Twenty minutes had passed since I’d run into Julia and Brenna, and since Alex wasn't blowing up my phone, I figured they hadn't told him yet. I decided to be proactive. I called him, but I got his voicemail.
"Hey, Alex . . . it's, um, me, Jocelyn. I know we haven't talked in a while, but Evan said you were coming home tomorrow, so I was hoping we could talk. Maybe you could call me when you get in? Um, well, I hope you're okay. 'Bye."
As reality set in, I realized I messed up. Exactly what I knew would happen, did happen. Someone else found out—the worst someone whocouldhave found out—and very soon, she'd be blabbing her mouth to Alex.Why didn't I just tell him?
Chapter Sixteen
I hung up with Evan, sheer panic rising from my gut as I paced the living room.
Alex hadn’t returned my phone call, and according to Evan, it hadn't taken Brenna and Julia long to tell him they’d bumped into me at the mall.
Only after they'd seen the look in Alex’s eyes as he took in the news did Julia and Brenna finally realize I was havinghisbaby.
Idiots!
Evan tried to calm him down, but he took off and was headed straight for me.
In a few minutes, everything could all be over. Alex was on his way to confront me, and one way or another, I’d know how he felt. The loud banging on the door jolted me, and I knew it was time to face the consequences of my decisions.
I slowly pulled the door open and stepped out onto the porch. Shock showed clearly on his face when he looked down at my stomach. He closed his eyes and shook his head. There was no way it had sunk in yet for him.
"Hey, Alex." I smiled; no matter what had happened, I was really happy to see him.
"You don’t seem that surprised to see me."
"Evan called and told me you were on your way," I said. "Do you want to come in?"
He nodded, followed me to the living room, and sat down on the couch. Neither one of us said anything for a few minutes, and the silence wore on my nerves.
"Why, Jocelyn?" he yelled, and his anger frightened me. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"Alex, I . . . ." I paced the room again, even more nervous than when I'd first opened the door. "It was so unexpected."
"Yeah, I get that, but eventually, you had time to figure it out, so why didn't you let me in on it?"
I shook my head. I should have been prepared for this conversation, but I wasn’t.
"You cut off all communication," he snapped. "It wasn't as if I was going to figure out you were pregnant via text message, so why?"
"I don't, I mean, I'm not sure," I said.
"You’re not sure of what? Me?"
He looked as if he wanted to scream, hit something, break apart the room, but then he looked up at me. I bit my lip to keep it from trembling and pressed my shaking hands against my thighs.
"Jocelyn," he whispered. He stood and reached for my hands.
"I’m sorry, Alex," I cried. "I wanted, I mean, I was going to tell you." I felt so helpless.
He pulled me into a hug and kissed the top of my head.
"Shh, beautiful." He tried to soothe me. "I’m here now."
"Alex." My body shook against his chest as I tried to hold back the sob that wanted to escape my throat. I held him as tightly as I could. He pulled me a little closer and pressed his lips to my temple. God, I'd missed his touch.
"I’m sorry," I said again because I really was.
"It’s okay." He tilted up my chin and lowered his lips to mine. He gently kissed me, moving his lips against mine before deepening the kiss. I relaxed against him for the first time since I opened the door and allowed him to indulge me for a few seconds, but then I pulled away and shook my head. He smelled of something sweet, possibly a woman's perfume, and the odor suddenly made me sick to my stomach.
