Kade lets a bit of a laugh free, considering there was once I time I called him an idiot for going after Lyle Hughes simply because Raya was playing pool with him. I get it now. Completely.

"If you want her, then why don't you just take her? I think it's rather obvious she's in love with you and only you," Kade says, shrugging as he looks around the party for the girl who never leaves his side for long.

"She's not in love. She's just confused... like me."

"Let me see that boy while you open this," Wren says while handing me an envelope and pulling Trip free from my grasp.

"What's this?" I muse while staring at the large, manila envelope.

He's interrupted when Raya comes swishing in, a little tipsy, and crashes into the waiting arms of Kade. A pang of envy strikes me when he loses control over his h.e.l.lacious grin, and he pulls her to him. They forget the rest of the world even exists as they suddenly start devouring one another.

"Open it," Wren says with a s.h.i.t-eating grin, shaking his head at the two showy lovers.

I force a smile as I pull out a piece of paper. But my smile is banished by my shock, and my breath gets lost on its way to my lungs. My whole world changes as I stare down at the birth certificate someone had redone.

Trip Tagland Masters is the name.

"I thought his middle name was James," I almost whisper.

"Well, at the time, she couldn't tell people what she really named him. She hired a lawyer to get the surname changed. She had the paternity tests done in secrecy, and now the birth certificate is fixed. I told her I knew a guy who could rush the process, and she hired him without question. In case you were wondering about the possibility he wasn't really yours, now you know for sure he is."

My still evades my lungs, and it's all I can do to stay upright. I've been an a.s.shole with no real, legal rights, and yet she goes and has this done. Not to mention, she named him after me to begin with, she just didn't give him my surname in the beginning.

"I never questioned if he was mine once I found out. I should have questioned if he was mine the second I found out she was pregnant. She's not the type to screw around like that."

"She screwed around with you," he laughs. "How could you have known?"

"It's different with me. She always knew me better than any other girl I've ever been with, and she only knew me for three days before she got pregnant."

"Dude, hang it up. You're in love. You haven't even been with another girl since you met her. Just drop bulls.h.i.t and be with her."

I smile a little as I stare at Trip's scrunched face as his dreams carry him far and away from reality.

Thinking about what Ash said outside makes me a little sick. She feels replaceable, expendable even, and she's not - not to Trip, not to me. There's no one in this world more perfect for me, and somehow I've got to get over what she did.

Staring at the birth certificate she had redone, I know I'm getting closer to being over it.

Ashiara A tall blond guy has been staring at me for far too long, and now I'm starting to feel uncomfortable. I'm worried I've got something stuck to my face. Of course, I'm rather drunk, so it's possible I'm making some ridiculous expression.

Oh well. Who cares? I don't.

I stagger off to head away from the eyeing blond and my friends, as I make my way toward the quiet patio. I grab a bottle of champagne from the chilled ice, and I smirk as I see the fountain Tag once crashed into.

"Well, h.e.l.lo, mermaid," I say to the statue in the middle. "Are you lonely? I'm available it seems."

"Are you now?" a voice says from behind, and I whirl around to face the blond guy who refuses to stop staring. Apparently he's resorted to following me around as well.

"Really? Is my dress on backwards or something?" I slur out, and he laughs a little while coming to brush my hair from my face.

"Not at all. Your dress is on perfectly, and it's a very nice dress on you. Melanie tells me you're still single, even though you live with your baby's father."

That's because we're f.u.c.king weird.

"Yep, single but not available. Sorry."

I turn to walk away, but he follows me.

"Are you going to hang out behind me all night? I've already got one stalker, I don't need two."

He tilts his head curiously, and then he takes a seat on the side of the fountain.

"I'm sorry. I heard about that as well. I'm not trying to stalk, but you really are beautiful. I've heard of Tag - he's rather infamous in our circles. I hate to see you've landed in his web. I'm just here to try and be a friend."

Recognition strikes, and the face on him becomes familiar. It makes sense now.

"A friend," I repeat with a sigh. "I need more champagne, not a friend. Tag Masters is my son's father, so if you're expecting me to say something bad about him to a guy I don't know, you're sadly mistaken. You see, I know who you are now. Jason Marks. You're a reporter. I've seen your picture. You're a long way from home, since you report in Chicago."

"Clever girl, but I'm not on duty tonight. I simply came to be a friend to Melanie."

"Or you're here because Tag is about to launch his latest business which is still under wraps. I've been getting calls from newspapers all around. Everyone wants to get the first look at his latest project, and the compet.i.tion is waiting to find out how to compete, wanting to beat him to the punch. Sorry, but I've got enough friends."

I turn to walk away, my champagne still in tow, and his hand gently tugs at my elbow to halt my retreat.

"I'm sorry. I really didn't ask you to say anything at all about Tag Masters though."

"That's because you seduce your sources first. The thing is, I can't be seduced anymore, at least not by anyone like you. You were wasting your time from the beginning, and you're wasting mine now," I mumble.

He looks over my head, and his eyes widen as he backs up.

I turn just as Tag comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist very protectively.

"Is there a problem?"

