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/> Her jaw dropped so freaking low it must have hit her chest. “How do you know that?”
“I’ve been reading the books. Especially What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Haven’t you? Do you have a copy? If not, I can get you one.”
“No. I don’t.” She waved a hand in front of her face. “But I don’t need one. I’ll get it sometime soon.”
He studied her with his bright blue eyes looking far too serious. Since when did he act so damn…grown up? He made her feel like she was slacking or something. Was she supposed to be reading books already? “Okay. I’m going to go hop in the guest shower, and then I’ll be ready to go.”
She watched him head across the room, his muscles flexing as he walked. Good God, the man was perfect. Why had she agreed to keep her hands to herself? She cleared her throat and her thoughts, but the latter was a lot harder to do with him standing there looking so irresistible. “Remember the story?”
He stiffened. “Yes. I came along because your car was making a funny noise, and I wanted to see if I could figure out why.”
“Good.”
He turned back to her with his hand gripping the banister so tightly his knuckles were showing. “You do realize we’ll have to tell them eventually, right? I’m moving in on Saturday. Mike might notice I’m not at my place. And there’s a slight possibility that Chris just might notice me in the bathroom every morning. Just sayin’.”
She rubbed her forehead. “Don’t remind me. What if he gets upset? What if he hates me for sleeping with his coach?”
Garrett shrugged. “Then he hates us. Teenagers spend most of their time hating their parents. You’d better get used to it.”
Their parents. The way he said that make her heart melt. He’d already accepted Chris as his child, and was planning on the future. “He never hated me before.”
“He’d be acting like a teenager. Give it time.” He grinned. “But in the meanwhile…we need to tell him.”
She knew that. Obviously. She just wanted her family to see him one more time before she broke the news. “I know. This is the first step in telling them. I have it all planned out.”
Brianna would be happy for her, of course, but she wanted one last informal meeting before she spilled the news. So Garrett would be fresh in her mind.
And Chris? Well, she could only hope he understood.
But she didn’t even want to think about Mike’s reaction. At all. He’d flip the heck out.
“All right.” He jogged up the steps two at a time. At the top, he turned back to face her. “We’re going to be okay. You know that, right?”
No. Not at all. “Of course.”
He nodded and disappeared. He was always trying to make her feel better, and sometimes he succeeded. But this time she was beyond help. She was out in deep water without a paddle. This whole situation was a perfect wreck in a perfect storm. She busied herself with straightening up the kitchen…and did her best to pretend she wasn’t picturing him naked in the shower.
An hour later, they were pulling up to Brianna’s house in Kiersten’s supposedly noisy car. Garrett had scowled the whole way there, but she had done her best to ignore him. He didn’t like the lies and games. She knew that. But soon it would be over and everyone would know her brother’s best friend had knocked her up.
And even better?
That they weren’t even in a relationship of any form.
Not even lovers or friends with benefits. They were a one-night deal. One night that ended in a baby and him being her platonic roommate. Heck, he didn’t even want her anymore, according to him. Just like that. Poof. Gone. It kind of stung. She’d been blindsided when he blurted out that he could easily love her, but then he’d just as quickly snatched those words back before she could even think about the meaning behind them.
She wasn’t sure exactly how she felt about it…but she knew she didn’t like it. Or the way she reacted to him every time he touched her. Feelings were unreliable and not to be trusted. And she couldn’t trust herself, either. Pete had proved that to her.
“You okay?” Garrett asked. His brow wrinkled up as he parked in front of Brianna’s house. “You’re being quiet.”
She fidgeted with her purse strap. “I’m just nervous. After tonight, it’ll be all the more real.”
Garrett hopped out of the car and came around to open her door for her. He lowered his sunglasses and placed both hands on either side of her. “Honey? It’s already real. You have my baby inside of you, and in a few months? It’ll be in our home.”
Our home. It sounded so…so domestic. And normal. “I know. But you’re the only one who knows right now. What if something is wrong? What if the baby isn’t healthy? What if there’re six babies in my stomach right now instead of one? What if—?”
“Stop it,” he cut in, his tone hard. When she stopped talking and blinked at him in surprise—he never, ever raised his voice to her—he brushed her hair off of her cheek tenderly. “Now that I’ve got you quiet, let me say this. You are fine. The baby is fine. Chris will be fine, even if it takes some time. We are fine. Stop worrying about what everyone will think.”
She shook her head. “I’m not.”
