I was so confused. My mind raced with thoughts of the future. Question after question tore through my mind. I couldn’t breathe.
Seeing my dismay, he stated, “We’ll figure it out.”
“How are you not freaking out?” Unable to control my reckless emotions, I was at my wits’ end. The thread I was hanging onto ripped in half, and I couldn’t, for the life of me, find any comfort in what he was saying.
Except this was Julius Knightly. He wasn’t just a random boy. A random one-night stand. This was my best friend.
He’s my best friend.
I yanked my hair back, wanting to rip it out of my head. “All I keep thinking is that I’m only eighteen years old. How on earth can I take care of a baby?”
“I can?—”
“No! Selling drugs is not a career. You can’t do that ever again.”
“All I’m saying is that you’re not alone in this. I know it may feel like that right now, but we’ll figure it out together. I’m not going anywhere. You’re just scared, and I understand.”
“How are you not?”
“We’ll make it work.”
“And Kraven?”
“Fuck him.”
“Julius, it might be?—”
“A baby’s always a blessing. Regardless of how much of an inconvenience it could be.”
I sighed deeply, trying to gather my emotions for a second. “I’m sorry I can’t see past how much this would mess up our futures more than they already are.”
He stepped toward me, and to my surprise, I didn’t back away from him. Since I didn’t, he quickly reached over and caressed my cheek with the back of his fingers.
“The only thing we can do right now is prove that I’m the father.”
I blurted, “And if you aren’t?”
He didn’t react, almost like he’d been waiting for me to say that to him.
“No matter what,” he expressed, leaning into my ear, “I love you, Mouse, and don’t you ever forget that.”
I wouldn’t.
I couldn’t.
Meaning it from the bottom of my heart, I repeated, “I love you too.”
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
ISLA
My world had once again been turnedupside down, and I didn’t know where it started or ended anymore. It was all a clusterfuck, and I was trying to keep up with the disaster that’d become my life. There had to be something I was missing, something none of us were even considering.
After all this time, I sought comfort in the guy who was determined to make me remember what we shared, and it was easy to. Easier than I thought it’d be. Being in his arms was like coming home. I stayed there for as long as I could, listening to his heartbeat. It always had the power to lull and calm me. Even after everything.
I fought like hell not to freak out more than I already had. I wanted to stay strong and not let this break me down. He had his own problems to deal with, one of which was his own flesh and blood, who was still under the same roof as us.
