I text Sophie back:
Not until I know
you’re asleep.
Fuck it. I told her I was never going to be away from her again and I meant it. I head back to my bedroom and throw some things in a bag, and walk back through the living room.
“If you guys need a ride, I’m headed back to the city but I’m leaving right now.”
I ignore the smug smile on Siena’s face.
47
SOPHIE
I’ll be there in
10 minutes.
Iset the phone face-down and stand for a moment with my hands flat on the counter, watching the reflection of morning sun off my kitchen backsplash.
I have 10 minutes to get myself up the street for what will likely be one of the most awkward conversations of my life: telling a man I’m dating that I’m pregnant with another man’s child.
I take a breath and finish getting dressed. This shouldn’t take long. I can’t imagine that there’s much to say after dropping a bomb like that. But I have to get through it.
Vin is sitting on my couch a gun resting across his thighs like it’s a TV remote, like this is perfectly normal. I don’t know what timehe got here, but I saw him when I got up to go to the bathroom at some point and didn’t bother to argue.
“I wish you’d put that away,” I say.
He looks at me for a moment, then leans it against the far side of the couch he’s sitting on. His version of a compromise, I guess.
“Where are you going?” He looks and sounds surprisingly awake despite clearly not having slept all night.
“To meet a friend.”
He stands, grabbing his gun. “I’ll come with you.”
I close my eyes briefly. I knew this would happen. “I would prefer you didn’t.”
His eyes go sharp immediately. “Why?”
“Because it’s going to be an uncomfortable conversation, and I would prefer if you didn’t make it worse. And you will definitely make it worse.”
“You’re going to see Gavin, aren’t you?” He rubs both hands over his face, the muscles in his jaw clenched. “FUCK, Sophia. FUCK!”
Honestly, I’m impressed. He’s handling it a lot better than I expected. I mean, yesterday he put his fist through a wall.
“It’s not a date. It’s just a conversation I need to have in person.”
“Are you doing this to fuck with me?” He looks genuinely tortured, his hair wild, his eyes wilder. Every cell in his body is focused on my response. I take pity on him.
“No.” I say plainly. “You know I would never do that, but I need to let him know that I’m pregnant. Can you please just give me the space to do this?”
The calm he’s been holding onto evaporates. “You’re going to have my baby and letthat fuckraise my child? No. Fucking. Way. No fucking way is that happening, Sophia. Do you think for one fucking second that I’m going to let that—”
“Vin.” I say his name, loud and harsh, and he actually pays attention. That’s new, too. “Stop. That’s not what’s happening. But I need you to step out of this one. Can you do that for me? Please?”
He stands there, breathing hard, looking at me like I’ve asked him to reverse the earth’s rotation. I wait, because I know this is only going to happen if he agrees to let it happen.
