haven’t murdered anyone in the past four years, have you? Gone to jail for anything?”

“Nah, Jailbird,” Keegan replies with a laugh. “No murders, no arrests. How about you? Have you kept yourself out of jail? Paying for everything at the store? Attending all your classes?”

Sierra laughs. “You told him about the time we shoplifted and when you got caught skipping?”

Wait, what?

Blakely rolls her eyes. “I was making sure he wasn’t going to rape and murder me, and it backfired.”

“You’ve been arrested?” I blurt out.

“We were bad teenagers,” Sierra says with a shoulder shrug and a smirk. “Now, we’re responsible, law-abiding adults.”

“That’s good to know,” Keegan jokes. “So, you wanted to talk?” he says to Blakely.

“Yeah.” She nods, and her smile disappears. “Brenton, you can go,” she tells him. “I’ll call you later.”

“You sure?” he asks, sounding whiny as fuck. Poor guy, he has it bad.

He takes off, leaving the four of us. Blakely suggests to Keegan they go for a walk and talk, and then Sierra says she’s going to head in with her nephew.

Before she can open the door, I snag her wrist gently.

“This isn’t over,” I tell her. There’s no way I’m letting her bail on our date.

She doesn’t say a word. Instead, she just slips inside.

The second I’m back home, I send her a text: When am I getting my rain check?

I wait several minutes, but of course, my text remains unread.

“You’re not going to believe this shit,” Keegan says a couple of hours later when he walks through the door with a huge grin on his face.

Sierra still hasn’t texted me back, so I’m cranky as fuck. “What?”

“Zane, Blakely’s son… he’s my son.”

He drops onto the couch. “I can’t believe it, man. I’m a fucking dad.”

Well, shit, now it all makes sense. Sierra’s earlier comments… “You look just like my nephew… We’re practically family.” Because she knew Keegan was the dad, which makes me Zane’s uncle.

Oh. Fucking. Well. If she thinks that’s going to stop me from pursuing her, she’s got another thing coming.

Chapter Four

Sierra

During my entire shift, I keep one eye on the entrance, waiting for Kolton to walk in. Yesterday was a shock, to say the least. My sister, who has dreamed of the day when she would find her son's father, has found him. And of course, he’s none other than Kolton’s identical twin brother. Because apparently having one of those sexy men in the world isn’t enough, God graced us with two of them.

I’ve been avoiding his texts since yesterday, trying to decide what I’m going to do. I always told myself I wasn’t running from love. I’ve just never come across the right guy. But the second it hit me that Kolton could be the one, I did exactly that. I ran. And now I have to figure out if I’m going to continue to run, or if I’m going to give us a chance because it’s not fair to keep stringing him along.

As if the thought of Kolton has summoned him, he appears at the door, sauntering my way with purpose. Today, he’s dressed in a navy-blue button-down shirt with his sleeves rolled up and a pair of black slacks that fit his muscular thighs. Maybe if I had teachers like him in high school, I would’ve considered taking the step toward higher education.

“If you want me, you can have me, Sierra. You just have to say the word.” His words knock me into reality.

“Excuse me?” I splutter.

“You’re practically undressing me on the spot.” He smirks playfully, then leans over and runs his thumb along my chin. “And drooling.”

“I am not!” I shriek, grabbing a coaster and placing it in front of him.