He Played Husband for Her Dare, So I Left Carrying His Baby novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: Leaving the Chat

Hank's POV

I sat on the deck of my father's old boat until two in the morning, and nobody came down the dock.

Libby had left the club in Wren's car without a word to me.

She was right not to say one.

I had my phone in my hand and the group chat open.

Twelve names were in it, and I had known most of them since I was nineteen.

Owen's name was at the top, and Delia's under it.

For fifteen years that chat had been where I laughed at their jokes and said nothing when they went too far.

I typed with my thumbs, slowly.

Owen has known the truth for four years, and so have I. I kept it from Libby because he asked me to. Nobody in this chat calls her a liar again. I was wrong. I'm leaving this chat.

I read it twice.

Then I sent it, and I pressed the button that said leave.

The phone lit up before I could set it down.

The first call was from a man who ran the marina.

He had stood beside me at my father's funeral.

"Is that true?" he said.

"Yes."

"Four years, Hank?"

"Yes."

He was quiet for a while.

"I wondered why he never let anyone ask about the kid thing," he said finally. "I thought he was just private."

"He wasn't private. He was hiding."

"Why didn't you say?"

"Because he's my friend," I said. "That was my whole reason, and it was a bad one."

He hung up without saying anything else.

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