"Yeah, what happened to those bodyguards watching over me?" I grumble as I stagger into his body.

He holds me tighter to steady me, and then his eyes move over to a man who basically comes running.

"What the h.e.l.l?" he snaps to the guy I didn't know was even around.

"Hey, I was just trying to have a friendly conversation," Jason says while trying to walk away.

"He's a reporter. Ask Melanie if she really knows him," I murmur while turning into Tag and pushing my head against his chest.

The security guard starts patting him down and finds his recorder, and Jason's head pops back in defeat.

"Told you," I murmur as Tag pulls me a little tighter.

"What's going on?" Melanie asks as she rushes out to join us by the fountain.

"Do you know this guy?" Tag asks.

"Yes, he's a journalist doing a story on my newest business that just launched."

The security guard rewinds and then plays the only thing recorded.

It's our conversation, and he finally hits end after it plays, "I need more champagne, not a friend. Tag Masters is my son's father, so if you're expecting me to say something bad about him to a guy I don't know, you're sadly mistaken."

"If he was doing a story on your business, he wouldn't be recording a conversation with Ash. Get him out of here," Tag says, and the guards usher out the conniving reporter.

"I recognized him. My dad has an obsession with newspapers. Don't ask," I slur, and Melanie lets a sigh out before giggling.

"Only Ash can be smart when drunk. You got her?"

"Yeah, I've got her," Tag murmurs softly while scooping me up.

"Tag, I'm not that drunk. I can walk."

He smirks, and then he shakes his head.

"It looks like we'll be staying with you tonight," he laughs, and I pucker my lips.

"We can go home. I'm fit to drive-well, ride."

"Here that?" Wren chirps as he joins us. "She's fit to ride, Tag."

I blush as Tag and Wren both laugh, and Melanie rolls her eyes for the distasteful joke her son made.

"Well, you still have gifts to open. Not to mention, we haven't even eaten. Ashiara, how did you get so drunk?" she scolds.

"The champagne was really good," I joke, making Tag laugh a little louder as he carries me inside.

"Where's Trip?" he asks a guy when we get back in.

"Billy and Shannon are showing him around."

He nods, and then he starts carrying me up the stairs.

"Tag, please let me go. I want to enjoy the party. I'm fine."

"You're drunk, and it's obvious you need to sleep it off."

I cross my arms to sulk as he carries me on up.

"I don't want to sleep. I'm ready to drink. Please stop treating me like a child."

He laughs and then he pushes the door open to the room where he stayed that weekend.

"I'll come check on you in a bit. I'm sure I can send one of the guys out to get you some clothes."

I roll my eyes as he puts me on the bed, and I turn away from him as he covers me up. He's tucking me in the way I do Trip. How degrading is this?

Tag "Tag, there you are," another blast from the past exclaims, her cleavage showing, my d.i.c.k not responding.

I got more of a rise out of Ash's pouting lips than I am these jugs of fury bouncing around.

"Hey Camille, sorry, but I need to go find my son."

"Aw," she pouts. "I just want some time alone with the new daddy. I would have never dreamed you'd be such a good dad."

"Yeah, well, I've just been a dad for a little while. Let's not go giving me a number-one dad mug just yet."

I start to walk off, but then she grabs my arm and pulls me into a dark room off to the side.

"I want to show you how impressed I am," she seduces while dropping to her knees in front of me.

She grabs my belt and jerks it free, but the soft ma.s.s in my pants just laughs as I try to pull her up.

"d.a.m.n it, Camille, stop. I don't want to do this. I'm a happy man with a son, and I happen to love his mother."

"Love?" she gasps while finally relinquishing her hold on me.

"Yes, love. Now act like you have a little dignity, and please don't make me forcefully remove you from me."

She puffs up, and then she shakes her head before following me out. Just as the door shuts behind us, Ash is standing there, eyes wide, tears glistening. Her lips tighten into a thin, almost nonexistent line as she stares in disbelief.

"Ash, this isn't what it looks like," I blurt out like a cliche cheating b.a.s.t.a.r.d, even though I technically wouldn't be cheating.

It sure as h.e.l.l feels like it would be cheating, and with the way she's looking at me right now, she feels like I just cheated.

"Um, it's fine. I was just going to go tell Melanie goodnight, but I think I'll get another drink and check on my son instead," she says, suddenly acting as though the shock of me exiting a dark room with a girl just sobered her up.

Camille slips away without clarifying the fact I turned her down, and Ash rushes away before I can defend myself anymore. Bity and Shannon are still holding Trip, and I see Ash kissing his cheek as I walk up.

"Can I please talk to you?"

"Tag, you don't owe me anything. Just enjoy the party. Go open some presents your friends got you."

"What's going on?" Bity chirps.

"Camille Rags pulled me into a room, and I turned her down. Ash thinks something else happened."

"Camille is here? I thought I saw one of your other trophies here as well," Bity adds. "I need to start carrying Trip around. Apparently he's a little chick magnet."

Shannon elbows him in the ribs, and he laughs hard. Ash doesn't seem amused though. She seems colder, more distant - even worse than earlier when we arrived.