“Well, then maybe you can dig up some of that compassion from your black heart and listen to me. Stay away.”
“I’m giving you the courtesy of talking to me now. My next stop is to Edward and Annie.”
He flinches, staring me down, and I know I’ve hit a nerve. Edward, Annie, and I always had a special relationship. Losing them hurt. One of the reasons I didn’t keep in touch was the guilt of knowing how I treated Darby that day. Unlike Evin, on the occasions I’ve run into Edward or Annie, they’ve always been kind and cordial.
“Come on, Evin. You owe me this,” I try again.
“Any favors I may have owed you disappeared the minute you knocked my sister up and then blamed her when she lost the baby.”
My balance falters, and I stagger back, his words blaring in my head. “I didn’t blame Darby. I wanted to help her. She didn’t want me.”
“Yet, you moved on quite well.”
“Is that what she told you? That I blamed her?”
“It doesn’t matter. Leave it alone.” He shoves past me, his shoulder ramming mine roughly, sending me stumbling.
Instead of chasing after him to demand answers, I’m frozen in place, wondering what the hell just happened. More importantly, does Darby believe I blamed her?
•—•—•—•—•
“I’m scared, Pierce.” She clung to me, burying her face in my shirt. “What happens if it’s positive?”
“Then, we’ll deal.”
“It’s too soon. We aren’t ready. How did I let this happen?” Her body trembled, and she began to sob again. Moisture seeped through the material of my shirt and soaked into my skin.
“Shh,” I tried to soothe her, kissing the top of her head over and over. “You’re not alone here. We talked about having children. Maybe it’s earlier than we planned.”
Her head popped up, and my chest seized at her tear-stained cheeks and swollen eyes. My protective instincts kicked in, and I fought the urge to crush her to me, shield her from anything that brought fear to her beautiful face.
“I just graduated and don’t even have a job yet! I live with my parents, and you share an apartment with your brother. We aren’t exactly equipped to be parents right now.”
“You do have a job, and we’ll move into our own place.”
“I make desserts and cakes for parties out of my mom’s kitchen. That’s hardly a job.”
“People love your stuff. I’m one-third owner of a construction company. I’ll build you a place to bake, and we’ll expand your business. Together, we can do this.”
Her light brown eyes began to glimmer, and the trembling lessened. “You’d build me a place to bake?”
“I’ll build you anything you want.”
“You’re not mad?”
I threaded my fingers through the hair at the side of her head and gently caressed. “Do I look mad? I’m a man that loves you, and if you’re having my baby, I’ll shout from the rooftops.”
“Our parents are going to freak.”
“I’m not worried about our parents. They know where we’re headed. I haven’t hidden my plans.”
“People will think we are getting married because of the baby.”
“Those people can fuck themselves. We know the truth.”
The timer on Darby’s phone beeped, and she sucked in a deep breath, scooting away to grab the little white test on my vanity. She looked at me, the fear creeping back into her face, and I nodded in encouragement. Together, we both looked down at the little window that read ‘pregnant’.
My world changed in that second, and this time, I didn’t stop from crushing her to me. To any other twenty-three-year-old man, the news may have been devastating, but to me, it was everything. I held her tight, letting the reality of the news sink in. Darby and I were going to have a baby.
“I’ll call my doctor tomorrow and make an appointment. It’ll be best to have the confirmation and see how far along I am. There’s no telling the date of conception.”
I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my lips. The day Darby finished her last final and the pressure was off, our relationship shifted. She left her apartment and moved back in with her parents, but there were no rules. We took weekend trips, we partied with friends, and she spent practically every night here with me. Our sex life had always been great, but it exploded. We both became insatiable and wild, finding new ways to drive the other insane. This baby could be the result of a wild night of fucking on every surface of my room, or the result of me rolling over in the morning and making love to her sweet and slow. Either way, it didn’t matter because he or she was conceived out of love.
“Get the first appointment and let me know when to be there. I’m not missing a thing.”
She wiggled out of my strong hold and lifted her hands from between us to frame my face. Her eyes were no longer swimming in tears, but shining translucent amber. “This is unreal.”