I choke on my water, “Excuse me?”
I hear Olivia audibly gasp and her dark eyes drop to my abdomen as if she could confirm it right now.
“Don’t be ridiculous!” I scoff, “I’m on the pill.”
Savannah purses her lips, “So was my friend, but she’s got twins now.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“The pill is effective,” Savvy shrugs, “But not fool proof and any number of things can affect it, you know? Even just missing one day or whatever.”
I blink slowly, “I’m not pregnant.”
I don’t have a period because of my birth control so I can’t even confirm that but no, I’m not pregnant. Absolutely not. I take my birth control religiously. I’m not cut out to be a mother, not when the only experience I have with motherhood is how my own raised and treated me. I would be a horrible mother.
“I’m just saying,” Savvy bites her lip, “What Oli just said sounds like early pregnancy symptoms, my friend was similar.”
I must be pale, or the look must convey horror because Oli snatches up my hand, “It’s okay.”
“What do you mean,it’s okay? I’m not pregnant!”
My eyes jump to Sebastian laughing with Malakai at the bar and when he catches me looking, he winks with a grin.
I look away, “I’m going to the doctor anyway.”
“Maybe do a test before,” Savvy shrugs, “No harm in checking is there?”
No. I’m not pregnant.
But what if I am? Panic starts to claw itself up my throat, I can feel it crushing my chest, closing my airways and I abruptly get up. “I need a drink.”
“I’ll come,” Oli starts to get up.
“No, I’ll be fine. Just stay there, I need a minute.”
I’m gone before she can question me. No, I can’t be pregnant. That’s not what this is.
I don’t go toward Sebastian, I go to the very end, to a corner that hides me a little bit and wait to be served, just needing a moment to myself.
Although that doesn’t last long.
“You must be Willow,” Someone says from beside me and I turn to see a man at my side, younger than me, with his black hair cropped close to his skull, “I’m Christian.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Iturn to check on Willow, listening to the guys talk behind me but when I look, she isn’t there.
Savannah and Olivia are chatting animatedly at the table they’ve chosen to congregate at, but the chair Willow was sitting in just a few minutes ago is now empty. I’m moving before I know it, crossing the room until I stop at their table, “Where is she?”
I can feel my heart thumping.
“Willow?” Savannah frowns, “At the bar.”
I whip my head in the direction of the bar and scan the people currently waiting to be served, searching for the bright red hair within the crowd. I don’t see her until I reach the very end and she isn’t alone.
Christian is standing close to her, a slimy fucking grin on his face while her brows are turned down and she is leaning away from him. And then he reaches for her, laying a hand on her arm…
I don’t think, I just act.
