I'm in It (The Reed Brothers 10)

“So, you guys had sex, and someone—doesn’t matter who—didn’t use protection, not even the withdrawal method.”

“Yes.”

“And after,” Star says, “he bought you the pill, and he gave you a way out of it all, if you didn’t want to be in this with him.”

“I think it’s sweet that he gave her a choice. That he was thinking about that,” Lark says quietly. “A lot of men would have just walked away, and considered it to be her responsibility.”

Shane walked away and considered it to be my responsibility. She’s right.

“But you were already in it. You wanted whatever may come, because you felt like you could do it with him?” Star cocks a brow at me. “Like the two of you might have a future, whatever may happen?”

“Yes.”

“And then he got really cold, and shut you out,” Star says.

“Yes.”

“So why did he do that?” Star starts to thump her thumb on her knee.

“Maybe he got scared, too,” Lark tosses in.

“No, Mick’s not scared,” Star says. “He’s been head-over-heels for her since he met her.”

“Maybe he doesn’t know that she didn’t take the pill,” Peck says quietly. And I realize that she’s a little teary too. “He might think she took it.” She turns to me. “You said you opened the wrapper and put it in your mouth.”

I nod.

“So, was there a chance he saw it? The open wrapper?”

I think back. “I didn’t hide it. I was about to tell him that I didn’t take it, to be sure it was all right, when he shut the door on me.”

“But maybe he jumped to conclusions,” Lark says.

Finny snaps her fingers. “By George, I think we’ve solved it.”

“There’s more to it than that.” Lark winces. “But it’s not my story to tell.”

“Well, you can’t just leave it like that,” Finny cries.

She groans. “Okay, so, you remember Nicky, right?” Lark asks.

“The ex. Yes. She dumped him.”

“She had two kids when he met her. He fell in love with her family, and a little bit with her, but mostly with the family. Ryan says he’s a caregiver. It might be because he spent his younger years always translating for someone and making sure everyone in his family had what they needed. But anyway…” She takes a breath. “They were decently happy, and then one day, he found a medical record in her purse when he went looking for the baby’s lost binky.”

I sit forward. “What kind of record?”

“She’d had an abortion without telling him. He had no idea. He was devastated. And I’m pretty sure that I’m not supposed to tell anyone.” She groans. “Ryan’s going to kill me.” She rests the back of her head against the couch and stares up at the ceiling.

“Was the baby his?”

She nods. “The baby was his, and then it was gone.”

“So, he thinks that I…” I point to my stomach like there’s something in there.

“He has no way of knowing you didn’t take the pill,” Peck says.

“He bought the pill!” I cry.