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“Of course we do,” Carly adds, nodding as her lips wobble.

“Right…” Logan drawls, his gaze bouncing between the three of us as he clears his throat. “That’s enough of that. Why don’t we get inside and figure out what’s going on?”

He steps past all of us, taking charge of the situation as he opens the front door and stands back before ushering the rest of us to enter the house. The house is quiet as we step inside and I resist the urge to stroke my belly as a flutter of nerves dances through me. Logan closes the door and walks to the front of the group, taking charge again as he leads us into the dining room. We all sit around the large wooden table and an uncomfortable silence coats the room.

“How were the kids?” Ali asks, lacing her fingers together and placing them in front of her on the table. Carly leans back in her chair, shrugging.

“Didn’t make a peep.”

Ali nods in response and my knee bounces as I watch the two of them make small talk and try to come up with a way to start this conversation. I’m going to have to tell them about the pregnancy but I have to keep the father’s identity a secret until I can talk to him so I need to be careful. God, I hate lying to them though. Chance scoffs, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Can we focus on the matter at hand here, please?” He turns to me. “What the hell happened tonight, Izzy?”

Four pairs of eyes lock onto my face and I swear to God, I almost pee myself as my heart jumps into my throat. I shove my shaking hands into the hoodie pocket and nod, my mind blank.

Right.

The moment of truth…

But what the hell do I say?

Do I just blurt it out?

After a moment, I decide it’s just easier to start at the beginning but I’m still not sure how to force those words past my lips so I pull the ultrasound out of my pocket and lay it down in the middle of the table. Ali and Carly glance down for a split second before their eyes find mine again, shocked as hell. The boys, however, take a little longer to catch up.

“What the hell is that?” Chance asks, his brow furrowed, and I roll my eyes. About six weeks ago, Chance and Carly found out they are expecting their first baby so he should know what that photo is but he still looks confused and I sigh. Ali doesn’t give me a chance to say anything, snatching the ultrasound off of the table and staring at it before she looks up at me again.

“You’re pregnant?”

I nod. “Yeah…”

“No, you’re fucking not,” Carly whispers, leaning over in her chair to study the ultrasound in Ali’s hand. “You’re not even showing and this ultrasound is from someone who is like… way further along.”

Ali’s gaze flicks to the top corner of the photo where my name and today’s date is printed before she meets my eyes again. Her brows furrow as she glances down at my belly and shakes her head. “Is this a joke?”

Oh, boy.

I guess I’m going to have to show them.

Sighing, I stand up and turn to the side before lifting the sweater to display my little bump, placing my hand on the top as I wait for their response. They stare at me with wide eyes, all four of them sitting at the table like goddamn statues.

“Jesus Christ, you guys,” I mutter as I remove my hand and drop my sweater, rolling my eyes at their over-the-top reaction. “With as much sex as I have, this can’t be a huge shock.”

“I just…” Ali whispers before shaking her head and meeting my gaze again. “How far along are you? And what does this have to do with tonight?”

Plopping back into my seat, I clasp my hands in my lap as I sigh. “I’m twenty-six weeks yesterday…”

“Bull-fucking-shit, you’re tiny,” Carly says.

“Just lucky, I guess,” I answer, letting out a sardonic laugh. I sure as hell don’t feel lucky after what I went through tonight but I know women who would kill to not gain a ton of weight during their pregnancy. Ali leans back in her chair, crosses her arms over her chest, and narrows her eyes at me.

“This is why you’ve been avoiding us?”

I nod, picking at my nails as I refuse to meet their gazes. I didn’t intend to isolate myself from my friends but I knew that if I came over here and was hanging out with them, I might slip up and say something I didn’t mean to say, reveal secrets I wasn’t ready to divulge, and I couldn’t deal. I barely had a grasp on how I felt about this news so I didn’t have the strength to deal with everyone else’s opinion.

“Look,” I answer with a sigh, fiddling with the hem of my hoodie. This is a lot simpler in theory but being forced to face the consequences of all my choices lately makes me want to run from the room. “The past six months have been hell. I’ve been so fucking… lost and I’ve had to come to terms with this baby and what it means for my life, which is why I haven’t said anything until now.”

“And the father?” Logan asks and my muscles tense as I shake my head, my brain screaming at me to tread carefully as I peek up at him. He’s studying me intently, his arms crossed over his chest as he waits for my answer.