Page 62 of Winning Her

I wasn’t sure how long I sat there like that, but then the door was opening again, and in walked the last two people I expected; Emily and Laura.

“Jessi!” they both squealed as they rushed me, and I jumped up so they wouldn’t squish me into the couch. I couldn’t help breaking out into giggles as they attacked me with bear hugs.

“We missed you so much,” Laura said.

“I was about to track my brother down and beat him to a pulp,” Emily added with a pout. “Or just drag you back myself.”

I chuckled, hugging them both back tightly before I fell back on the couch, and they moved to sit on either side of me.

“You look exhausted,” Laura said sympathetically, running a hand through my hair.

“Because I just came from a six-hour drive with no stops,” I said with a roll of my eyes. And it was right after Trent and I had a little extra action as we washed up before checking out.

“You’ve changed,” Emily said with a narrowing of her eyes, leaning back as if to try and get a better look at me.

“What do you mean?”

She grinned. “You look happy for once. You’re also acting all confident or some shit. And I could almost swear you’re glowing.” Her eyes widened. “Are you pregnant? I mean, the two of you sure work fast, huh…”

I shook my head slowly, trying not to let out how much that bothered me. Thinking that the ‘glowing’ was probably because the great sex was enough to make me perk up and give sly looks that had the both of them bombarding me with questions.

The thought stuck with me though, and I couldn’t help remembering those damn pills. I regretted taking them now, instead of talking to Trent about it first. At the time, I thought for sure I was making the right decision, but was it the best in the long run?

I waited up for Trent to come back long after the other two had already left, with promises to look for me later. He finally walked in, sending a small smile my way.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” he said, shrugging, then moving to join me on the couch. “You can ask me whatever you want.”

I took a deep breath and decided to just go for it. “Do you remember the first time we slept together? How we didn’t use any condoms?”

“Yeah, why?” he asked casually, only for his eyes to blow wide open a moment later as he caught the implication. “You—”

“Before you get the wrong idea,” I cut in. “No. I… went out and bought some pills afterward. I thought you’d get mad, if…”

My words trailed off as my expression crumpled, and I tried to keep myself from crying. Trent just sighed, then pulled me to his chest.

“I don’t blame you for taking the pill, Jessi. But you won’t have to from now on. I should have thought of protection first, and I’m sorry that I didn’t, but I’m not sorry that I didn’t use any either. If you don’t want to take the pill… then don’t.”

I curled up against his chest, feeling so much relief that it sapped all the remaining strength in my body. I closed my eyes against the tears that wanted to fall, thinking how grateful I was that Trent had decided to come for me himself.

It was more than enough to show just how truly he cared for me, and I was determined not to waste the chance I’d been given with the love of my life.

I’m going to be yours now, Trent. For the rest of my life.

26

Trent

“Are you sure you don’t mind it?” Jessi asked, her voice small and muffled as she curled up against my chest.

I pursed my lips, feeling a slight ache in my chest. I’d never thought much about having children of my own but knowing Jessi could have been pregnant was having a strange effect on me.

“You don’t have to feel bad about it,” I told her gently. “You did what you thought was best for you at that time. You’re allowed to think of yourself, Jessi.”

Besides, back then I was still in a lot of denial about how I felt towards Jessi. If she’d come up to me to ask what to do, I felt afraid I might have told her to do exactly what she did. And the scare might have been enough to stop me from looking for her anymore, and I would have missed out on so much because of my pride and stupidity.

“Besides,” I added, “there’s no way to know that anything came from it. You might not have got pregnant anyway, you were just taking precautions.”