“See? That’s what the safety of my cock does. Calms you down.”
I breathe out a sound as the corners of my mouth hitch up. We’re both lying on our sides, resting from round three. I feel this is the moment to highlight the obvious.
“What happens tonight is what it is, okay?”
“Absolutely,” he agrees. “We’re making up for our missed opportunity during the wedding reception.”
“We can pretend nothing ever happened,” I add confidently. Deep down, I think that’s what I want too. Our lives barely overlap. “Even if you have a game against my brother.” Okay, I ignore that our paths will cross then.
Vaughn bobs his head side to side. “I don’t know. It would really throw your brother’s game off.” I give him a death stare, and his response is to touch my shoulder. “Relax. You’re right. I’ll even make it easier and be gone by the time you wake.”
Oh.
“That’s maybe for the best.” There’s disappointment somewhere within me, even though I initiated this conversation, but I choose to ignore it.
Vaughn grabs the protein bar from my fingers and throws it to the side before he pulls my body flush on top of him, causing me to lean onto him. It’s warm, and ooh, I’m going to enjoy myself tonight.
“What are the chances I can get you to ride me reverse cowgirl right now?” he mumbles into the top of my head, nuzzling my hair.
The thought of what his fingers could do to me while I ride him is too overwhelming. “Very high,” I tell him, and instantly the tip of his finger comes to play with my clit, creating that internal agony of needing a release again. He encourages me to get in position.
The rain pours outside, the wind picks up, and there is an unusual feeling in the air. I’m not sure if it’s the change of air pressure or the fact that tonight is one that I will remember, because I am truly happy by this very planned coincidence.
Which is why I’m grateful he keeps his word. Because when I wake, Vaugh Madden is gone, just like the hurricane that passed.
3
ISLA
SIX WEEKS LATER
My nails strum against the wood of my dining room table as I stare at my laptop screen. This is all pointless. I know I’m not going to learn any new facts. I squeeze my knee closer to my chest and sigh as I rub the back of my neck before I glance to my side.
Sometimes in life, you just have an uncontrollable feeling that you’re right.
The pregnancy test taunts me from where it’s lying on the table. Unceremoniously, I flip the test over to see the answer.
Positive.
It’s not even a big deal because in my head I already believed it. The test is confirmation that I was right.
I felt it in my bones that something was off. The dizzy spell after the staff meeting. The slight case of nausea when I was at the general store picking up groceries. By the time my period never came, my head had already done the calculation. It never once occurred to me that maybe it could be a flu or virus; it was straight-up intuition that I was pregnant. A different feeling.
I thought the pill was enough. Obviously not.
Here I am blankly searching up on the internet what to expect over the coming weeks, with a realization that I need to get an appointment on my calendar to see the doctor and check on everything. Sure, I’m aware that I have options, but for me, this is the decision I’m making.
My groan this time is longer, and I bite my bottom lip to stop it.
I should be focusing on buying gifts for the holidays. Yet my eyes dart between a positive pregnancy test and the screen that tells me I’m carrying a blueberry-sized human, the creation of Vaughn and me.
Moving to stand up, I walk to my kitchen to grab a devil’s-food chocolate-mint cookie from the box. Taking a bite, the sugar relief does fuck all to relax me.
I pull out my phone to call my doctor and make an appointment in two weeks.
Once that is done, I text Hadley.
Sorry. Can’t make it to barre class tomorrow, a bit of a cold is coming on with chills.
