“Hey, are you okay?” he asked and sat down next to him.
Jayme shrugged. “I just got betrayed by someone I thought was my best friend.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Why does this keep happening to me? First my wife, then Brendan, are you fucking next?”
“What?! No. Never, Jayme. I would never betray your trust like that.”
Jayme dropped his head into his hands. “Shit. I’m sorry. I’m just upset.”
He draped his arm across Jayme’s shoulders. “I know you are, it’s okay.”
They sat there in silence for a few minutes. He warred with himself over bringing up what he and Will talked about. He didn’t want to hurt Jayme any more, but he couldn’t not tell him either.
“I was talking to Will after you left. He seems to think that they’ve been together for longer than just two months.”
“Which would mean she was cheating on me with him.”
“Yeah...”
Jayme shook his head. “Her I can believe may have been cheating on me. But him. Would he really do that to me?”
“I don’t think you should put it past him. He’s obviously not as good of a friend as you thought.”
Jayme made an aggravated noise and shot to his feet. He paced in front of Tripp with his hands on his hips.
“I think you also might want to demand a paternity test, Jayme,” he said quietly.
Jayme stopped and turned to stare at him. “You really think she’d lie about that? I mean, why? Why when she’s with Brendan would she say that the baby is mine?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe she wants you back, and thinks by having your baby you’d give her another chance?”
“I don’t even want a fucking baby!” Jayme shouted, throwing his arms up. “I’ve only been doing all this shit with her because it’s the right thing to do. I don’t want a kid that’s mine to grow up without a father. Even if I didn’t want them in the first place.”
“I know, Jayme. I just don’t want to see you get hurt anymore than you already have.”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what to do.” Jayme sighed, shaking his head.
“I think you need to make sure that baby is yours.”
Jayme nodded. “Yeah. Okay.”
He got up and went to Jayme, pulling him into a hug. Jayme sighed again and wrapped his arms around Tripp.
~~~
Tripp
“Hey, what’s with the hand?” he said, motioning toward Jayme’s hand; which was trembling as he held his cup of coffee.
Jayme sighed and put his coffee in the cup holder, then wrung his hands together. “It started this morning. I think the stress from the whole Mallory and Brendan thing is getting to me.” He rubbed his hands on the tops of his thighs, as if that would help.
Tripp nodded. “Did you call Mallory?”
“Not yet. I feel like such an asshole asking for a paternity test.”
“But dude, you have to. Unless you want to just pretend the kid is yours.”
“Maybe I can wait and see if he or she looks like me?”
Tripp rolled his eyes. “No. What if it comes out looking like Mallory?”
Jayme pursed his lips. “True. Dammit. Why’s this gotta be so difficult?”
“Because that’s life?”
“What if she refuses?”
“Then you take her to court.”
Jayme groaned, and dropped his head back to his seat. They were in their work truck, almost done with their shift. It was awkward at the shift meeting that morning. Brendan tried to talk to Jayme, but Jayme ignored him, and everyone noticed. Tripp felt for him, he really did; but Jayme needed to man up and get this paternity thing straightened out. He would bet anything that Mallory was lying. What he didn’t understand was why?
As if reading his thoughts, Jayme asked, “Why though? Why lie about me being the father? What would be the reason?”
“I don’t know, man. She’s a manipulator. I’m sure she has a reason, and thinks she’s totally justified.”
“I feel like I have no idea who I married. I don’t know this person that she’s turning out to be.”
“Then she hid her true self really damn well.”
Jayme nodded. “Yes, she did.”
The tone of Jayme’s voice made him glance over at his partner. He looked upset, and rightfully so. He hated that Jayme had to deal with this kind of crap. He hated seeing his lover in turmoil without any way to help him.
Their radio crackled to life, and they got a call about a domestic with a possible hostage situation. It called for all units in the area to respond. Jayme flipped the lights and headed toward the address that they were given. Once they got close, they turned off the lights and followed the other units onto the property. Jayme angled the truck so that when they got out, they could use their doors as cover.
The house was a rancher, with the front door at the center of the house. The place looked run down with shingles missing from the roof, and trash and junk all over the front yard.