The wind picks up more and more the closer we get to the lake. I can see Navy Pier in the distance, filled with happy tourists and Chicago residents. The little section of beach we’re on is much less crowded, and Sam leads me down to a bench near the water. We both sit, and he puts his arms around me. I scoot in close, warmed by his body heat.
“Chloe?”
“Yes.” I suck in a breath and work hard not to smile like a fool.
“I want you to know how much you mean to me.”
This is it.
“I do,” I reply.
Sam’s eyes lock with mine. “And you make me happy—so fucking happy. Being with you…it’s…it’s been the best few weeks of my life.”
Oh my god.
“Mine too,” I say eagerly, heart jumping in my chest.
“And I…I…I can’t imagine my life without you in it.”
“I can’t either,” I say and work hard to blink back tears.
He takes a deep breath. “Which is why…why I need to…” He trails off, eyes falling shut for a quick second. I can’t help but smile ear to ear because Sam Harris is going to ask me to marry—
“I just need to say it,” he goes on. “Stacey is pregnant.”
The fuck!?24Sam“What?”
I swallow hard and breathe in the scent of the stale lake. “Stacey is pregnant.”
Chloe opens her mouth only to close it again. “Your ex-girlfriend?”
“Yeah,” I say and a weight comes off my shoulders, though judging by the look on Chloe’s face, a heavy weight just landed on hers. “I know it’s a shock. It was for me too.”
Chloe pulls her hand away from mine and closes her eyes, rubbing her forehead. “What?” she repeats. “I…I thought…I thought you were…you’re seeing other people?”
“No, I’m not. She came to me recently and said she just found out she’s pregnant. I’m not convinced the kid is even mine. We, um, we haven’t been together since June.”
“June?” Chloe echoes, closing her eyes again. “So she’s…she’s…like halfway through the pregnancy already?”
“Yeah. She says it’s mine, but I’m getting a DNA test as soon as I can. Until then…I honestly don’t know how to go about this.” I also don’t know what I expect Chloe to say, and I hate that we only have an hour or so until she has to go to the airport to get on a plane going back to sunny and warm LA. “If the kid is mine, then I’m going to do what I can to be a good dad.”
“You will be,” she says and stands up, going closer to the water.
“I’m so stupid,” she mumbles to herself, and I don’t think I was meant to hear.
I go to her and rest a hand on the dip in her waist. “No you’re not.”
Chloe whirls around, brows furrowed. Our eyes meet and her lips part. “If you…if you have a kid here and I’m in Europe, I won’t see you.”
“We’ll figure it out,” I say, desperation rising inside of me. I don’t want to lose her. “Somehow.”
“How?” She turns back to the water and cups both hands around her face. “I’m sorry. I know this is hard for you. I thought you…you…” She lets out a breath and lets her hands fall from her face. “How long have you known?”
“Since before you got sick,” I say, which isn’t a lie. I did find out before Chloe got sick…days before.
“So all those times you tried to get me alone…it was to tell me about Stacey?”
“Yeah.”
Her face crumples and tears fill her eyes. Seeing her pain kills me. “I thought those times…I thought…” She can’t finish her sentence.
“I’m sorry, Chloe.”
“You don’t have to be sorry.” She steps away from me again. “You said you two hooked up in June and I didn’t see you again until August. You did nothing wrong.”
I thought hearing her say that would be a relief, but it’s making everything worse. She’s understanding. Forgiving. So fucking perfect and definitely more than I deserve.
“I didn’t want this to happen,” I tell her, though I’m sure she knows. “We kept things casual because I knew I could never love her the way I love you.”
Chloe turns toward me and tears roll down her cheeks. “When…when did you say you were going to get a paternity test?”
“As soon as I can. Stacey said she got her first ultra sound recently and it’s not twins, so all we need is a blood sample from her and saliva from me and I’ll know either way.”
“And it’s probably one of those tests that takes a while to get the results in, right?”
“I’d assume so. I haven’t looked into it that much. All I know is it’s a safe way of finding out who the father is before birth.”
Chloe wraps her arms around herself and bobs her head up and down. “That’s a good idea. So until then…you…you are going to assume it’s yours?”