Page 55 of Teaching Roman

“We would have figured it out.” Despite everything that had happened, I knew that much. It wouldn’t have been easy, but it wouldn’t have been apocalyptic. Somehow the prospect of having a baby was less frightening than expulsion. I didn’t know what to make of the realization.

“We, huh? And this Roman would have stuck around?”

“Yes.”

“I'm glad you're so sure of this. I've seen plenty of marriages end after an unplanned pregnancy, not to mention relationships.” She eyed me over the rim of her pint glass. Part of her job was to sense when someone was lying.

“There's something you should know,” I said, gathering up my courage. I sat up straighter in my chair and met my sister's eyes. “I really care about him. Things are screwed up right now. We'll probably never fix things between us, but this wasn't just some crazy fling.”

“I figured,” she said.

I stared at her, unsure how to respond.

“You've got a good head on your shoulders, kid. Other than needing a serious lesson in birth control, I trust your decisions. You aren't the type to jump into bed with a random guy.”

“It was more of a fall into bed with him,” I said weakly.

“And I bet you had a damn good reason for doing it.”

I thought about Roman rescuing Cassie from the angry bodega owner and how he chased down the man at the airport. Those memories made him a hero, but other moments flashed through my head. Roman agreeing to let Jillian take a final last fall when she didn't deserve a second chance, and when he taught me how to swim. I thought of jalapeños and Aba's dinner table. I wasn't entirely sure when I'd fallen for Roman, because love colored the memory of every moment I had spent with him. But I knew then I wouldn’t have changed a moment of it. Not to protect myself.

“I take it that you aren’t together right now,” she said delicately.

My mouth went dry like I’d shoved cotton balls in it. I could only shake my head. She didn’t push me to talk about it. Instead she ordered us another round and we sat in silence until the ache in my heart faded into the background.

“I need to get back to Seattle. Early court appearance.” She dug through her purse to retrieve her wallet. “But I will be here next Wednesday.”

“I can’t believe they scheduled it for finals week.” I would be mostly done with them by then. It would be too cruel if I was expelled after I’d taken all my tests.

“You aren’t going to be expelled,” she said as if she could read my mind.

At the door, I realized I had one more question for her. “How did you know Jills sent the message?”

“There were two emojis,” she said, without skipping a beat. “No Stone has time for an emoji in a text message.”