Ride or Die (Rejects Paradise 4)

I roll my eyes at his charm. He’s like a kid who just saw his first set of tits, so proud of himself. “Mmhmm,” I grumble, refusing to get up.

Colton sits me up and spins me around on the counter until I’m facing the massive living room. “What do you need?” he questions, scanning his eyes all over my face and body.

“After that? A joint.”

He grins, that same boyish charm shining bright. “Seriously, babe. Do you need anything?”

Hunger tears through me at his question. I look back at the stove, knowing damn well I don't have the energy to cook. “Chinese take out would be good.”

He slips his phone out of his pocket, and I momentarily wonder when the hell he had a second to put his pants back on, but decide that I don’t care enough to ask. His phone goes straight to his ear as he winks at me. “You got it, Jade.”

I smile wide and quickly lean in, kissing him before he pulls away with his call. When the guy at the restaurant answers Colton starts pacing the kitchen, putting in an order big enough to feed an army.

I glance out the window, but with the dim lighting, it acts more like a mirror and reflects everything that’s happening inside the house. I watch Colton from his reflection before scanning over myself, still naked on the counter.

I should really get myself dressed. After all, Colton never actually specified where everyone is tonight. I just assumed that we had the place to ourselves.

I jump down from the counter and walk around to the other side of the kitchen to find my clothes. After putting on my bra, I search around for my panties but quickly remember that Colton had torn them from my body. I guess I’m going commando for the night.

I pull on the sweatpants that I’d stolen from Colton this morning and as I roll the material over at my hips to keep them up, I find myself walking toward the massive floor to ceiling windows, staring at my reflection.

My eyes drop over my body. My tits had been tender this morning but they seem fine now, my stomach though … My hands glide over my abdomen, unable to comprehend that in a few short months, it’s going to be bulging with a child. It’s still completely flat for now, but it won't be long until it starts to grow.

When does that even happen? Is it going to be weeks or months until my secret is revealed to the world?

Do I even have it in me to be someone’s mother? I’m only seventeen. Given my birthday is coming up but magically turning eighteen and technically becoming an adult isn’t going to change that.

Just like everyone keeps reminding me, I do have options, some scarier than others. The thought of abortion doesn’t sit well in my mind. The whole pro-life thing really isn’t something that I’ve ever had to consider before. I mean, what girl my age really has unless she’s been in this exact situation? I really don’t know where I stand but thinking about it now, I don’t know if I’d be able to go through it, which leaves me with two options; adoption or being this baby’s mom.

Glancing back, I find Colton watching me as he talks on the phone. As if sensing that I’m about to work myself up into a panic, he steps in behind me, curling his arms around my body, and pushing my own hands out of the way.

He finishes up on the call, and his phone gets put straight back into his pocket as he kisses my temple. “You’re going to be just fine, Jade,” he promises me. “Now, come sit down, then you can tell me why you looked like you were going to be sick when you first walked in here.”

Christian’s call instantly comes to mind, and I have to admit, the idea of getting jumped really does make me forget about the whole baby thing.

Colton pulls me along, and as he drops down into the massive couch and pulls me down on top of him, I meet his eyes, knowing that this is one of those things that I can’t keep to myself. I have to tell him about this. “There’s something you need to know,” I tell him, dreading having this conversation but knowing that I need to prepare him … prepare me for the worst.Chapter 10My feet drag, one after another as I find myself walking through the halls of Bellevue Springs Private School early on Tuesday morning. It almost feels ridiculous being here with everything else that’s been going on. I should be locked up at home in a padded cell where Nic or the Wolves would never be able to get me.

I spent the night talking it through with Colton. To say that he was less than thrilled about the call I’d received from Christian yesterday is an understatement—a massive understatement. I’m surprised that he didn’t lock me in the wine-cellar dungeon just for good measure. It was hard enough just getting out the door this morning. He insisted on driving me, but I made the argument that if they were to come to the school, I’d have a better chance of escape if I had a car here with me. He tried, but there’s no arguing with logic.