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She raises an eyebrow at me and returns my smirk. “No, I’m not, but there’s only one helmet.”
“That’s fine, you can have it. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve ridden unprotected.” I should be ashamed of myself for that, but I am not.
She pulls her long hair out of its usual ponytail, and her golden locks fall down her back.
A woman has never looked more goddess-like than she does in this moment.
I clear my throat. “Where do you live?” I ask, as if I don’t already know.
She gives me her address and then we both climb on to the bike. She wraps her arms around my midriff and then we are off. It doesn’t take long before I’m coming to a stop outside her place and I miss the feel of her pressed against my back the second she pulls away from me.
She gets off the bike, pulls off the helmet, hands it over to me and says, “Thanks for the ride.” I nod.
She turns around and walks up the steps leading to her front door, and I am completely mesmerized at the view she is giving me.
After she walks inside it dawns on me that I am in so much trouble. And trouble’s name… is Paige DeLisle.
7
PAIGE
How could I have been so stupid? I want to be angry at someone right now, but the only person who deserves my wrath is me.
My eyes move along the green and white tiles on the wall of the bathroom I shared with my siblings in my childhood. The Christmas music Mom has playing throughout the house filters into the room as I sit on the closed toilet seat in an ugly Christmas sweater.
Having sex with Travis that one time was such a stupid thing to do, but even stupider was doing it without protection. Now here I am, hiding from my family on Christmas Eve begging the pregnancy test gods to show some mercy on me.
My period is never late. Ever since I got it as a teenager, like clockwork, it comes at the same time every month. I freaked out this afternoon when I realized I was three days late. Most people wouldn’t be worried, but I’m not most people. So I ran out to a 24-hour pharmacy and here I am.
It’s been three minutes since I peed on the stick. I standup on wobbly legs, take a breath, and walk up to where I left the pregnancy test on the vanity.
A sigh of relief leaves my body when I look down and see the words ‘Not Pregnant’ staring back up with me.
My hand goes to my heart and I start crying. These are tears of joy. If I were pregnant with Travis’ child right now, that would throw my life into all sorts of chaos, chaos that I’m not sure either one of us will be able to navigate.
Of course, this negative pregnancy test isn’t definitive. I’ve already scheduled an appointment with my doctor for when I get back home. I’ll do another test at the hospital just to be sure, but for now, this is good enough.
Someone bangs on the door. “Paige! What are you doing in there?” Matt hollers through the door. “We’re waiting for you to unwrap presents.”
“I’m coming!”
I wash and dry my hands then head downstairs to my family.
Mom is setting in the arm chair while my sister, Lily, and Dad are on the couch. Matt is at the foot of the tree with his first present in his lap, like he is every year.
“You do realize you’re no longer eight, right?” I say as I join Lily and Dad on the couch.
“Leave him alone,” Mom says, and I can tell doing so took some effort.
She is a shadow of herself. The chemo has really taken a toll on her. She has always been thin, but now she is almost skeletal. Her skin is pale and her hair that used to look a lot like mine is gone, replaced by an Hermès scarf.
“We can’t all be multi-millionaires like you,” Matt says. “Some of us still have to depend on the generosity of others.” I roll my eyes with a smile. “Just soyou know, that was my way of telling you that if you didn’t buy me something expensive, I will be disowning you as a sister.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that’s all I had to do to get you out of my life?” I say. Everyone laughs.
We’ve always opened Christmas presents on Christmas Eve ever since we were kids. Even though this isn’t exactly the happiest of households at the moment, Mom insisted that we keep this tradition alive. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who doesn’t want to be doing this, but it makes Mom happy. So it’s what we do.
We spend the evening opening presents, drinking eggnog, eating popcorn, and watching Christmas movies until Dad announces, “I think it’s time I get your Mom up to bed.”
