This wasn’t supposed to happen. Any of it.
Nobody wants to be divorced, but especially before turning thirty. Nor do I want to feel as though he let me go because I selfishly thought there was more in the world to see, needed to find myself. I haven’t figured out if that was the biggest lie of the century or if it might have shaped my personality differently. Carter has every right to hate me, but I’m angry too. So easily, he signed divorce papers without any fight.
Joke’s on us. Now, we’ve circled back to one another whether we intended to or not.
It was just too natural to talk with him and stare into his gleaming brown eyes. He seems to have gotten better-looking with age, and his hair is a little shorter in the back. I should have been responsible and not let us even kiss, but it didn’t cross my mind because it seemed that nothing was stopping him, either.
My desire to have his cock inside of me erased logic.
Carter is the man who always brought me joy because I was able to loosen him up, while for the most part, he kept me grounded. Two opposites.
The moment I laid eyes on Carter back then, I knew he would be my husband. It was lust, perhaps. We got carried away because he made me weak in the best possible way. That still seems to be the case.
Now I’m weak for other reasons.
A knock on my door fills me with dread, and the rhythm of the knock informs me of who it is. “Go away, Bella.”
My little sister doesn’t listen because she has no boundaries. Knocking on the door is only for show.
Bella charges in, and I want to hide the test, but physically I can’t move and mentally I give up on the world right now.
“Mom and Dad want to have the weekly Blisswood dinner here next week. Apparently, we’ve been put on dessert duty.” Because that’s what happens when you go travel the world and return from your nomad life. You end up livingtemporarilyat your parents’ house.
She almost skips into the room with her bubbly personality in full force. Bella’s home for the summer after graduating college and is insistent the world is peachy because she has her first job in marketing over in Lake Spark for the hockey team.
“Okay.” I can barely keep my eyes open because another wave of fatigue and nausea hits me.
She plops herself on the edge of my bed. “Mom also wanted me to ask if you need anything from the store. She said you have a summer virus.”
My brows rise, and I smile cynically to myself. “Sure, that’s what it is,” I mundanely reply.
“Are you feeling alright? You look a little the worse for wear.” She begins to rub my back.
“I’ll be fine if you go away and let me be,” I request, but it’s useless, she won’t even hear it.
In the corner of my eye, she seems to be peeking over my body to the floor.
Shit.
“Is that what I think it is?”
I don’t answer, instead letting her solve the mystery herself when she stands and slowly leans down to stare at the test.
Her jaw drops, and she covers her mouth with her hands. “You’re pregnant?” she shrieks.
This is the moment that I push past the struggle and drag my body up to sitting. “Can you keep it down? As in, don’t let this news leave this room.”
She looks at me, completely confused. “I don’t understand. Who have you even been seeing? Is it that new guy who is helping out at Olive Owl, the guy with cowboy vibes?”
I rub my temples and release a calming breath. “Don’t ask questions. I’ll tell you, but I’m pulling in the sister-oath card.”
There is struggle on her face, but she gives in. “Fine.” She crosses her arms.
“Carter.”
She doesn’t grasp it until two seconds later when her eyes turn to saucers. “No effing way. Your ex-husband?”
My palm flies up to stop her. “Yes, now can you just… I don’t know. Let me figure this out.”
