Long after Drake’s friends left the house, I returned to the kitchen for a bottle of water. I sat on the marble island, embarrassed by how I had acted in front of my half-sister. Ella didn’t know I was her sister but showed me so much compassion that I felt bad for being a bitch.
It wasn’t her fault my brother was dead. I should have been kinder and not acted like such a brat.
For months, I had avoided Drake because he reminded me of Tate. Whenever I looked at him, I thought of my brother not getting off the helicopter with him. I thought of the closed-casket funeral and the fact that I never got to say goodbye. And then, my thoughts drifted to our last night together, to the time he almost killed me.
But it wasn’t Drake’s fault.
I just wanted someone to blame.
I wanted it to stop hurting.
After I downed the water bottle, my stomach started growling. I knew what that meant and rushed to the bathroom in time to spill my guts into the toilet. I’d been sick a lot lately, sometimes vomiting several times a day.
I was doing my best to hide my sickness from Drake. And with us keeping our distance, mostly because I refused to speak to him, it was easier to hide my current predicament. I hadn’t had my period in eight weeks. If I hadn’t been so distracted by Tate’s absence, I might have noticed sooner.
After my stomach stopped churning, I wiped the sweat from my brow and pulled the pregnancy test out of my back pocket. I went about my business and set the test on the counter, too afraid to find out the results. So, I put the end cap on the test and pocketed the plastic device, leaving the bathroom in search of something to eat.
In the kitchen, I poured myself a glass of ginger ale and sat on the countertop. The soda helped calm my stomach just enough to stop me from feeling nauseous.
I removed the pregnancy test stick from my pocket and stared at the two pink lines.
This was just my luck.
The night Drake held me down and treated me like his enemy, we conceived our first child. Of course, that would happen to me. I’d never even gone on a first date with the man who impregnated me.
The kitchen door swung open, scaring the shit out of me. I pushed the test behind me on the counter as Drake entered.
He raised an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side. “What did you just throw behind you?”
“Nothing. Trash.”
He didn’t push the subject and said, “Did you mean what you said earlier? About going to therapy with me.”
I nodded. “I’ll try it if you will.”
He moved in front of me, his chest rising and falling faster, his blue eyes laser-focused on my mouth. I thought he might kiss me. And when he didn’t, a tinge of disappointment swelled in my chest.
He put his hands on the counter on both sides of my legs, leaning so close his lips could have brushed mine. “I hate living in the same house with you and pretending we mean nothing to each other. I have a lot of regrets, especially with you and Tate. I should have told him to back off and pushed harder for us to be together.”
I stared into his eyes, forcing back tears.
“Liv, I love you.” Drake moved his hands onto my thighs. “I miss sleeping beside you. I miss hearing you laugh and seeing you smile. I miss our movie nights. But most of all, I just miss you, baby. And I want to be with you.”
I leaned forward and rested my forehead against his, breathing in the scent of his musky cologne. “Drake, I’m sorry for being so bitchy. I’m sorry for all the mean shit I said. You didn’t kill Tate. I never thought you did. I just wanted someone to blame.”
He let out a deep breath. “You don’t know how happy that makes me. I was afraid I’d lost you for good.”
I spread my thighs, carving out a space for him, needing to be closer to my baby daddy.
“Drake,” I whispered when his lips brushed mine. “I missed you so much.”
He stuck out his tongue and wet my lips, teasing me. “I missed you, too, baby. I’ll do anything for you. Just ask. I’m yours. Please don’t leave me.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Drake’s eyes flicked to the test on my left. Before I could grab it, he snatched it off the table and stared at the results, eyes wide.
“Liv, are you…” He studied the test again, at a loss for words. “Are you pregnant?”
