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For now, it was his own private Izzy-fueled fantasy. And it was perfect.
EPILOGUE
“HOW DID THIS happen? Shell, I just don’t understand it. How on earth did this happen?” Izzy banged her head against the table and made a fake crying noise. Mostly, she did it to hide the actual sob that clogged her throat.
Shell chuckled and rubbed a hand up and down Izzy’s back. “I’m pretty sure you know exactly how this happened, hon.”
Izzy lifted her head and glared at her friend. “No. I do not get it. Please explain it to me.”
“Okay, I’ll do my best. Let the seventh-grade health lesson commence.” She straightened and lifted both her hands. With her left, she formed her thumb and forefinger into a circle. With her right, she held up her pointer.
“You see,” she said, smirking. “This is you.” Biting her upper lip, Shell wiggled the circle. “And this is him.” She wagged the pointer finger. “Boys have a pee-pee and girls have a hooha. If you like a boy, sometimes you let him stick his pee-pee into your hooha.” She demonstrated with her hands. “With me so far?”
Izzy raised an eyebrow. “Yes,” she said in a droll tone.
“It feels good,” Shell continued, wiggling her finger in the circle. “Then it feels really good, and the man explodes, sending out lots of sperm into you. Those sperm—”
“Shell!” Izzy cried, laughing despite herself. “That is not what I meant, and you know it.”
“Oh, well, then the answer is easy. How many times have you done it without a condom?” She gave Izzy a look she often reserved for Beth in times of misbehavior.
“Uh, since we both got tested…” Izzy’s face heated. “Maybe…four,” she whispered.
Shell threw back her head and laughed until she saw Izzy’s glower, then she sobered. “Okay, I’m sorry, honey, but I’m going to say something you’re not going to like. If you weren’t willing to risk getting pregnant, why did you guys have sex without a condom.”
“Oh, you say it like it’s so easy now, but you weren’t there. That man makes me crazy. Melts my brain.”
“He is rather delicious,” Shell said with a sigh.
What the hell was she going to do? Izzy’s stomach rolled at the thought of bringing this up to Jig. She wanted to vomit, and that was saying something since there couldn’t possibly be a single thing left in her body to vomit after the hour spent riding the porcelain bus that morning.
“Jig does not want kids, Shell. You know. It’s only been a few months that he’s even been able to be in the presence of Beth without getting hives. And I didn’t want them either.”
Shell cocked her head and sipped her drink.
Oh, sweet bourbon, how I’ll miss you. For nine freakin’ months.
“You didn’t want them? As in you do now?”
“Well, no, yes, I don’t know. I’m all confused ever since I found out I’m pregnant.”
“I’m gonna make this easy for you,” Shell said as she stood and grabbed Izzy’s hand. Pulling her to her feet, Shell dragged Izzy to Jig’s closed office door. “You’re going in there and you’re going to tell him right now.”
An icy fear washed over her, and she shook her head, taking a step back. “No, Shell, I can’t. Now isn’t the time. It’s Copper’s birthday party for fuck’s sake.”
“Nuh uh.” Shell stopped Izzy’s backward progression with a tug to her hand. “Izzy Monroe is not a coward, so get your ass in there. Get it over with so you don’t have to sit here all night freaking out. Besides, someone is going to ask why you aren’t drinking.”
Shit. Shit.
Shell was right. She fought in the ring. She was a tattoo artist. A badass bitch.
“I need a bucket. I’m gonna be sick.”
“No, you’re not. You're just a baby. Who’s carrying a baby.” Shell laughed at her own joke, and Izzy made a mental note to put pepper in her drink later on. “All right, good luck!” Shell knocked on Jig’s door, kissed Izzy’s cheek, then darted away with a cheerful wave.
“No, Shell, wait, I— Hey, Jig,” she said as he pulled open the door.
He frowned and stepped aside so she would walk in. “What’s going on? You’re wearing the fakest smile I’ve ever seen. You lose a bet or something?”
Izzy swallowed. It was now or never. There was a good chance this would be it. She loved Jig more than she’d ever thought it was possible to love another human being. And she believed he loved her. Yet, a teeny tiny part of her was still fearful he would one day abandon her.
And now, when he was facing the one thing he feared the most, it might just be that time. But she had to tell him. There was no other option.
“I’m pregnant,” she blurted, then slapped a hand over her mouth and burst into tears.
