Page 68 of Forbidden Mistress

Sam’s face lights up. “Oh! Sure. Let me grab it.”

She leaves the room and returns with a pink box, then hands it to me. “There were two in the box, but I just needed one. It was negative, thank God,” she laughs.

I glance down at the box, my stomach pitching. Even though I know it’s highly unlikely that I’m pregnant, it’s still possible, I guess. The first time I was intimate with Hart was several weeks ago, and I’m not sure when my last period was. I don’t really keep track of that sort of stuff. But I do remember checking my pill pack after that first time with Hart and I was three days behind on the pack. But Haley had said doubling up would do the trick so that’s what I’d done to catch up.

I take the box into the bathroom and pee on the stick with Haley and Sam standing just outside the door. By the time I clean up and set the pregnancy test on the counter, the entire house—Sam, Haley, Avery, and our new roomie, Skye—is bent over the stick, watching the moisture creep across the test window.

I sit on the toilet and try to breathe through the dizziness that popped up out of nowhere. Even if the test ends up being negative—this entire ordeal is stressful.

“Oh!” one of my roommates says. I don’t even know which one it is.

I can’t see the test from where I’m sitting, but I straighten and try to peer through the gap between Haley and Sam. “What? What does it say?” Was that a good oh, or a bad oh?

“We have to wait the full five minutes!” Avery chides the group and glances at the timer on her phone that’s counting down.

An excruciating few minutes pass, and I almost get up and demand a look at the test, when the timer beeps. My heart stops.

“Uh, ok,” Haley says. “Should we have her take another one? Just to be safe?”

I stand up. “Tell me what it says!”

My roommates part like the Red Sea, and Haley picks it up, then hands it to me. I stare down at the plastic stick and blink. “Who has the instructions? What do two lines mean? Is that negative?”

Sam throws a concerned look at me, then passes me the instructions. “It’s, um, it’s positive, Cassie.”

Positive?

No.

“That’s…it’s wrong. Does anyone have another test I can use?”

Everyone just kind of looks at each other, like they’re in as much shock as I am.

“I’ll go down to the pharmacy and grab another one,” Avery says.

“Good idea, Avery,” Haley says, turning to me. “I’m sure it’s faulty. I’ve heard these things can report false positives.”

I just nod numbly. Thank God for friends. At least I’m not trying to figure this out alone.

One hour and six tests later, it’s confirmed…. I’m definitely, 100 percent pregnant.

With Hart’s baby.

The guy who won’t respond to my texts.

Fuck.

How did my life get so complicated so quickly?

Chapter 28

Ghosted

Okay. So. Crisis.

I’m pregnant, and I have no idea what I’m going to do. My roomies assure me that everything is going to be okay, but honestly, none of us know that. That vague statement isn’t the least bit comforting.

“I can, um, make an appointment at a clinic, if you want,” Haley says.

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