We both burst out laughing. “Yeah, you’re probably right about that. Let’s get dressed and get out of here.”
I held on to the condom while I slid my thankfully deflated cock out of her. When I came back from the bathroom, Reese had a strange look on her face. “Reese? You okay?”
Her expression changed into her well-known mask of indifference. “Yes, I’m fine.”
“Don’t bullshit me. If something’s bothering you, tell me. Don’t shut me out.”
She pulled her shirt on over her head and moved the sheets to cover her lower half before she said, “I didn’t like that you had a condom in your wallet. I know I have no right to say anything about it. You’ve been free to do whatever you wanted, but-”
“That’s been in my wallet since the day after your prom. I haven’t been with anyone since I was with you the first time.”
“You can’t be serious. You had a club whore on your lap not even two hours ago.”
I snorted. “You walked in at the right, or wrong, moment. She’d just plopped her ass down when you came through the door. You ran out of there so fast you didn’t see me push her onto the floor. I promise, baby, no one since you.”
I wanted to know, but I didn’t want to ask. Thankfully, she voluntarily shared the information I craved. “I haven’t been with anyone since you either.”
“It feels like there’s something else you’re not saying.” She seemed nervous and that was completely out of character for Reese.
“At the beginning of my pregnancy, I had to have all the tests done and everything came back fine. So, I’m clean, and I’m on birth control now, and I was thinking if you were clean, too, maybe we could not use those.”
“I’m clean, sugar. I had to have a complete physical when Ember hired me to work at the stable.” I paused for a moment, then asked a question that probably wasn’t my place to ask, “Why are you on birth control now?”
“Um, I had a difficult delivery when I had James. The doctor said that I shouldn’t get pregnant for at least one year, preferably longer, and recommended birth control.”
My chest hurt. She had a difficult delivery and I wasn’t there for her. “Was anyone there with you? When you had him?”
“A friend from work was with me. My water broke at work and she drove me to the hospital. When she found out I didn’t have anyone coming to the hospital, she stayed with me.”
“I would have been there if I had known.”
“I know. Let’s not talk about it anymore. What’s done is done and we can’t change it.”
“Okay, sugar. You ready to go?”
“Yep, I’m going to toss Shaker’s sheets in the wash and then I need to find Ember to tell her I’m leaving with you. I’ll come find you when I’m finished.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Reese
I closed the lid on the washing machine and turned around to find Ember, Harper, and Phoenix surrounding me, all with matching looks of dread on their faces. Fuck! “What happened?” I croaked.
I’d seen that look before, more than once. That was the look people had when they were about to tell you something that was going to destroy your life. “Tell me!! Duke? Carbon? Who is it?”
Nothing could have ever prepared me to hear the next words that left Phoenix’s mouth. “Neither. It’s James.”
Everything stopped. The sounds in the clubhouse dissipated. My vision blurred. My chest tightened. My heart exploded with pain. A scream of sheer terror erupted from me as I collapsed to the floor. “Nooooooo!!!! Not my baby!!!” I gasped for air and started to fold in on myself. Massive arms scooped me up and then we were moving.
“Just hang on, Reesie. The boys have already left. They’re going to get him back. You just hang in there. He’s going to need you when they find him,” Phoenix said into my ear while he carried me down the hall.
“He’s alive?” I whispered.
“Far as I know,” he answered.
He gently placed me on Carbon’s bed. Normally, Carbon’s room was my safe haven, but this time I wanted to be in Duke’s room. “Can we go to Duke’s room?”
“Anything you want, Reesie.” He scooped me up again and off we went to Duke’s room.
