“Have fun. Mindy Sue and I will see you tomorrow.”
Her friend arrived with the food bagged up and they headed out. Within twenty minutes they’d gone to the drugstore, purchased a test, and made their way into their dorm. They went to the bathroom and Mindy Sue waited outside the stall while Brooke peed on the stick. Since it needed several minutes to do its thing, they took it back to their dorm room and waited, neither of them saying a thing as the timer on Brooke’s phone counted down.
When it chimed, they both leaned over the desk and stared at the double pink lines on the test.
Mindy Sue grinned.
She found herself grinning back, despite how scared she was about how she was going to do this mostly on her own. “Oh my God.”
“You’re having a baby.” Mindy Sue’s glee was infectious.
“I don’t…I don’t know what to even say or do.”
“Now that you know for sure,” Mindy Sue began and left a pregnant pause. “What are you going to do?”
It didn’t even enter her mind that she wouldn’t keep it. Mindy Sue had been right. This was a piece of Cody. Maybe the only one she’d ever get to truly hold close. “I’m going to love them with everything I am. I think I already do.” She pressed her hands over her belly, a smile blooming on her face that made her cheeks hurt.
Mindy Sue leaned down and said, “Hello in there! I’m your Auntie Mindy Sue.”
Brooke laughed with her friend and they hugged each other tight. “Thank you for being here with me.”
Mindy Sue hugged her harder. “I wish he could be here with you.”
“Me, too.” What else was there to say?
She’d have to tell him. Soon. After the wedding. She didn’t want to put him in a tough spot. She wanted him to enjoy his happy day, even if it was killing her to keep it to herself and not share this wonderful news with him.
Chapter Twenty-Six
He went through all the trouble of getting the guys to go with him to the café where he’d overheard Brooke was going when she made plans on the phone with Mindy Sue and didn’t even see him standing near her while she walked to her last class. And Brooke didn’t even stay to eat with them.
He wanted to be the one who took her back to her dorm and tucked her into bed. Maybe she’d let him lie with her and comfort her while she got some rest.
Damnit, he’d been so close to getting her to see that he was the one who loved her. He was the one who made sure she got everything she needed and wanted.
He spoiled her.
He made her happy.
All he wanted was for tonight to finally be the night she threw her arms around him and told him that she loved him, too.
Well, he’d just have to get her attention another way.
He obviously wasn’t being romantic enough. He needed to up his game even more.
He’d show her she belonged to him.
I’ll show her she’s mine!
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Cody dreamed about Brooke again, same as he did every night. There she was waiting for him, arms open wide to pull him in close and love him. Her body the safe haven he sank into and craved with every breath and heartbeat.
He worked like a demon all day just so he could collapse from exhaustion and find relief in Brooke’s loving embrace. Every breath without her hurt and every moment he spent with her in sleep was a pleasure and pain, because when he opened his eyes, she’d be gone all over again.
But not right now. Brooke’s lips pressed to his, and he was so hungry for her, it seemed so real. He could actually feel her body pressed against his. Reaching for her, he found that in between his dream and being almost awake, he wasn’t alone.
He didn’t want to wake up. He tried to sink back into the dream, but reality pulled him from Brooke and he found himself looking up into Kristi’s bright blue eyes, not the green ones he loved so much.
