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“I’m...”
It was time to tell Nate that she was pregnant. In truth, she’d already delayed too long. The words were on her lips. She just needed to get them out.
“I’m...”
About to be very, very sick.
* * *
When Mia rushed out of the room, Nate picked up the cell phone she’d left behind and looked at the photo on the screen. A positive pregnancy test lay nestled atop a wallet, a familiar shade of lipstick and a teal-colored journal, which was probably the one Ivy had ruined when she threw it into the pool. His brain was slow to process the tableau.
What was Mia doing with a pregnancy test in her purse? From down the hall came the sound of retching. Answers from that quarter weren’t going to come as soon as he liked. Nate glanced at the text below the photo. It was not Ivy’s feed, but that of her friend Skylar. Nowhere in the description was Mia’s name mentioned. The photo was teased with Ivy’s name and...his.
Now Nate understood Mia’s abrupt flight from the room. Fury exploded inside him. Did she seriously in her wildest imagination think he’d ever touched Ivy? That he would do something so cruel to her? Was this why she’d been acting so strange lately? How long had she thought this of him? Obviously, she’d known her sister was pregnant since before they’d gone to the AMAs. Why hadn’t she asked him about it? That she had so little faith in him cut Nate to the core.
And what of Ivy? Nate doubted this little stunt had been accomplished without her approval. She’d never tolerate such betrayal from her posse. He couldn’t imagine what this would mean for Mia. Would she see herself even more firmly bound to her sister? Or could this be an opportunity for her to break free of her family?
Before he could ask that question, he needed to sort out what was going on in Mia’s head. Nate headed down the hall and found Mia on the floor in his master bathroom. She sat with her back to the soaker tub, knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs. Although she’d doubtless heard his approach, she didn’t look up from the floor when he stopped in the doorway.
“Are you okay?”
“No.” Despite her stricken expression, the word came out with a sarcastic twist. She pushed to her feet and crossed to the sink. After splashing water on her face, she reached for her toothbrush.
“You know I never slept with Ivy.” He paused, waiting for her reaction, and when none came, he continued, “I never touched her, never even looked at her in that way.”
Mia closed her eyes and didn’t respond. Did she not believe him? Was that really possible, given everything they’d been to each other? Nate joined her at the sink and met her gaze in the mirror. Her only acknowledgment was a slight frown before she bent down to rinse the toothpaste from her mouth.
“Why don’t you believe me?”
“I do.” A tear trickled down her cheek. Air hissed between her teeth as she dashed it away. “But the fact is, it is your baby.”
Nate couldn’t believe what she was saying to him. “That’s both ridiculous and impossible.”
Mia turned to look at him at last. “The piece of the puzzle that you’re missing,” she said, her voice breaking on the words, “is that the pregnancy test doesn’t belong to Ivy.”
“If it doesn’t belong to her, then...” The impact of understanding was like trying to walk through a closed glass door. He bounced off the invisible surface, his whole body rattled by the impact. “You’re pregnant?”
“Yes.” She nodded as if for emphasis.
Shock reverberated through him like thunder. “How long?”
“Sydney.”
“I meant how long have you known?” A voice in the back of his mind told him this was the best thing that ever happened to him. But it was a quiet reminder, easil
y drowned out by the anger that licked through him because she’d kept this a secret. “It had to be before Ivy threw your journal in the pool. I saw it beneath the pregnancy test.”
“The morning of the AMAs.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
Her eyes widened. “It was a huge event for you. I didn’t want to ruin...”
When she bit her lip and didn’t finish, he jumped in. “Why would you think finding out I was going to be a father would ruin anything?”
She frowned at his aggressive tone. “I didn’t plan this. I didn’t want you to think I was trying to trap you.”
“Trust me, that’s the last thing I’d ever think.” He gave a bitter laugh. “In fact I’d be overjoyed if that had truly been your motive. At least then I could count on you and me being together.”
