Brandon dropped a foam heart he’d been holding in shock. “Allie! You minx!”
I laughed but quickly sobered as I remembered the next part of the story. “And…I found out it’s Cade. Um, Daphne’s biological father, I mean.”
His mouth opened in a perfect O of surprise. “The broody woodworker?”
“The very same.”
“Whoa. Okay. Wow.”
Kara was giving me such a soft, pitiful look that I had to avoid her eyes.
I nodded, feeling my heart thud against my ribs. “I haven’t told any of them yet. Or Daphne. And honestly, I’m scared.”
Brandon reached over and gave my hand a squeeze. “It doesn’t have to be scary. He knows it’s a possibility, right?”
“Yeah, but I’m scared anyway. Like, what if it confuses Daphne? Or what if she meets him and…I don’t know. Likes him more than me? God, that sounds so stupid.”
“Yeah, because you’re fucking awesome and way better than some random straight man,” Brandon said.
Kara gave an enthusiastic, “Hear, hear.”
“I know. It’s so stupid, but it’s in my head. And I’m scared of what it means with Cade too—if he’ll want custody, if I’ll have to give her up even a little bit. She’s mine.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to stop the sting of tears.
Kara’s voice was gentle. “Oh, Allie. Maybe it won’t be like that. Maybe it’ll be better for all of you somehow.”
I shrugged, picking at a stray sequin. “It’s not just that. I…I care about Cade. I really do. I care about all of them. It’s like—” I paused, trying to find words that didn’t sound completely insane. “I don’t know. There’s something about all three of them. About us together.”
I didn’t say it out loud, but in my heart, the idea of a “family” didn’t just look like Daphne, me, and Cade. It included all three of the guys in the mix. My friends were open-minded and cool, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to openly want that in front of them.
Still, when Brandon raised an eyebrow and said, “So…could you see yourself being with Cade? Giving Daphne that nuclear family?”
All I said was, “Maybe.”
Maybe was safer than the real answer. Maybe left room for the million complicated feelings I hadn’t figured out yet. And as ever, I was hesitant to commit. Even if the idea of commitment felt less daunting, less like being trapped, when it included Gavin, Cade, and Luca.
“I’m even less sure about how to break the news,” I told my friends, steering us toward territory that was more pressing. Just the thought of having to tell Cade news that would change the entire trajectory of his life made me want to break out in hives.
For a girl who liked to keep things light, I had a lot of big, pressing drama to contend with lately.
“Maybe you don’t just drop it on him solo,” Kara suggested. “Like, since they’re all involved, you could…introduce them all to Daphne first. Get her used to them.”
“And see how Cade handles being around her without knowing he’s the dad yet,” Brandon added. “Could be a good warm-up. Daddy training wheels.”
The idea made my stomach twist, but it also made a weird kind of sense. “Would that be too confusing? What do I tell her?”
“That they’re your friends,” Brandon said.
Kara chimed in with, “Or just that they’re important to you. She’s too little to need to know more than that.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. Talking through it for myself more than for them. “So…I’ll invite them all to meet her. Keep it casual. Then later, after I see how Cade reacts, I’ll tell him.” It felt a little like a test, and I wasn’t exactly stoked to be putting him through that after the tenuous camaraderie we’d established—if having a hot threesome was considered camaraderie—but if I’d been tested by single parenthood over the past few years, surely this couldn’t do him any harm.
I wiped my palms on my jeans, suddenly feeling the nerves kick in again. Pulling out my phone, I drafted a quick text in my group message with all three of the so-called Vegas Daddies. The guys would probably like the nickname, I thought.
Allie:Any chance you three could come by the diner tomorrow during my break? I have something I want to talk to you about.
I hit send before I could overthink it.
