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“And most importantly, they will have you as their mom. I can’t think of a better thing in life. You have struggled. You have fought. And you have come out stronger. Even if it doesn’t feel like it right now. I see it. Your child will see it too.”
“I can’t do this,” I whisper as tears fall down my cheeks.
“You can,” she insists. “Step one is taking the test. I know I’m right. There have been very few times in life where I wasn’t right. Although we can pretend like those times didn’t happen. I’m always right.” She grins at me.
I shake my head, and as my lips barely tilt up, I grab the test and stare at it. Taking a few deep breaths, I open the box. This time is different. This time will be different.
I can do this. Even if I can’t, I just have to make it through nine months.
I pee on the stick with Raven standing there watching everything. Telling her to turn around would be a waste of breath. When I’m done, I set it upside down on the counter and stare at Raven. She sets a timer on her phone and then turns her all-knowing gaze on me.
“What happened downstairs?”
“I don’t want to talk about it. Let’s talk about something that doesn’t have to do with me.”
She opens and closes her mouth before letting out a dramatic sigh. “Fine.”
“How are things going with your dating life? I know you were having crap luck for a while. Is it still bad?”
“Well, I haven’t really gone out much lately. I think—” she clears her throat and looks away, then shakes her head. “Never mind. Did you know Carly slept in Rage’s room the other night?”
I know she is trying to distract me from talking about herself… I will make her spill eventually because I also want to know about this. Rage and Carly are meant for each other. Everyone can see it. I can’t wait for the day they give in to each other.
I reply with a shrug, “Um, no. What happened? Did they sleep together? I know Carly said they haven’t really done anything since she started going to school.”
“No. Carly can’t lie to save her life, so I believed her when she told me she didn’t. She had just fallen asleep downstairs, and Rage took her up to his room and let her sleep there. I guess he wasn’t even up there most of the night. He was busy working.”
Letting out a sigh, I say, “Well, it’s better than nothing. He is pretty protective of her.”
“They will cave one day.” She lets out a dramatic sigh, “When everyone in the entire fucking worlds knows they are in love with each other—then they might figure it out themselves.”
I start to laugh with Raven, but it is quickly cut off by the timer on her phone going off. I stare down at the white stick in front of me and feel my stomach plummet.
“Pres, I know this is terrifying. But you need to know. We need to know. You ran into so many issues with stress and anxiety before… we need to be careful. That starts with being informed.”
I nod my head slowly, still staring down at the stick. My fingers run over it before I grip it in my hand.It’s okay, Presley. Nine months isn’t long. You can do this. Then you can take the pain away,I remind myself.
Exhaling, I flip over the test, and tears stream down my face.
“Presley,” Raven says, choked, as she rests a hand on my shoulder.
Chapter Thirteen
Axe (Jackson)
AfterwatchingPresleywalkout of the room, I take my seat and let out a sigh as I glance around at my brothers.
Rage scowls at me and crosses his arms. “Look, I know that this isn’t easy. I know you are angry that she didn’t tell you, and I also know that she has been naïve in this whole situation. But the way you went about that wasn’t fucking okay. You should have dealt with it upstairs, then come down here to go over things with us and her.”
“You let your anger get the best of ya. You fucked up,” Sugar tacks on.
My fists clench, and I take a deep breath. “I get it. I fucked up. But I was there. Don’t you get that? I was around. I stayed at her apartment countless nights. I should’ve seen something. I should have protected her.”
“You can’t be puttin’ any blame on yourself for that, and you know it. You didn’t protect her just now. You should be more concerned with that—”
“I’m fucking trying to protect her!”
“Alright. This isn’t fucking getting us anywhere. Axe fucked up, but he can deal with that himself when we’re done here. The sooner we wrap up, the sooner he can go beg on his knees,” Nerds retorts.
