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I stood. “That’s us.”
“Hardwood?” Ali whispered.
“I can’t exactly use my real name. At least not yet,” I hissed. How was I going to explain the pregnancy? I couldn’t name Gunnar as the father without ruining both his life and mine.
The ultrasound gel was freezing cold and I jumped as the technician gently moved the metal wand over my abs. “Yes. You see there?” She pointed to the screen with her gloved finger.
I groaned. “So the tests were right.”
The technician gave a quizzical look, and I wondered how often she came across pregnant women who weren’t totally thrilled with their situation – especially at a high-end clinic that specialized in fertility. “How long do I have before I’m showing?” I asked.
Ali’s exhale was audible and she had a huge smile on her face. “You’re keeping it?” she mouthed.
“Of course I am. I’ll give this fucking baby an amazing life.”
The technician furrowed her brow and gave me a bizarre look, then pressed some buttons on the ultrasound machine.
“How long can I hide this?” I repeated, pointing at my stomach.
“Every woman is different.” The pretty technician smiled. “It’s your first, so it might take a while for you to start showing. But you’re also very fit, so…” She smiled and shrugged without giving me an answer, and I didn’t like it.
“There. You’re all done.” The technician wiped the cold gel off my belly and I pulled down my shirt. “Luckily it’s puffy coat season.” She gave me an encouraging smile and handed me printouts of the ultrasound. I stuffed them into my purse without looking at them.
Alison asked a few more questions, but I had already pulled out my phone and was scrolling through work emails, only partially listening – actually, not really listening at all. When the technician left the room, Alison whispered, “You’re lucky you didn’t use your real name. You’re going to have to check the attitude, Everleigh.”
“Attitude?” I strolled out of the room with my sunglasses still on my face. “That’s my middle name.” I was making a joke, but I understood what Alison meant. There were plenty of rumors that I was a bitch. I didn’t need to provide real-world examples.
On our way out of the clinic, I remembered that Alison had been trying to get up the nerve to ask me something. I waited until we were alone in the elevator. “What was it that you wanted to ask me, before we went in for the ultrasound?”
“Right.” Alison picked at the cuticles on her pointer finger. “At dinner last night, I found out a couple of things that I think you should know.”
“Enough with the drama, Ali. Give it to me. It can’t be any worse than what I’m dealing with here.” I made a circular motion over my belly region.
“Wow. You should make Mother’s Day greeting cards.” Ali was stalling.
“Spill,” I ordered, hoping that she wasn’t going to tell me she’d broken her promise and had told my brother about my secret relationship, or worse, about his new niece or nephew.
“Lockwood walked out of practice the other day, and then skipped the next one. I guess the new guy showed up, and when Coach benched Gunnar, he just left.”
“He just left?” That didn’t sound like Gunnar. “Why is this the first I’m hearing about this?” I had missed the last couple of practices due to my face being in the toilet.
“Coach is waiting to see if he comes back before he hands out the consequences.”
“Comes back?” I took off my glasses. “What the hell does that mean?”
Ali sighed. “Colton went by Gunnar’s place. They’ve been hanging out since we got Wendel. But Gunnar’s car was gone and he’s not answering calls. And he missed practice again today.”
I shook my head. “I can’t deal with this right now.” Thoughts were racing through my mind. Where did he go? Was he coming back? Did he want me to fire him?
“That’s not everything.”
I blinked. “Holy shit, do I need to sit down?”
“Maybe.”
“Oh God.” I put my gloved hand on the wall to steady myself.
The doors opened and we stepped into the lobby. Ali ushered me to a corner with a couple of chairs and we sat huddled together. “Gunnar thinks you were the one who had him benched.”
