Page 32 of The Wrong Side Of Us

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If she wasn’t hungry before, Evelyn was like a beast starving now. She was living off cereal and ice cream, but to her, there was no better meal. I scratched the back of my head, watching her as she ate a scoop of ice cream and then a spoonful of cereal. Then she sprinkled dry cereal on the ice cream.

Jesus.

This is not normal.

Her eyes closed as she took another scoop of cereal, and I couldn’t focus on my own food while she ate. The thought was constantly repeating in the back of my mind; she was behaving differently, and though she’d always been sensitive, earlier that day she had been far more responsive to my touch.

Crying over cereal too.

Then there was the nausea.

Dizziness.

Tiredness.

It didn’t take a genius to figure it out.

“What?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

I smiled, stepping out of my chair and kneeling in front of her. Quickly, she placed her hands on my shoulders. “Wait, you’re not proposing yet, are you?”

Raising the shirt she wore, I exposed the skin of her belly—flat. For now. “I don’t think it’s just the two of us anymore, Evie,” I stated.

Just as I expected, Evie frowned, placing the spoon back in the ice cream tub. “I don’t understand.”

“I think you’re pregnant.”

She blushed, the color traveling all the way to her ears, and her lips parted in surprise. It was as if even though living through all the symptoms, Evelyn hadn’t taken into consideration the possibility that this could have happened.

“How?” she asked, furrowing her brows.

I snorted, knowing that it wasn’t the best idea given the situation, but I couldn’t help it. “We both know how, Evie.”

“Oh God,” she gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. Her eyes were wide with fear and surprise as she stood and started pacing. “Oh my God, we haven’t been careful.”

“Careful? Babe, we haven’t been using protection at all. It shouldn’t be a surprise.”

“I need a test,” she rapidly said, looking for her purse. “I’m going to go get a test to find out and—”

“Hey,” I said, stopping her. “I’ll go with you. There’s not a single reason why you should do this alone.”

My words eased some of her worry.

Hand in hand, we arrived at the pharmacy. Overwhelmed, Evelyn stared at the endless options in pregnancy tests, her eyes glancing at each one of them. It was odd seeing her so concerned, especially in regard to forming a family. Maybe she didn’t want kids? Or she wasn’t ready?

Shit.

We should have been more careful.

“Which one do you think works better?” She held two boxes up, her voice trembling with nerves. “This one says you can test days before your period and it’ll still be accurate, but this one is more expensive? Does more expensive equal better? Or should we go with the cheap ones and buy several of those to be sure? Or should we buy a test of each brand? I’m thinking we should do that; buy one from each brand and see if more turn up negative or positive, and we’ll go from there. I mean, I haven’t had a period in a while, so shouldn’t they all be accurate…Nate? What do you think?”

“We’ll buy three if you want?” I asked, not knowing whether she would be okay with that. Evie nodded, swallowing, and picked up one more box.

The way back to her place was quiet except for the fact that I could hear the thoughts racing through her mind. I squeezed her hand to offer comfort. Once in the house, she rushed into the restroom, closing the door behind her and leaving me out. I groaned.

Of course, she would want to do this alone.

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