Jenni
Ten little fingers and ten little toes was all it took for me to know I couldn’t destroy the baby I had created with Nick. I was already having doubts when he left the cabin with his eyes full of tears and enough anger to smash my car to smithereens. My BMW used to be my pride and joy, a gift of love my dad gave me on my eighteenth birthday. Now, it symbolized everything my mom was holding over my head to force me to get an abortion.
I haven’t seen my mom since the day she arrived at my apartment two weeks ago. When I landed at the airport Friday morning to spend the weekend at the cabin with Emily and Noah to celebrate Rise Up’s upcoming album launch, she sent Maria to pick me up in my car. I dropped Maria home before I went to pick Emily up from school. You know how the rest of my day went from there. I broke Nick’s heart as much as he shattered mine, then he took his grief out of my car.
When Noah returned after taking Nick to a hotel, he stormed angrily toward me. I was beyond shocked when he accused me of being selfish and said that it takes two people to create a baby, so shouldn’t it betheirdecision to destroy it? When Emily defended me, Noah stared at her in horror before he stormed into their bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Emily murmured a quick apology before she went rushing after him.
I had barely gotten over my shock when Slater entered the room with his girlfriend, Kylie. When he noticed the tears flooding my cheeks, he whispered something to Kylie before he joined me on the couch. When he pulled me to his chest, I sobbed so much, his shirt dampened with my tears.
“I tried to warn you, but you didn’t listen,” he whispered while running his hands down my hair, offering me comfort.
He held me until I ran out of tears, and I fell asleep.
* * *
The following afternoon, when I was brave enough to leave my room, I was shocked to discover the shattered glass on my car had been replaced. It looked as it did before Nick attacked it. I asked Marcus and Slater if they knew who had repaired it. They were both as clueless as me.
After I left the cabin, I drove to my Aunt Dee’s salon. I spilled my guts to her, starting from the day she met Nick at the salon up until last night. No details were spared. Once I finished blubbering, she offered for me to stay with her for as long as I needed. She even suggested I finish my hairdressing apprenticeship at her salon. I initially laughed at her offer, until reality dawned. I could barely afford to feed a baby, let alone clothe one.
When I failed to show up to my appointment Monday morning, my mom followed through with her threat. My credit cards, phone, and car payments were canceled. She had my car repossessed the following Friday. Because my aunt is old school, I had to rely on her home phone to keep in contact with people. Emily regularly inquired as to what I was going to do about the baby. I wanted to give her an answer, but I couldn’t because I myself didn’t know the answer.
It was my aunt who convinced me not to make a final decision until I went and saw a doctor. When she scheduled an appointment with a local obstetrician, I begged Emily to come with me. She agreed without a second thought.
The day before my appointment, while Slater was giving me an update about the band’s radio tour, I let it slip about seeing Nick kiss a girl at their recording studio months earlier. Slater breathed heavily down the phone and cursed numerous times before he told me what I saw wasn’t as it appeared.
He explained that he was so desperate to discover who Nick was in love with, when Marcus told Nick someone was there to visit him, Slater spied on him. He saw a woman throw herself into Nick’s arms, but he said Nick pulled away from her immediately before he rushed back inside like a scaredy cat.
“Even though he wasn’t cheating that time doesn’t mean you should trust him,” Slater advised sternly yesterday afternoon.
His words were still ringing in my ears when I went to my appointment the following day. I was so conflicted about what to do. I loved Nick, but I was worried he wouldn’t forgive me for what I had done, and then Slater’s warning made me even more apprehensive.
Everything changed when I saw our baby on the monitor for the first time. People say instant love isn’t real. I don’t believe them anymore. One sideways glance, and my reason for existing changed in the blink of an eye. I knew right then and there that I wanted both Nick and our baby. I was just praying Nick could find it in his heart to forgive me. I had plenty of excuses—that day was the worst day of my life—but there was only one I would use: I made a mistake.
With the help of my Aunt’s now maxed-out credit cards, I purchased a ticket for Los Angeles. I wanted to confront Nick in person, because I needed him to see the remorse in my eyes when I admitted my wrongs. When I arrived at the hotel Emily told me the band was staying at, the hotel desk clerk informed me no band by that name was staying at their hotel.
When I asked if she had a Nicholas Holt visiting, she rolled her eyes before checking the screen. “No. No Nicholas Holt, no Rise Up, no Noah Taylor. We do not have any of those names staying at our hotel.”
Since my cell phone had been canceled, I asked if I could borrow her phone so I could call Emily to make sure I had written down the right hotel.
“There’s a payphone out on the sidewalk,” the clerk snarled before she answered the phone ringing on her desk.
After gathering my bag off the floor, I spun around. I was pissed at the clerk’s rudeness and hormonal from the long day I’d had. My anger was forgotten in an instant when I spotted Nick across the lobby. He was staring at me, his gaze so white-hot, sweat dribbled down my nape. He was wearing his standard ripped jeans and a light blue polo shirt, and his jaw was covered with a few days’ stubble, but he still made my heart race.
“No one else,” I whispered, praying he still wanted me.
He replied without pause, “No one else.”
We met in the middle of the foyer, our fire-sparking reunion rivaling the most romantic scene in a blockbuster movie.
“There’s never been anyone but you,” Nick murmured over my lips. “And there will nevereverbe anyone but you.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Jenni
Nick and I stumble toward his room, all legs and arms. We kiss the entire ride from the foyer to the floor his room is on, then we kiss some more while haphazardly stumbling down the deserted hallway. We barely make it to his room before he drags his shirt over his head and tosses it on the floor. His jeans are next to go, closely followed by his boxer shorts.
My breath hitches when I catch sight of the delicious bumps in his stomach, then I lose the ability to breathe altogether when my eyes land on his perfect dick. Nick’s body isn’t stacked with muscles, but he has very impressive ones inallthe right places.
