She stops ten paces in front of me and waits for me to catch up with Palmer. I hand it off to her and keep going.
“Oh, this is good. More of a challenge than just walking,” she says.
“Thanks for making me feel like a complete loser.”
She pats my back. “You just had a baby. I have no idea what that’s like. I might soon though.”
I stumble a step. “Is there something you have to tell me?”
She gets that look in her eye. The devilish one after she’s done something bad.
“I’m pregnant,” she whispers loud enough for me to hear.
“What?” I screech and stop on the trail.
People behind us mumble and go around me.
“Shh!” She walks again and I have to try to pry my jaw up from dragging along the asphalt. “The worst part is that now Griffin wants to marry me.”
“That’s a bad thing?”
Phoenix shrugs. “I don’t want him to marry me just because he knocked me up. What if Mr. Wonderful had proposed to you when you were preggo with Palmer?”
Truthfully, I thought he would. I wouldn’t have thought twice about it. But he didn’t. “I don’t know.”
“What if he proposed to you now?”
“He asked me to move into the house with him.”
Now she stops, and I welcome the break to inhale a full breath. “And you said no?”
“Yeah.” I take another labored breath. “I don’t want to rely on him anymore. I want my own money and independence, which means, to me, living in a place I pay for. At least for a while.”
She punches my shoulder. “Way to go. Stick it to him.”
“I’m not sticking it to him.”
“You kind of are. I’m sure he wants to just pick up where you two left off and forget how much he fucked up.”
Spotting a bench, I take the stroller from her and detour to it.
She follows me. “What’s the deal? I cannot let this baby ruin my figure. I gotta workout during the pregnancy and right after.”
I roll my eyes. The joys of being a pop star. “I’m not walking with you. In fact, I’m not going to talk to you anymore.”
“What are we, six again and I cut your Barbie’s hair?” She does lunges in front of the bench.
She’s so annoyingly in shape. Talk about feeling bad about where your body is at. Try having a twin who’s like staring at a picture of your old self live and in person.
“I love him, Phoenix. I always have. My reasons for not moving in with him have nothing to do with any doubts. I’m the one he scorned, and if I can forgive him, you need to as well.” I cross my legs and my arms.
Her eyes roll so hard, I’m surprised they come back around to stare at me. “Ugh. Fine. It’s just he hurt you so much.”
“I know, but life is too short, and he’s Palmer’s father. I need to forgive and forget for myself and my daughter. You need to as well.” She jogs in place and I watch with annoyance. “Can we talk about you and Griffin now?”
“There’s nothing to say. He wants to get married and I said no.”
“Phoenix,” I sigh. “Why?”
She gives me an expression that says I should already know this. “Because he feels obligated. I’m not getting married just because we got drunk one night and had sex without protection.” She does lunges again.
“The man loves you. Have you told Maverick you’re pregnant yet?”
“No. We’re waiting the full three months before we tell anyone.” She points at me. “So mum is the word, blabbermouth.”
“Blabbermouth? I keep all your damn secrets.”
She blows out a breath and shakes her head. “Everyone knows it’s only Rome who keeps secrets in this family. So if word gets out, I’m coming after you.”
“Are you excited about the pregnancy though?”
A large smile transforms her face. “Excited and nervous.”
“You’ll be a great mom.” Unable to see her working out anymore, I stand. “Let’s get this over with. I’m tired.”
“Tired from too much sex?” Phoenix elbows me.
We get back on the path and I peek in the stroller to see Palmer is still out. “It is nice to get it on the regular.” I fight the smile that wants to come out.
“There’s something to be said for when you know each other so well. Nothing like wasting time with a guy who can’t use his tongue properly or someone who’s crazy attractive but just cannot give it to you the way you need.”
I keep to myself the fact that I wouldn’t know. Jamison has been my only partner. But I love having sex with him, and I don’t feel as if I’m missing anything.
Phoenix nods at the stroller. “And how is Palmer handling him being around so much?”
“She loves it. She loves him. You should see how she looks at him.”
She nods. “Sucker.”
“Phoenix, I’m serious. This has to stop. You have to stop saying things like that. I’m with him, and you need to push your negativity away. It’s my life and my decision. I don’t agree with you saying no to Griffin’s proposal, but you won’t see me making comment after comment about it.”
Her face softens and her pace slows. “Well then, explain that to me?” Phoenix nods behind me.
I turn to see Britani with one T and two I’s crying in my boyfriend’s arms.
Twenty-Nine
Jamison
I’ve been keeping a secret from Sedona and it sucks. I never intended to. Everything just snowballed and now I have to figure out how to get out of this.
“Everything crumbled around me. How can they just act like I’m not their daughter?” Britani’s hand lands on my thigh.
I glance around. We might be in Sunrise Bay, but I’ve seen things that happened in other cities show up in Buzz Wheel from time to time.
“It’s hard to accept, but you have no control over their reaction. You can only control your own,” I say, but my thoughts aren’t on her. They’re on Sedona. If she saw this scene, she wouldn’t understand.
“I’m their daughter. Can they honestly just not forgive me?” she cries.
My heart squeezes because I can empathize with how she feels, but I’m not comfortable having her draped all over me.
An elderly couple walking down the path side-eyes us. The walking and biking path is booming today. After my AA meeting, Britani and I came down here because I’ve decided to offer to be her sponsor. But she won’t stop touching or hugging me, and I don’t feel comfortable with it.
“Most times, once the addiction hits rock bottom, the family is done. It’s not to say they don’t love you. But you’ll get through this. In time, when they see that you’ve taken control of your life, perhaps they’ll change their minds.”
She looks at me as if I hung the moon. Fuck me. Then she’s in my arms and crying some more. She’s clinging to me like a damn koala bear and I pat her back awkwardly.
“Phoenix!”
I turn. As I feared, there isn’t a different Phoenix in Sunrise Bay—it’s my girl’s devil twin sister, sprinting toward me with a murderous look in her eye.