AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Sophie hands me an ice pack for my lip.
“Griffin shouldn’t have done that,” she says, dropping down beside me on her bed. Her thumb gently grazes the skin under my lower lip as she examines the cut there.
“I would have done the same thing for Hannah. He’s protective of you, like a good big brother would be.”
“But still, no one should have gotten hurt over this.” She inhales deeply. “I’m sorry.”
“There’s no reason for you to be sorry.”
“Were you at the same dinner party I was? What a mess.”
She lies back on her bed, her cropped shirt lifting to expose a section of skin above her skirt. Even with my busted lip, I can’t help but lower down and place a gentle kiss against her belly. I hear her breath hitch with my featherlight touch.
“This is so unexpected. We were supposed to be having fun and now I’m having a baby.”
I move up to see her face. The tears rimming her eyes make my chest squeeze.
“We’rehaving a baby,” I correct her. “Did you miss what I said earlier? I want you for more than sex. Before I knew about the baby, I wanted us to be together.”
“And now?” she asks.
“I still want you. And the baby.”
She lets out a momentary sigh of relief.
“The baby doesn’t change anything,” I assure her.
“The baby changes everything!” she wails. “Last night, I researched pregnancy. My body is going to change completely.”
I drop my gaze to her body and place my hand against her bare stomach. I can see her now, belly swollen with our baby. I don’t think the visual should be making me hard, but it is.
“You say your body is going to change like it’s a bad thing.”
“What are you saying? That my body could use improvements?” Sophie snaps. “Pregnancy will do it some good? Widen my narrow hips? Make my mediocre boobs bigger?”
“That’s not—” I start.
I think I’ve stepped on a landmine. I want to exit this part of the conversation, but I realize any way I do it, shit is going to blow up.
“How am I going to do this?” Sophie curls into me, apparently no longer annoyed, but sad.
With my thumb, I brush a rogue tear from her cheek.
“Weare going to start with a doctor’s appointment, then go from there.”
She nods and offers me a small smile. “Okay.”
I should tell her how I feel. What I told Griffin. What I planned to say this morning when she didn’t show for our run, but the timing is off. I don’t want her to think that I’m saying ‘I love you’ because she’s pregnant. Like it’s the 1950s and I’m trying to do the honorable thing. I would gladly drop to one knee right now if I thought she’d say yes. But she’s not there yet. And we have time.
“I’m still so confused about how it happened.” She bites her lip. “We used condoms every time.”
She’s right. Though the urge to have her bare was always in the back of my mind, we did use protection.
“These things happen.” I stroke her hair. “How have you been feeling?”
“A little nausea, but I think I had more of that weeks ago. Now, my boobs are tender. I’m tired. And it’s like a faucet down there.”
“What do you need?” I ask, kissing her temple. “A foot rub? A nap?”
