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Jasper’s heart warmed at Axie’s desire to help someone she’d never even met. She was a tough chick, sarcastic and wicked in all the best ways. She was kind though, so kind when it counted.
“The father is around. Heuh, he has to go home for a few months,but he’s agreed to help her no matter what direction she chooses. He’s being a really good guy.” Blake sent Jasper a small smile, letting him know that even though she was irritated to be part of his lie, she was still proud of the way he was handling things for Callahan. “Thanks for letting us bring her.”
“No worries, glad we can help.”
Jasper tuned out the rest of the conversation when it turned into more of their secret lover banter. Usually he’d join in, laughing and joking until their mates were so pissed and worked up they started growling andtookawaythephones.
He wasn’t feeling it tonight though. His thoughts were upstairs with the sweet girl carrying his kid. He needed to go check on her. Heneeded to make sure she wastrulyresting.
Tomorrow would be a lot. Lying to her parents, lying to his pack. Digesting the truth of the pregnancy in the harsh light of day. He’d lied to her. Hedidn’t think anything would be better in the morning. The dark made everything softer, more tolerable.
When the sun rose, he’d wake up with the stark, unyielding fact in the front of his mind.
No doubts, no maybes.
The baby was his,and its mother was now his responsibility.
Chapter Eighteen
Callahan
She was awake, but she didn’t want to open her eyes. If she opened them then it would all be real. She’d see Jasper’s dark blue walls and white sheets. His framed family pictures,and dirty clothes shoved into a corner.
She could feel him against her back, his bare skin radiating heat. He showed more kindness and compassion last nightthanshe thought he possessed. Supportive. Steady. Jasper was all the things she needed,and all the things she thought him incapable of being. Tears pricked the back of her closed eyelids,andshe swallowed thickly, willing them away. What would they help anyway? They wouldn’t washaway being pregnant. Theywouldn’t turn back time.
“I know you’re awake,Callie.”
Jasper’s voice first thing in the morning was the sound women wrote songs about.Deepandrough.Its resonanceseemed to travel over her body, leaving goose bumps in its wake. There was that old jerklustagain. Something that had never been an issue in her life until she met Jasper.
She wanted to pull the thick blue quilt over her head and hide away for the rest of time. Facing him in the light of day, after he’d had to hold her while she broke down, after he’d had to tuck her in. It was harder than it should be.
He’d seen her naked, but letting him see her vulnerable was too much.
“Come here.” Jasper put his warm hand on her shoulder, his long fingers on her collarbone. He was so much bigger than her in every way. His height, his build, his personality. “I need to know you’re okay.”
She let him roll her over and into his arms. His body was like a radiator, the heat coming off him enough to melt glaciers. “I should go.”
“You say that a lot when you’re here.” She felt him smile against the top of her head, making every hardened inch of her start to soften. “We need to get started packing up your dorm. We can grab some breakfast on the way. Areyou hungry?” He winced as his gaze cut to his bathroom door. “My sister Maddi had to puke every morning before she ate for the first like four months of her pregnancy.”
Pregnancy. That word coming from his young, gorgeous lips was surreal. She was pregnant. He’dgotten her pregnant. He’d heard her vomit and was worried she needed to do it again before he fed her breakfast and helped her pack up her life here.
“I know you want to do the right thing, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.” She sat up, crossing her arms over her chest, her cheeks heating as she remembered him expertly removing her bra. “But you don’t have to—”
“Callie. Stop.” Jasper sat as well, the sheets sliding down his torso until his sculpted chest and abs were on full display. She fought the urge to lick her lips.
Jasperhadtold her he slept naked, always. She was thankful to discover he’d kept his briefs on last night. “I told you I’d help you, and I meant it. I meant everything I said last night.” He reached out and put his hand on her stomach, makingholding backthose tears even harder. “We did this. You and me. And we are going to see it through, no matter what you choose. So stop saying you should go. Stoptrying to let me off the hook like a martyr.”
She nodded. Hersmile weak as she wiped the moisturefromunder her eyes.
***
Packing the rest of her belongings hadn’t taken much time. Her dorm room was small, and she shared it with a girl she’d never really taken the time to connect with. Her roommate had moved out as soon as she’d finished her last final, throwing a “see you next semester” over her shoulder on her way out.
Jasperdivided her clothes into two separate suitcases. One she’d take with her to Haxton,and one she’d leave stored at Jasper’s house until they got back. He told her he talked to his family last night and gotten everything squared away. He said they told everyone she was a friend of Blake’s to take theweight of the family’spressure off,and that his sister Maddi was excited to have the help at the clinic.
Having a plan made her feel marginally better. One foot in front of the other. Oneday at a time. She knew she needed to figure out what to do about the baby, but it wasn’t going to come to her overnight. She needed time to think of all possible outcomes, time to decide what would be best for them and the baby.The baby.She put her hand on her stomach,and for the first time,noticing how hard it was.It was like overnight abs.
“You okay?” Jasper’s eyes moved to her hand, then back to meet her gaze. “You feel okay?”
