“Whoa, what did I do?” Sofie exclaims.
“Not you! Her!” My sister practically growls and shoves the magazine at us.
I take it and look at the article. It’s the one about us, the one confirming Sofie as my “baby mama.” I scan it and look for the part where it says who they interviewed.
“Son of a bitch!” Sofie shrieks. “I told you!”
“Mama bad! Bad!” Mila cries.
Sofie slaps a hand over her mouth. “Sorry. Mama forgot.”
Dad comes in then and steals Mila from Tate. “Sand?” he says, and Mila suddenly forgets about Sofie’s slipup.
Sofie watches as Dad grabs the bucket and shovel from the kitchen cabinet and disappears outside. No sooner has the back door shut than she blows up at Tate.
“I swear, Tate Burke, if you ever sleep with that girl again, I’m going to personally carve your balls off with a plastic picnic knife!” Sofie shoves his shoulder. “Hell, you speak to her, and I’ll do it. She can fuck with me, but she doesn’t get to play games with my daughter.”
If I thought she was angry the other day, I was mistaken. She’s levitating. If she were a cartoon she’d be steaming from the ears.
I swallow the laughter from that thought down and gently hold her upper arms, pulling her back. I have no doubt she’d remove my brother’s balls with her bare hands right now.
“Hey, I already told her where to fuckin’ go,” he fumes, standing up. “You think I’m gonna take her fuckin’ with my family? I was on the phone to her when I saw her name on that article.”
“I’m flattered,” she snaps. “How does she know Mila is Conner’s?”
“She doesn’t,” Leila interrupts, “before you remove his balls. She has no proof. That’s the media assuming that she is because you’re his ex and you have a kid.”
Sofie takes a deep breath and relaxes.
“Wow.” Aidan and Kye laugh simultaneously. “Don’t mess with Sofie,” Kye continues.
“Well, I guess Sofie’s here,” Jenna jokes, strolling into the room with a phone attached to her ear.
Sofie turns and smiles sheepishly. “Hey.”
I laugh and she jabs her elbow back in my stomach. I wince and pin her arms behind her back.
Unfortunately for me, she’s shorter than me, and she grabs my cock. She squeezes, not so hard it’s painful, but enough that the threat is there.
“Somethin’ funny, Conner?”
“No,” I choke. “Nothin’, princess. Nothin’.”
She releases me and I let her go. She turns with a triumphant smile, and Jenna waves the phone in my face.
“It’s Marc.”
I take it and walk to the window, where, if it’s possible, there are more people. They must be split between my house and Sofie’s, trying to get a glimpse of us.
“Hey,” I say into the speaker.
“Jenna said you wanted to make a statement. Tell me what you want to say and I’ll contact all the media outlets now. Hopefully then they’ll give you a break.”
I snort. “You know as well as I do that they won’t.” I rub my hand over my forehead and let it hang limply by my side.
Sofie steps up next to me and slips her hand into mine. She entwines our fingers and rests her head against my arm.
That one action, so small, gives me the strength to do this. To officially put her and Mila in the spotlight for the rest of our lives, or for however long I’m famous, at least.
“Tell them that Sofie is the girl I’m pictured with, and that she is the mother of my daughter, Mila . . .” I trail off. I don’t know her last name.
“Burke,” Sofie fills in softly.
I swallow past the lump in my throat. “Mila Burke. I’m not giving interviews or photo shoots, and we ask for privacy while Mila and I spend time together before Dirty B. return for the last leg of our tour.”
“Fine. Great,” Marc garbles, obviously writing it down. “And Sofie? They’ll want to know about what relationship you two have.”
“Just like my relationship with Mila has nothing to do with ’em, neither does mine and Sofie’s. They’ll get what I want to tell them when I wanna tell them.”
“Sounds like you don’t know yourself, kid.” He chuckles.
“That’s exactly it,” I admit with a laugh. “And do me a favor? Get us some extra damn security down here. It’s fuckin’ nuts around here.”
“Give me an hour.” He hangs up.
I blow out a long breath.
“Done?” Sofie asks.
“Done.”
“How come we didn’t know her last name was Burke?” Aidan asks from the other side of the room, ever the tactful brother.
Sofie lets go of my hand and turns, tucking some hair behind her ear. A small smile plays with her lips. “You never asked me.”
“Walked right into that.” Kye laughs.
“Ask me a stupid question, and I’ll give you a stupid answer.” She smiles sweetly. “It’s not my fault if you guys don’t think shit through before you say it.”
“I like her,” Jenna announces. “She’s got spunk.”
“She had spunk.” Tate snickers.
Leila smacks his head before Sofie can reach him. This time, I keep my laughter to myself this time.
Seriously. She likes me. Finally. I ain’t angering the beast today.
“Well, now that’s sorted,” Jenna says. “I left a naked security guard in bed this morning, and I’m all worked up.”
“Thanks for that info,” Kye mutters.
“Wait, why’s he in bed and not here?” Aidan asks.
“Good point,” I chime in.
“Because it’s his day off. And I love you boys, but I’m not giving up twenty-four hours of sexy man time for y’all. So suck it and look after yourselves. You insist on gym time in your schedules so you can be tough guys, or is that actually so you can look pretty?”
“Pretty,” Tate answers.
Me, Aidan, and Kye mumble agreements and nod.
“Pussies. The lot of ya.” She winks and heads out the front door.
Silence descends on the room for a few seconds. We all just kind of sit and stand here, none of us knowing what to say. What are we supposed to say?
Lives just got turned upside down, and now me and Sofie will be stalked even more than Mila.
If the media love a scandal, they crave a romance. Add the two together, and you have their kryptonite.