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“You don’thaveto go home.” It was foreign to him that she felt so trapped by her parents’ wishes and demands. He’d never been a slave to anyone. For the most part, he’dalwaysbeenfree to make his own choices in life.He’d been living away from his mom and stepdad since he was fifteen. This was Callahan’s first venture into the real world, andhe’d done her the favor of knockingher up. He was a real gem.
“Yes I do.I live on campus. Dorms close in two days.”
“Come stay with me.” His eyes widened at his own words.Whoa.Where the fuck had that come from? She barely tolerated him, and he wanted her to live with him for the summer?
“I can’t stay with you.”
“Because your parents’ basement is a better option?” The basement wasn’t funny anymore. It was now something that pissed him off. Fuck her parents. “Look, you need the space to decide what to do, and I can giveitto you. Let me help. Tell your parents you’re doing mission work or some shit.” The look she sent him was disapproving if not droll, so he added, “I’ll let you read me the bible every night, as long as you do it naked.” He waggled his eyebrows playfully. “I mean, I can’t knock you up twice, right?”
“You’re going to get struck by lightning.”
She wasn’t wrong. He wouldn’t be surprised if one day the almightysmotehim. He also wasn’t joking. He wanted to see those pregnancy boobs up close and real personal. The damage was done. Whatwas the harm in making the best of a difficult situation? Plus, he hadn’t been with anyone else since that night with Callie and he was hella horny.
He gave himself a mental head shake, silently telling his dick to back down.
Thankfully his lazy wolf had decided to go back to sleep and he didn’t have to deal with his desires at the same timeas trying to navigate this emotional minefield.
“One of my paaaa…eople is a nurse.” Using the word pack to talk about his family probably wasn’t wise if he wanted to keep Callie in the dark as long as possible. “Over the summer she does free physicals on campus for all the public school kids in Haxton. It’s not church based, but you could fib a little and tell your parents you’re doinggod’swork.” If god’s work involved ball sacs and a perpetually jealous Linc.
“You want to take me home for the summer?”
“No, no fucking way.” Jasper shook his head quickly. “We’ll behere,but you could tell your parents you’d bethere.”
“Why can’t we go with your family? You want me to lie to mine, why can’t we lie to yours? I could really help with the clinic and spend the summer trying to decide what to do about the baby. I’d feel better about everything if it was at least partially true.” She sighed, shrugging sadly. “The distraction would help too. I’d go crazy sitting around your house all day with nothing to do but think.”
The trouble with taking Callahan’s pregnant ass home was his pack would know instantly. If Jasper could hear the baby’s heartbeat, then all the other males would be able to as well.
He supposed he could tell themshewas a friend,andhe was helping her out through this situation.
Would they buy that?
He wasn’t really the type of guy to take a random pregnant chick under his wing. He was a self-proclaimed fuck-boy, for fuck’s sake.
But.
Maybe they could pass her off as Blake’s friend, and make this all Blake’s idea.
That could work.
He’d need to convince Blake and Riley to go along with it.
He’d need his wolf to keep his opinions to himself. Not to mention, he’d need to keep his paws off Callahan. Damn.
It was going to be a long-ass summer.
Chapter Sixteen
Callahan
Her gut was swirling. The combination of nerves and uncertainty would make her sick again if her stomach wasn’t already empty. She was pregnant.Pregnant.Thinking the word made her shiver, like a ghost story told in the dark. She’d been away from home for less than a year and she’d already messed up her life, herplans, her future. It was forever altered. Although she resented a lot of her upbringing, some things stuck no matter how hard she tried to shake them. She was so unsure of what she wanted to do. Her every thought was clouded by a haze of her parents’ impending disappointment.
“Okay, Haxton for the summer it is.”
Jasper’s words jarred her away from her thoughts. Now her stomach was aching for another reason. She barely knew Jasper, and his family were strangers to her. She tried to be brave, but the little girl in her heart was afraid of being away from everythingshe knew.It’d been her idea, and it would make her feel slightly better about deceiving her father. Still, her nerves were growingjumpierby the second.
“I, uh, I need to finish packing up my dorm room.” Her exhaustion lately made sense now. “Can I store some of my stuff here? My dad was supposed to come load everything up tomorrow evening.” Ugh. She needed to call her parents, convince them that this last-minute summermissionwas a good idea. She’d never lied to her parents before. Notthat she could remember,and definitely not about something so huge. “I should go.” Her gaze cut to the still-closed bedroom door. The process of leaving, driving the short distance to her dorm, and walking up all those stairs made her sleepy, her eyes suddenly wanting to close.
“I’ll comebytomorrow morning and help you pack. Youcan call your parents then too.” Jasper took her by the shoulders and spun her around, backing her up until she had no choice but to sit on the edge of his bed. “Tonight, you need sleep.”
