Chase
I sat on the hood of my car and looked up at the dark sky in utter shock. I still couldn't believe what had transpired tonight. My best friend had asked me to be the father of her child. I shook my head and ran my hand through my hair. I glanced down to the bag of cold food that sat beside me, my stomach letting out a loud grumble. I wasn't sure if I was hungry or if I was going to be sick.
I let out a huff and pulled my phone from my pocket. I checked the last text I had received from Hunter and saw it was over an hour ago. I was just about to message him to find out where he was when a car I recognized pulled into the parking lot and in beside mine. I hopped off the hood of my car, grabbed the bag of food, and pulled the passenger door open on Hunter's car.
"It's about damn time!" I said, crawling into the front seat and pulling my seatbelt across my body.
"Yeah, well, Autumn needed help getting the kids to bed. It was bath night. It’s not like I can expect her to deal with them all on her own. What the hell happened to your hand?" Hunter questioned, staring down at my napkin-wrapped hand. "And what's wrong with your car?" he asked and nodded towards my vehicle.
"Nothing."
"You called me out here for nothing? What the hell you do to your hand?"
"Not for nothing. I had a little too much to drink, and this..." I said, raising my hand. "I cut myself while slicing a loaf of bread." I shrugged.
"Jesus," he muttered under his breath as he watched me place my leftovers bag between us.
"What?" I questioned.
"Leftovers? From the sounds of things, the portions are small there. Carter said he was still hungry when he left, and you come out with leftovers? Was it at least a good meal?"
I shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea!"
"What do you mean you have no idea? You were just there for dinner."
"If you must know, the bag contains my meal. I couldn't eat. I totally lost my appetite after I cut my hand. Here, if you want you can take it home and share it with Autumn. She'd probably enjoy it," I said holding the bag out to him. I glanced over at my car and locked my doors with my remote fob.
I didn't even need to look at my brother because I could feel him staring at me as if I had lost my mind. "Are you feeling all right? You're acting strange."
"Can we just go?" Hunter continued watching me for a second, not saying anything. "Please?"
Hunter didn't argue. Instead, he revved the engine and put the car into reverse and sped out of the parking lot. We had driven about two blocks and were stopped at a stoplight. He was tapping his thumb on the steering wheel and watching a lady walk across the street when he cleared his throat. "Care to talk about it?" he asked once the light turned green and he started driving through the intersection.
I threw my head back against the headrest, and with my eyes closed I mumbled, "Sophie wants to borrow my sperm." I blew out a breath and tried to calm myself down, but the car came to an abrupt stop, and a horn blared out from behind us. "Hunter, what the hell!"
"Sorry about that, but did I hear you right?"
"Yeah, you heard me. Sophie, she wants a baby, and she asked me to father the child." I still couldn't get her voice out of my mind—or the look on her face as she had asked me. The beginning of the night she had been so distraught, but once she asked me, she had appeared to be confident yet completely hopeful that I would do it.
"So like you'd whack off in a cup and pass it over to her?"
"I guess so. I haven't a clue. I cut my hand, and, well, then I started drinking, and the rest of the night went to shit. I could barely even remember my name let alone have any type of real conversation on the matter."
Hunter let out a loud laugh. "That's fucking awesome. So what did you tell her?"
I sat there trying to remember exactly what I had said. All I could remember was the look on her face, the look that I had let her down. There had never been another time in my life that I had remembered ever seeing her face look like that when it came to me. It haunted me. I cleared my throat. "I didn't say anything. I couldn't. I was so shocked that, no matter how much time had passed, I could barely put two words together. Once I gathered myself together enough, I told her I'd think about it. She left looking so defeated."
"Well, you could always negotiate. I mean, you do practice contract law. It's a sterile transaction, right? So slap a contract together, have her sign, and be done with it. I mean, seriously, this is simple. You're making it more difficult than it needs to be. Look at it logically."
"Can you pull over?" I mumbled, undoing my seatbelt, and reaching for the door handle.
"Pull over? What the hell for?"
I couldn't wait. Instead, I rolled down the window and stuck my head out, throwing up right down the side of Hunter's new BMW. My stomach was still swirling as I pulled my head back in the car and put the window up. "Sorry about that. You might want to drive through that car wash over there," I said, pointing to the one across the street. "I'll pay."
"Damn right you'll pay. Jesus, Chase, this is a brand new car."
"Sorry, man."
Hunter began laughing. "It reminds me of when we were younger."
Hunter pulled into the car wash, and we sat in utter silence as we drove through. I sat facing straight ahead, focusing on the movement of the brushes as the whole night played out again in my mind. "Perhaps you should eat something?" Hunter said, pulling back out onto the street and continuing to make his way towards my condo.
"I'm really not hungry."
"All right, so, what did she say exactly? I need all the details."
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I let out a breath, pulling my phone out and looking at the screen.
"Fuck me," I murmured, shoving my phone back in my pocket.
"What?" Hunter asked, pulling into the parking lot of my condo and putting the car into park.
"That was Sophie."
"And?"
"She wants to have lunch with me tomorrow. She says there is more, and she wants to discuss it with me in person, and I think I'm gonna be sick again," I said, opening the car door and crawling out just in time to toss my cookies on the edge of the parking lot.
Hunter chuckled and rolled down the car’s window. "Here, don't forget your food," he said, holding up the bag.
"Keep it. Thanks for picking me up." I held my hand over my stomach and waved. Once he pulled from the parking lot, I walked to the main entrance, punched in the security code, and headed up to my condo.