Read Online Drowning to Breathe by A. L. Jackson - Free Book Online Page B

of your asshole clients once again got himself in deep and you had to pack it up and race halfway around the world to dig him out of it.”
    Although maybe this time…
    Maybe this time getting myself in deep was exactly where I was supposed to be.
    A short chuckle rumbled from him. “Could have something to do with that.”
    Anthony sighed like he knew it was time to toss off the lightness passing between us, because fucking around wasn’t going to get Kallie back. He focused on pouring a shit-ton of sugar into his coffee and dousing it with cream.
    “Thanks for being here,” I muttered honestly.
    “It’s my job,” he said like there weren’t a whole lot of other options, but then he looked at me seriously as he took a tentative sip of his coffee, his tone changing. “And I want to be here. You know I’m not going to leave you high and dry in the middle of this.”
    “I know. You know how much I appreciate you being here, don’t you? I don’t expect any of this from you.”
    Yet, he was always willing.
    There as a friend.
    “Of course I know that.” He pushed out a strained breath and set his coffee aside. “This is messy, Baz.”
    “You think I don’t know that?” It came out sounding more bitter than intended.
    But fuck, this was a disaster.
    Like he was searching for an answer or maybe restraint, he looked to the ceiling, before he dropped his attention back to me, gaze penetrating.
    “You have to be straight up with me, Baz. Did you know Jennings was Kallie’s father? The press is all over this shit this morning.”
    Just the thought of Kallie belonging to that piece of shit spiked my pulse.
    “No. Not until CPS showed up and handed her over to him last night.”
    Glancing at his feet, he shook his head as his tone filled with disbelief. “So you’re telling me you’ve been seeing this girl for what…close to two months…and you never thought to ask her who the baby’s daddy was?”
    He kept right on talking as he began to pace, like each step would help make each piece in this fucked-up situation add up.
    “One minute you tell me you’re back in California permanently because you can’t stay in Savannah for a second longer…during which time you’re acting like a fucking bear because you’re so miserable. Next thing I know, you’re packing the band up again and heading back here because of a girl I know nothing about.”
    He paused and pinned me with his stare. “Which is all fine. I’ve already made it clear I want that for you. But I didn’t even know there was a kid involved until my phone started ringing off the hook at 4:00 a.m. yesterday about the pictures on the beach that had hit the tabloids. Then last night?” The words dropped flat.
    He huffed in frustration. “Every time I turn around, I’m blindsided by something else involving you, Baz. I can’t keep up. How am I supposed to protect you and this band if I don’t have the first clue what’s going on?”
    There was no missing the edge biting his words.
    Anthony knew next to nothing when it came to Shea. Guess it was no surprise considering Shea and I were just finally breaking down the walls that’d kept us separated.
    Exposing us.
    Even though Shea was right.
    We knew everything that mattered.
    I swallowed hard. I knew how this was going to sound. Anthony didn’t understand Shea the way I did, and I knew this sounded fucking bad . I had to push the words out. “She told me Kallie’s father was dead.”
    Anthony blinked back at me in a you’ve got to be kidding me way.
    I inhaled, doing my best not to get all pissy with him, because not one goddamned part of this situation was his fault.
    “Look…things were complicated between me and Shea. Neither of us were looking to start something up.”
    I gestured between the ceiling and myself. “We never expected this , and we both went into this the wrong way, thinking things were only going to be temporary, so we didn’t get into all the shit complicating our