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I stared down at my phone, at the last unanswered message I’d sent. After a few minutes and a bit of muttering, I turned my cell face down on the desk and forced my attention back to my laptop.

I lasted all of ten minutes before I had the phone in my hand again. This time, my text didn’t sound nearly as casual.

Talia: I’m getting worried. Please call me.

I hated how desperate I seemed. Worse, I hated how desperate I felt.

My pulse kicked up when the message went from Sent to Delivered. A few seconds later, it changed to Read and I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

***

Talia: Did I do something wrong? Are you avoiding me?

It was nine o’clock at night when the tiny dots finally started jumping around. My heart lurched into my throat when my phone pinged with a response.

Rafe: I don’t know. Did you do something wrong, Talia?

What the hell? I hit Call. Rafe answered on the second ring. “What’s going on?” I asked, my voice already too high. “What does that text mean, and why have you been avoiding me?”

Rafe was silent for a moment. “I know about the pregnancy, Talia.”

“What? How?”

“Calder was kind enough to fill me in.”

“You talked to Calder?”

“He answered your phone while you were taking the test.”

Oh my God. My hand flew to my mouth. I heard my pulse pounding in my ears.

“It’s his, isn’t it?”

“No!” I yelled. “There isn’t even a baby.”

“But Calder said you hadn’t had your period in a couple of months, and it was his.”

“That can happen because of stress. I took a test, and it was negative. And this morning, I got my period.” My heart was racing. I felt dizzy. “Is that why you’ve been avoiding me?”

“You didn’t even tell me about it, Talia.”

“I didn’t tell anyone about it. I realized I was late, and then I took a test and found out I wasn’t. It was over a few hours after it started.”

“You told Calder.”

“He was here. He saw my face and knew something was wrong.”

“So you two were just hanging out then?”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“Sure it wasn’t.”

My mouth fell open. “Are you kidding me right now? Who was the woman who answered your phone?”