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Maybe it was stress.

No, it had to be stress.

We had used protection. Hell, the sight of Steel rolling a condom on his cock had replayed in my mind on the daily for the past four weeks. My vibrator failed at delivering anything close to the pleasure Steel gave me.

I should have woken him up that morning, but I hadn’t been thinking about how difficult it would be to find another man who could weave such a spell with his tongue.

We should have exchanged numbers.

Ugh. That was ridiculous.

I hadn’t wanted to jump into another relationship – that was outrageous.

Still, I hated when my period was late. It didn’t happen often, but when it did I found a new appreciation for clichés like ‘sweating bullets’.

My phone vibrated with another text from Alexandra saying she’d be leaving soon.

With a deep breath, I mustered some courage and called her.

“What? Are you gonna strangle me if I don’t wait for that magic red light to go on at the Krispy Kreme?”

“I was hangry that day,” I said in my defense.

She laughed. “If you say so. You never call, so what’s up?”

I sighed. “I need a favor and you have to keep your mouth shut. If you rode with Ines, you can’t let her know about this.”

“Geez, what’s with all the cloak and dagger?”

I bit my lower lip for a moment. “I need you to get me a pregnancy test.”

Other than random background noise, silence filled my ear.

“It’s only January, so this isn’t some early April Fool’s Day prank, right?”

My eyes closed, I shook my head, and I whispered, “Lex.”

“I know, it’s just… that is the last thing I expected, but I meant it, Simone. Anything you need, I’ll get it. Should be home in fifteen minutes – depends on the red light situation at the donut shop.”

Forty-five minutes later, it was the first time I didn’t want to eat Krispy Kreme.

Lex had brought home three different tests, and after reading the instructions, I used all three. Every one of them had the same result.

Positive.

Yeah, we should have exchanged numbers – Steel and I.

What the hell was I going to do?

Sunday morning I downed a yogurt with some granola, then vegged out on the sofa.

Alexandra curled up on the matching loveseat catty-corner to me. “We would have to take a road trip for this, since we live in Florida, but… you have choices, you know.”

I paused the show and tipped my head to the side to catch her gaze. “Do I, though?”

She heaved a heavy sigh. “He would never know—”

“I would know. I don’t think I can handle an abortion. I’d feel so much guilt.”