What the heck is going on?!
My voice is gravelly when I speak. “Lucy–”
She spins back around to face me, curls flying, and once again her scent hits me. It’s not the sickly sweet fruity or floral smells common among the ladies at my parent’s country club. No, it’s a little bit spicy, a little bit musky, yet somehow still utterly feminine. It’s seductive. It’s …Lucy. And just like before it has my pulse racing and my breath catching. I itch to just lean in and take a deep inhale against the curve of her neck.
“Noah,” she breathes, and again, I’m struck by how uncertain she looks.
“Lucy,” I plead, “please just tell me what’s wrong. Whatever it is that I said, I’m sorry. I promise you, I didn’t mean it. I’m a jerk, you know that about me. An idiot. I was–”
“I’m pregnant,” she says so softly, that I’m sure I didn’t hear her right.
“Wh– what?”
“I’m pregnant,” she says again, and when her eyes meet mine this time there are tears in them. Lucy doesn’t cry, I know this about her.
“Oh,” is what I say.
Yeah. Idiot, remember?
“Um … okay. Um …”
I don’t know how to respond. Why is she tellingme?Isn’t this something she should be talking to her girls about? I mean, I’m glad that she feels she can confide in me about something this huge, especially after the way she’s been acting around me lately, but I’m not sure we’re at this level of friendship yet.
She wipes at her eyes and visibly pulls herself together. I watch in approval as she straightens her spine and pushes her shoulders back. That’s more like the Lucy I know. Strong, tough, confident. She’ll get through this. If anyone can, it’s her … and that’s what I decide to tell her.
“I’m guessing this was unplanned …” I start, and she shoots me a disbelieving look, so I push on quickly, “but you’re Lucy Sage. You can handle whatever life throws at you and I know that you’ll be just fine.”
She meets my eyes again and nods, determinedly. Good. Good. That was obviously the right thing to say.
“Do you …” I trail off cautiously.
“Do Iwhat?” she asks, and her tone takes on a defensive air. She knows what I’m about to ask. So I push my luck, but really, it’s a relevant question as far as I’m concerned.
“Well … I hate to ask, but … do you know who the father is? Will he be there to support you?”
“What the fuck?!” she snaps, and her face is at once livid. I feel the blood rush to my own face as my hackles rise in response. I understand that this is upsetting, but why is she taking it out on me? Screw that.
“It’s a valid question.” I grit out through clenched teeth. “And why the heck are you even telling me all this to begin with?”
She takes what can only be described as a threatening step towards me, tiny though she is, and my blood is practically boiling in my veins at this point. But her next words freeze my heart in my chest and suck all the air from my lungs.
“I’m telling you this–you fucking asshole–becauseyou’rethe father.”
I stare at her in horrified shock. She glares back, jaw rigid and nostrils flaring.
After a moment I find my voice.
“That’s … not possible,” I say. And my shock quickly returns to anger. “What exactly are you trying to pull?”
“Trying to pull. Trying topull?” her eyes are round and she nods furiously to herself. “I’m not trying topullanything, Noah,” and she sneers my name. “I’m trying to tell you that you’re the father, and–”
I interrupt her, shaking my head vehemently, “There’s no way–”
“SHUT UP!” she screeches, and I stumble back, glancing around the parking lot to make sure we’re alone. This is getting completely out of hand.
Taking a deep breath, I open my mouth to say … what? I don’t know. I don’t know what to say because this makes absolutely no sense.
She sighs.
