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Her eyes meet mine in the dim light of the hallway. The space between us tightens. Heaviness settles low in my groin. The look in her eyes changes, becoming sharper and softer all at once.
She’d let me have her. Just like she let me before.
I want you, Tiny, but that’s what got us into this mess.
“You got food at your place? Coffee?” I ask hoarsely. “I have lots of leftover ziti I can send with you. Just in case you, uh, get hungry, or feel nauseous or whatever.”
Maren tries to hide the disappointment written clearly on her face by pasting on a smile. “I think I’m good, thanks.”
“Thanks for hanging with us today.”
“Thanks for having me. I needed that. It was a good day.”
A great day.
Best I’ve had in a long time.
It’d be the best day ever if I could ask Maren to stay the night too. But I can’t. Instead, I collapse into my bed, dead tired.
Alone.
fifteen
. . .
Maren
More Than Nothing
Logically,I know I’m pregnant.
My symptoms have only gotten worse over the past week. What began as a hint of nausea has turned into a full-blown wave that hits me over and over throughout the day. My boobshurt. When I’m cold and my nipples get hard, it feels like Satan’s twisting them in the worst, most painful purple-nurple of my life.
But I still start to cry when Dr. Yelich confirms that I am, indeed, pregnant at my appointment the following Friday. She glances at Tuck, who glances at me.
“I take it this was unexpected?” she asks.
Tuck clears his throat as he reaches for a tissue, which he hands to me. “We didn’t plan this, no.”
“You have options.”
She goes into detail on those options. My head spins. I sneak glances at Tuck, wondering what he’s thinking. But his expression is blank. Only his eyes give any hint of feeling. The green is clouded over, growing darker the longer Dr.Yelich goes on. It’s like I’m watching a storm roll in, the thunder getting louder, closer.
Dabbing at my eyes, I sit in my hospital gown and drown in misery.
At the end of the appointment, the doctor hands me a folder full of pamphlets, papers, and a little booklet titledYour Pregnancy: A Week-by-Week Guide.
My hands shake as I take it.
“Be sure to give us a call if you experience any bleeding or cramping,” Dr. Yelich says. “I’m here if y’all have questions.”
Then she scoots out the door, ready to go about her day as usual because she didn’t get knocked up by her insanely hot, emotionally unavailable boss.
Idid that. And now my day—possibly my life—is wrecked because of it.
The paper on the exam table crinkles as I set my feet on the ground. I wobble and grab onto the table’s edge. Before I know what’s happening, Tuck’s hands are on my waist.
He pulls his eyebrows together. “You okay? Need some water?”
