Page 119 of Vexatious Queen

He dropped his hand and pushed the door open.

“What happened?”

Walking over to my locker, I pulled on my low boots and grabbed my backpack before meeting Rory at the door.

“I think Vicky just realized that the one person she hates is her only real friend,” I said with a shrug.

He cocked an eyebrow.

“Yeah, don’t bother trying to understand, I barely do.”

We stepped out into the hallway, and since I was feeling extremely bold today, I threw caution to the wind.

“Rory, would you date someone who was pregnant?”

Rory’s head whipped in my direction so fast that he tripped on his own feet and almost went head over heels. His eyes were as big as saucers when he straightened up.

“Oh my god…who did I get pregnant?”

That wasn’t the reaction I had been expecting.

“How many possibilities are there?”

“Um…well…hanging around the Kings makes me pretty popular now, so a few, I guess. But I’ve always been so careful.”

He ran a hand through his hair, all color draining from his face.

“Okay, then. Well, I don’t know if you have, that’s not why I asked.”

Rory blinked.

“You mean, I’m not going to be a father?”

I shook my head, and he backed up and sat down on the bench.

“Holy shit, you just scared me. My father would kill me for getting a girl pregnant.”

Patting his shoulder, I sat beside him.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to freak you out.”

He took a deep, shuddering breath.

“Okay…wow, what a way to get a guy’s heart going.”

“Or stop it,” I said, laughing.

“Yes, that. So not funny. So, what did you mean then?”

“My best friend is pregnant, and she’s convinced that no one will ever want her again,” I said, pulling out my phone.

If Lizzy knew I was doing this, she would kill me. Mind you, it was the exact kind of thing she would do to me. And…desperate times called for desperate measures, and I noticed the spark in Lizzy’s eyes when she saw Rory.

“Wow, that has to be incredibly tough,” he said.

I found a photo of Lizzy and me and handed it over. His eyes lit up.

“This is your friend who’s pregnant?”