Irreversible Damage (Irreparable 2)

I look down letting the shame consume me. “We hung out in Minnesota one night when he was there for business. We drank too much and one thing…”

Her face scrunches together. “Don’t say ‘led to another’…so cliché.”

I look up at her and narrow my eyes. “I won’t say it, but that’s exactly how it went down. When it was over, I fell apart. The next morning we both regretted it and decided not to tell anyone.”

“I didn’t know Gibson had an office in Minnesota.”

I throw her an annoyed look. “That’s not really the point, Liv.”

“You’re right. It’s not.” She takes my hand and looks at me sympathetically through the mirror. “God, Tori, why didn’t you use protection?”

Oh, great. She wants to lecture me about condoms now. It’s a little late. “It all happened so fast, Liv. I wasn’t thinking. After I got back, I meant to get on the pill, and I got so busy with Andrew, and I never did it.”

She stands, thrusting her hands to her hips. “Tori Preston. You are an idiot with a capital fucking ‘I.’”

“God, don’t you think I know that?” I make an annoyed sound and turn away from her. I don’t need a lecture. I need a friend.

“Did you tell Brady?”

I nod, turning back to her. “I told him I was with someone. I just never told him who.”

“Okay, so this isn’t that bad. At least he knows.”

My eyes bug out. “‘Not that bad’? God, Liv, it’s straight out of The Maury Show.”

“Don’t be so dramatic.” She rolls her big brown eyes at me. “Wait, that’s it. You just need a paternity test before you see Tug.”

I let out a nervous laugh. “Can you keep him away for the next nine months?”

She shakes her head. “You don’t have to wait that long. You can get a blood test at twelve weeks.”

I laugh and smile at her. “How exactly do you know that?”

She gives me a duh look. “The Maury Show.”

My palm presses into my forehead as I shake my head. “Oh, Jesus, Liv. Your source kind of sucks.”

“Come on.” She yanks on my arm, pulling me from the room. “Where’s your laptop?”

I follow her down the hall to the kitchen. “On the table.”

We sit at the table, and Liv opens my laptop. Her fingers tap away as my stomach twists and ties itself in a knot.

“See, look.” She turns the laptop toward me. I read about a “non-invasive prenatal paternity test,” which analyzes something called “circulating cell-free fetal DNA” in the mother’s blood to identify the daddy. I don’t feel any better. I still have to tell Brady.

All of a sudden Andrew charges into the room. He leaps into Liv’s lap, throwing his arms around her. I quickly close down the web page and shut my laptop. I didn’t even hear them come in.

“I missed you, Aunty Liv.”

“I missed you, too.” She pulls her head back and looks at him. “Where’s your daddy?”

“He had to use the bathroom.”

Liv’s eyes grow wide as she stares up at me. My world feels like it’s crashing down around me. The pregnancy test is still sitting on the counter. There’s no way for Brady to miss it.

“Did you get me anything?” Andrew asks.

I hear the bathroom door open and then Brady’s footsteps coming toward the kitchen.