Time stands still, and our surroundings evaporate as her words slam into my brain. Panic bubbles up my throat as I grip the edge of the table. “Oh my god.”
Cay swallows. “When was your last period?” she whispers as I frantically try to remember.
“I don’t know,” I admit, rummaging in my bag for my cell. “I can’t remember having one recently, but that could be stress, right? Stress can impact your period.”
“So can sex.”
I don’t even bother drilling her with a look as I fumble with my cell, pulling up my calendar and scrolling through it. Blood rushes to my head as I scan back through the months with a lump in my throat. “Oh fuck, Cay. Fuck, fuck, fuck.” I clamp a hand over my mouth as reality dawns. I stare at my best friend in a shocked daze. “My last period was two weeks before I had sex with Jared. We didn’t use anything. I haven’t had a period since.”
God, we were so stupid.
Iwas stupid.
I haven’t even once stopped to consider the fact we used no contraception. I’m not on the pill because my father refuses to let me go on birth control until I am seventeen and can legally have sex.
Tension bleeds into the air as the weight of my discovery settles on both of us.
“Let’s go.” Cay grabs our bags and pulls me out of my seat. “You need to take a pregnancy test.”
* * *
We sneak out of school through the rear entrance as it’s the only way to ditch Dirk. I plan to return to school before the last bell so my bodyguard never knows I skipped class. I can only pray the school doesn’t call my dad.
After we buy a few different tests, we head to Cay’s house. Her mother works, her younger siblings are at school, and her older sister, Juniper, goes out with her baby daughter, Callie, every afternoon, so we have the house to ourselves. I pee on the sticks, wash my hands, and return to Cay’s bedroom to wait for the results to show.
“What are you going to do if it’s positive?”
We both know these tests are just a formality. Since Cay mentioned it, I’ve been connecting all the dots in my head. I’m pregnant. I feel it in my bones. I’m such an idiot for not considering it before now. I’ve been so heartsick I never stopped to think there could be another reason why I was hormonal and so sick and tired all the time. Even though I’ve lost weight, my stomach isn’t as flat as it used to be. I have a little belly. That should have been my light bulb moment, but it wasn’t.
I feel so gullible. Naïve and stupid. And so afraid. “My dad is going to kill me, especially when he finds out the father is Jared.”
“We need to find a way to contact him.”
“We’ve been over this already, Cay. He’s not communicating with me or you.”
“We could ask Anvil to—”
“No.” I cut across her instantly. “We are not telling that weasel a goddamn thing. He didn’t hesitate to share that picture with everyone at school. He can’t be trusted.”
“I’m not suggesting we tell him the truth. Just ask him to message Jared to contact you. That it’s important.”
I shake my head. “That would be like waving a red flag under the nose of a bull. Anvil will sniff a story and try to uncover the truth. No one at school can find out.”
Cay sucks in a sharp breath as her arms fold around me. “Look at the tests,” she whispers.
Even though I already know what they’re going to say, it still requires huge amounts of inner strength to look over at her bedside table where the three tests are situated. I clutch her arms tight as all three confirm my pregnancy.
I can’t speak over the emotion wedged in my throat and pressing down on my chest. Initial numbed shock gives way to potent emotion. Sobs wrack my slight frame as I fall apart in my best friend’s arms. This can’t be happening. I’m only sixteen. I can barely look after myself. How am I expected to look after a baby? “I want my mom,” I cry through blurry tears. “I want my mom.”
She would know what to do. Mom would take control and help me make sense of this. Why did she have to die? Why hasn’t she been here for me? I was so little when she died that I barely remember her. But it doesn’t stop me missing her. Key milestones are always the hardest. Growing up in a house full of men was no picnic, and it was largely just Dad and me. Dad struggles to show his emotions, but he did his best. Until recently, I never doubted his love or the efforts he took to protect me.
Since that shit went down with the Kings, Herman Shaw is different. It’s like a stranger is wearing his skin. He’s colder, less affectionate, and he is quick to lose his temper.
For the first time in my life, I am afraid of my father.
Afraid to tell him his little girl got knocked up by the son of his new enemy.
A chill creeps up my spine, and a full-body shudder works its way through me. “This is bad, Cay. So freaking bad. I can’t tell my father.” I shuck out of her embrace and turn around to face her on the bed with my legs crossed. “He will go crazy.”
