Ride or Die (Rejects Paradise 4)

Milo and Spencer are hiding in the bathroom getting it on. Hendrix is running around after Charlie, stopping him from telling all the wedding guests about how he screwed her while we were supposed to be doing photos. Jess has been flirting with some guy who looks like an investment banker, and who could possibly be old enough to be her father. All while Casey and Cora are taking advantage of the open bar.

How could anything ever get better than this?

It’s bittersweet because I know that once this is all over and my world returns to normal, things aren't going to be quite so easy. Nic is coming for me, and it’s going to be an all-out war, so why not enjoy these last precious moments that I have with the people I love before it all turns to shit?Chapter 29I sit in the doctor’s office, my knee bouncing with nerves as he goes on and on about the ins and outs of the paternity test. I can’t believe that it’s already been eleven weeks. This whole thing is already going so fast, and it’s only freaking me out more. I mean, with the wedding a few days ago and all the lead up to it, I’ve hardly had a second to actually take it all in.

I still have no idea what I want to do. I’m hoping that I’ll just lay down one night, and it’ll all just hit me like some kind of epiphany, though I doubt that I’ll be that lucky.

This test should help me, though. If it’s Colton’s baby, then it’s simple, we keep it and work out how to be parents. But if it really is Jude’s, it’s going to make everything so much harder. Am I capable of loving a child who was the product of rape? Am I able to look at his or her little face and see past Jude’s features, or will I resent it and end up doing more harm than good?

Maybe it’s better off without me. Maybe Jaren was onto something about adoption. I'm sure there is an incredible family out there somewhere just waiting for their little bundle of joy to come along. But will I regret giving it up?

Fuck me. This is too hard. Why can’t someone else just make the decision for me? I miss being a child and having everything sorted out for me. I've never had to worry about such massive things like this before. What if I make the wrong decision?

The doctor fastens a tourniquet around my arm and asks me to start pumping my fist. I try to look anywhere but at the needle he’s about to poke through my veins. Why does taking blood always have to suck so bad? It’s not even that bad, yet no matter what, it always seems to be the worst thing that could ever happen. That and getting a shot, I hate it.

Colton squeezes my hand, and the only thing that keeps me going is the knowledge that he’s next in line for the DNA stab. Though, knowing my luck, he’ll probably handle it like a pro.

An unexpected yawn tears through me as the doctor does his thing, reminding me that even though the wedding was two days ago, I still haven't had a proper chance to catch up on all the lost sleep. It was such an incredible night. We partied well into the morning, way after the bride and groom had already called it a night and had gone off to bed.

I still can’t get over it. The night was magnificent.

I feel a slight pinch in my arm, and I jump while trying desperately not to move and end up with a needle poking out of my elbow. I try to focus on anything that will distract me.

Ahh, the alphabet backwards.

Z, Y, X … um, W, U … V? Fuck, it’s V then U. Why is this so hard? It really shouldn’t be.

“Okay, Oceania. All done,” the doctor says, quickly pressing a cotton ball to my arm and holding it there to stop any bleeding. He grins at me with a teasing smirk. “That wasn’t so hard now, was it?”

I scoff. He wasn’t the one trying to do the alphabet backwards. I bet he couldn’t just recite it like his breakfast order at McDonalds.

I get a pretty pink bandaid to place over the tiny pin prick, and as the doctor writes all my information on the vial, I find myself nervously bouncing my leg again. “How long is it going to take to get the results?” I ask.

The doctor glances up at me before focusing back down at the vials of blood. “It can take anywhere between two days to a week, depending on how busy they are at the lab.”

Colton raises a brow, catching the doctor’s gaze. “I’m assuming they can be persuaded to put a rush on it.”