Page 1 of Chasing Honor

Prologue

“I’m pregnant.”

“What?” I rolled to my side to get a better look at Chrissy. The full moon providing enough light I could make out her pretty features. I brushed her after-sex, messy hair from her face and noticed she was crying. “But we always use protection.”

She shivered, and I pulled the sleeping bag over her chilled skin.

“I don’t know, Ethan. It had to have broken, or you didn’t put it on right. I’ve missed three periods; I took a test a few days ago.”

A thousand thoughts sprinted through my mind. This couldn’t be happening. I was sixteen. We couldn’t have a baby. Fuck. My parents were going to kill me, but I had to make this right.

“Marry me,” I blurted.

“Why?” Her eyes widened in shock.

“We’ll get married, and I’ll take care of you and the baby. Everything will be okay, Chrissy. I promise.”

“I’ve already talked to my parents. I’ll finish out the last month of school then move to Arizona with my aunt before I’m showing. They talked to an adoption agency out there. All you need to do is sign the paperwork.”

I rolled to my back and looked up at the tiny, sparkling lights in the midnight sky. I should’ve been happy, Chrissy and her parents had everything planned. She’d move, have the baby, and the problem would be taken care of.

Baby. My baby—not a fucking problem.

I should’ve felt relief but I didn’t. I was pissed at the universe for stealing my youth and dreams and angry at her that she’d give my baby away.

Fuck.

* * *

Maybe my cousin Nick’s backyard barbeque wasn’t the best place to have this conversation with my parents, but I couldn’t keep my secret any longer. Every morning for the past week my mom had been waiting, like always, in the kitchen with breakfast ready—she’d kissed both my brother, Carter, and me on the cheek before she sent us off to school with a smile. She wouldn’t have been smiling if she’d known what I’d done.

Sometime after dinner and before he and my mom went to bed, my dad would come into my room to ask how my day had been, how baseball practice was going, my grades, my friends, how Chrissy was. I’d been living a lie and I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t listen to my dad tell me how proud he was of me one more time.

Fuck. My mom was going to cry. I hated seeing her sad, thankfully it didn’t happen often. Dad had taught Carter and me from as far back as I could remember we needed to take care of Mom. All the women in our lives, in fact. That included our aunts and cousins. It was those lessons that had led me to my decision.

“Mom. Dad. Can I talk to you a minute?”

My mom looked up and frowned.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

That was another thing about my mom, she always knew when one of her boys was in trouble. Goddamn, how could I have been so stupid? She was going to be crushed. I could take my father’s anger—I deserved it, but I didn’t think I’d survive my mom’s disappointment.

I almost said never mind and chickened out until my dad spoke.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

I’d always been unable to hide my discomfort from my father. It wasn’t often I screwed up; I was a straight-A student and excelled at sports. My parents had instilled in me to always be respectful; my coaches and teachers loved me. So did the cheerleaders, and that was how my current problem started. “As long as no one’s knocked up, we can fix anything.”

“Lenox.” My mother slapped his shoulder.

I tried to keep my face blank and stop the flinch, but it was too late. My father saw it.

“Shit,” he mumbled and leveled me with one of his famous “you’ve fucked up now” stares. “Chrissy?”

I nodded, and my mom looked between my dad and me.

“Wait. What? Are you serious?” my mom asked.