She gave me a timid smile while her chest heaved, as if she were bracing herself. An ominous feeling grew in my gut, overpowering my excitement at seeing her again.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Can we talk?” Her tone was clipped, and her avoidance of my question ignited a little panic.
“Sure, come in the back.” I motioned to the double doors behind the counter.
Olivia nodded, rushing over and pushing the door open without looking back at me.
“What’s wrong? Is it your mom? Or mine?”
“No, no. Nothing like that.” She shook her head. After knowing her all my life, it was unnerving to see Olivia this rattled.
“But it’s something. Do you want to sit?” I grabbed the folding chair leaning against the steel counter and unfolded it for her.
“No, but you might.” She pressed a palm to her forehead, coughing out a laugh that made my blood run cold.
“What is it?” I pressed, now exasperated as hell. “Just spit it out.”
“I’m pregnant, Tyler.”
The air sucked out of the room as I fell back onto the chair.
“You’re…” My brain and my heart halted at the same time while I slowly absorbed what Olivia had just said.
“And it’s yours.” She folded her arms and leaned against the counter.
“I know. I mean…” I trailed off, dropping my chin to my chest and trying to collect my frazzled thoughts enough to make words. “I know that you wouldn’t have come to me if it wasn’t, and you wouldn’t have… been with me like that if you were with someone else.”
I didn’tknowfor a fact that Olivia wasn’t seeing anyone else that night, but she’d offered herself to me in a way she wouldn’t have if she was. I didn’t need proof when my instinct was that strong.
This felt like a month-long dream or altered reality I’d stumbled into. Olivia Sanchez was having my baby after one explosive night neither of us could talk about.
“I’m sorry to do this to you at work. It’s a big shock—one I’m still not even over yet.” She wrapped her arms around her torso as she inched closer. “I took a test at home and had it confirmed at the doctor today. My first thought was telling you, so I came straight here. But I should have waited until tonight.”
“No, I’m glad you did.” Her urge to tell me right away gave me a weird type of comfort.
A long silence washed over us. I’d already known sex with Olivia was life changing, but I hadn’t known the half of it.
“We keep surprising people, don’t we?”
Her shoulders jerked with a chuckle. “Yes, I suppose we do.” She dropped her gaze to the floor and nodded.
“I need to get back out there, but can I come to your apartment tonight? So we can really talk about this?” I rose from the chair and stepped toward her. We were overdue to finally talk about a lot of things, and now our hands were forced.
I’d have been relieved if I wasn’t so terrified.
“Sure. Text me when you’re on your way. Judging by the crowd, it looks like you may be late, and that’s okay. Whatever time you can come is good for me.”
“Okay,” I replied, not knowing what the hell else I should say. “Why don’t you take some stuff home? I’ll tell Staci in the front to let you pick whatever you want. You should eat, right?”
A tiny, almost sad smile curved her lips. “That’s very thoughtful, thank you. I guess I’ll see you later.”
A timid and lost Olivia was too much for me to take. All I wanted to do was pull her into my arms and tell her it was all going to be okay, even if I was clueless as to how. But other than the random touches that teetered on the borderline of friendly, we didn’t show any affection. At least, not since that night. My feet were speared to the floor. Not knowing my place around Olivia was its own kind of torture.
“See you later.” I held the door open for her to walk through and told Staci to give Olivia whatever she wanted at no charge.
The rest of the afternoon, I baked, prepared, greeted customers, but I couldn’t actively remember any of it. I was a scared-shitless zombie for the rest of the day.
