“Better be careful with that kind of party,” Madison said with a chuckle, “or you’ll end up knocking up some groupie.”
Adam’s stomach dropped. Jacob produced a full body shudder. Owen turned an unsettling shade of green.
“Yeah,” Owen said quietly. “We wouldn’t want that to happen.”
Jacob shoved his few remaining crawdads to the center of the table. He’d apparently lost his appetite. Owen tackled his fries and carb-rich sides as if he hadn’t eaten in months. Adam picked over his food, wondering if he should warn Madison about the situation with Lindsey now or wait until the obviously pregnant woman was staring her in the face. More than likely the two women would meet before the concert. How awkward could it be? Girlfriend meet baby mama. Baby mama meet . . . Ugh. He didn’t even want to think of Lindsey that way. Adam was almost positive that her baby wasn’t his. And he hoped to God it wasn’t. He’d make a terrible father, and he knew it. The last thing he needed in his life was a baby. Thinking about babies made him queasy. Unlike Jacob . . . Jacob actually liked kids. Adam glanced at his friend, who was staring down at his clenched fists on the weathered table. He was a good father to Julie, but Adam hoped it wasn’t Jacob’s unborn child either. The guy had a hard enough time dealing with one crazy baby mama. He sure as hell didn’t need two. And Owen . . . Well, he seemed willing to take the fall, so he was more than welcome to. More power to him.
“What’s wrong?” Madison asked, looking from one man to the other.
She must have sensed how the atmosphere had completely changed after her offhanded remark about knocking up a groupie. She was good at picking up on that kind of thing, which was a trait that made her an excellent counselor. And because he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants, she’d lost her job. And because he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants, soon there might be a kid in the world cursed with half of its genetic material coming from Adam. Perhaps he should invest in a cock cage to keep his troublemaking dick locked safely in his pants.
“You haven’t told her?” Jacob asked.
“Told me what?” Madison slurped from her soda as if she’d been crawling through a desert for days.
“Nothing,” Adam said. “Do you want another drink?”
“You’d better tell her,” Jacob said. “It might be yours. No sense in making this worse than it already is.”
Frowning, Madison released her straw and looked from Adam to Jacob and back again.
“What might be yours?”
“It’s probably mine,” Owen said glumly. “Damn party in my pants was bound to get me into trouble sooner or later.”
Madison’s eyes shifted from Adam to Owen and then to Jacob. “Will someone please tell me what you guys are talking about?”
“Some knocked-up groupie showed up a couple of days ago,” Jacob said. “She’s like six months pregnant and claims one of us is the father of her baby.”
“Which one of you?”
Jacob shrugged. “Don’t know.”
Madison shook her head as if trying to rid it of the stupid words rattling around between her ears. “How can you not know? Whichever one of you had sex with her is the father.”
“Therein lies the problem,” Jacob said.
“We all had sex with her,” Adam said, rubbing a hand over his face.
Madison’s hand smashed into his chest. “You promised me,” she shouted.
No, he hadn’t. He hadn’t promised her he wouldn’t sleep around until recently. Six months ago wasn’t recently as far as he was concerned.
“I did not,” Adam said. “Don’t overreact.”
“Overreact? How can anything short of murdering you with my fork be an overreaction?” She shoved her white fork in his face and looked mad enough to gouge his eyes out with it. “How could you do this to me, Adam?”
“Shh,” Jacob said when all eyes turned their way. “This is not the place for an argument.”
Adam agreed, but apparently Madison had more to say. She did lower her voice to an angry whisper, but did not lower her plastic weapon.
“You promised me that you always wore protection with other women. Always. You promised me that. I never would have allowed . . .” She broke off with an angry growl.
Oh, that was what she’d meant.
“I did wear protection,” he said. And he wasn’t just saying that to appease her.
“Then how could you potentially be the father of this baby, Adam?” She poked him in the collarbone with her fork, fire sparking in her blue eyes. “How?”
“We all wore protection,” Jacob said.
“Then how is she pregnant?” Madison yelled.
“Wish I had the answer to that,” Owen said.
Madison’s stiff spine relaxed slightly as she scowled at her food and finally lowered her fork. Adam could practically see her mind trying to piece together the information that had been thrown at her.
After a moment, she said, “If you all wore protection, what’s to say she got pregnant by any of you? Maybe she’s a goddamned liar.”
Adam had already decided that was probably the case. Lindsey had gotten pregnant by some loser back home and not, as she claimed, by any of the losers in his band. She was just looking for a quick and easy bankroll. He really hoped Madison’s suspicions proved to be true.
“She’s got her sights set on me,” Owen said, “so unless the kid comes out with wild black hair, a permanent scowl on his face, and a Stratocaster in his little hands, then you don’t have anything to worry about, Madi.”
She actually smiled at this. Oh no, thinking about a miniature Adam should not make her smile. Or maybe she was smiling about something else. Adam hoped so. He wanted no babies in his life. Not even hers. But especially not Lindsey’s.
“All you have to do is make her get a paternity test,” Madison said. “Prove it isn’t any of yours. Get rid of her once and for all.”
“We’ll have one done as soon as the baby is born,” Jacob said. “Until then, we’re just playing a waiting game.”
“Fuck that,” Madison said, and the three men stared at her in stunned disbelief. She wasn’t the kind of woman who said fuck in polite company. Sure, she screamed it in the bedroom, but she’d never cursed in front of Adam’s bandmates. “They can do the test during pregnancy now. You don’t have to wait until she delivers.”