"You're always in the mood, man." Gavin leaned closer and lowered his voice. "What's going on with you?"
My friends didn't recognize me. My parents were angry with me. My assets had been almost entirely frozen, and all I could think about was calling Lainey to make sure she'd gotten home safe.
What was wrong with me?
"I'm out," I grunted as I stood up and downed my third drink. "Just keep it to yourself, Gavin." My stern glare as I dropped a twenty on the bar for Jimmy made Gavin recoil, but he said nothing as I walked away.
Lainey wasn't an addiction. She was worse. She was in my nervous system now, inside my body in a way that made it impossible to think straight.
I was falling in love with her hard. God help me, I couldn't see a way out of this now.
18
LAINEY
I pushed the grocery cart down the baking aisle while Wren tossed bags of flour and sugar into it without checking prices. She'd been suspiciously quiet since we'd left my apartment, and I knew it was only a matter of time before she started asking questions. After the pregnancy test last week we'd barely spoken. She called to tell me the bakery was locked up, but after a "minor mishap" she’d had to go home and shower rather than coming to my place.
I had sighed in relief at the time because my living room smelled like sex. But it only made this inevitable showdown more anxiety inducing.
"So Kade Kingston really just gave you his credit card?" she finally said, holding up the black card he'd left with the annulment papers. Her accusatory look was playful, but I knew what was coming. "And he told you to buy whatever you need?"
"He's partnering with the bakery," I explained with gritted teeth as I grabbed a bottle of vanilla extract and added it to the cart. "I told you that."
"You told Mom and Dad that." She leaned against the cart and studied me. "But I want the real story. What's actually going on between you two?"
And here it was, the moment of truth. I couldn’t hide anything from her. She knew me too well to lie.
I kept my eyes on the shelves and tried to sound casual. "He feels responsible for Brandon pulling his funding. That's why he's helping. There's nothing more to it."
"Right." Wren didn't sound convinced. She took a few bags of powdered sugar and tossed them in the cart, but she had one eyebrow raised. "Because billionaires always hand over their credit cards to random women they feel guilty about."
"Can we just focus on shopping?" I moved toward the dairy section and she followed, still watching me with that knowing look. Wren was trying to find out what I was hiding, but thankfully for now she'd forgotten about my other dilemma and my nausea had been under control today.
We loaded up on butter and eggs in silence, and I thought maybe I'd escaped the interrogation. But then she stopped in the middle of the frozen section and turned to face me while I was looking for the frozen whipped topping. I felt her eyes boring into my skull and chewed the inside of my cheek to force myself not to look at her.
"Did you take that pregnancy test we talked about?" she asked. "It's been over a week now."
My stomach dropped and I gripped the cart handle tighter. "I've been busy."
"That's not an answer." She moved closer and lowered her voice. "Lainey, did you take it or not?"
"Can we talk about this later?" I tried to push past her but she blocked my path.
"No, we're talking about it now." She crossed her arms and I could see the determination in her eyes. "Tell me the truth."
I looked around to make sure no one was close enough to hear us, then met her gaze. "Yes, I took it."
"And?" Wren leaned in with both eyebrows high, shooting daggers at my fragile psyche as she pursed her lips.
"And I'm pregnant." The words came out barely above a whisper, but it felt like I was shouting. Shame burned in my cheeks as I turned and pushed the cart, walking away to avoid watching her reaction. When she caught up to me it made the hair on the back of my neck prickle.
"Before you say anything, I know what you're thinking. But I can't just tell Kade. He'll think I'm trying to use it to get money out of him."
"So what?" Wren grabbed my arm. "He's the father. He deserves to know."
"I've already told him I don't want what he's doing for the bakery. If I tell him about the baby now, he'll think I was lying. He'll think I've been playing him this whole time to trap him into something." I pulled away from her and started pushing the cart again. "I can't do that to him."
"You can't do that to him?" She followed me and her voice rose in pitch as she talked in harsh whispers. "What about what you'redoing to yourself? You're pregnant and alone and you're going to keep lying to everyone about it?"
