Page 26 of Sinful Blaze

“So no.”

Now she looks at me. “What?”

“A real meal provides calories, protein, nutrients. What that place serves is two pieces of lettuce and a carrot even a rabbit wouldn’t touch.”

She snorts a small laugh. I take that as a win.

Then I take her somewhere we can talk. Some place to break the ice, catch up, answer a few pressing questions like, “What the actual fuck?”

Daphne’s eyes widen when we pull into the parking lot of VitaSmooth, a smoothie bar Sofiya is obsessed with. My sister swears it’s going to take over the world by storm.

I wouldn’t know and couldn’t care less. But I do know that vitamins and nutrients are important for pregnancy and there’s no way in hell that Chez Delacourte served Daphne enough of either to nourish our baby.

Her baby, I correct in my head. We don’t know anything for certain yet.

I hold the car door open for her and she slinks out. When we step inside the smoothie shop, we’re accosted by this thick smell of wheatgrass and ginger. I jerk my chin toward the menu hanging over us. “Pick what you want.”

“I, uh—okay. Okay.” Daphne blushes and turns to the cashier. “I’ll have a small?—”

“Large,” I interrupt.

She side-eyes me. There’s that fire. The first flickers of it I’ve seen in a while. “Medium?—”

“Large.”

She sighs. “Large Açai-cado Avalanche.”

“With a VitaPack,” I order the cashier. “Add the prenatal mix as well.”

Daphne sucks in a deep breath. I’m pushing her buttons. Good. I’d rather that than the stunned, terrified silence she’s been stuck in.

The cashier darts a curious glance between us but otherwise doesn’t say anything. We grab our drinks and head back to the car. I don’t think either one of us wants to have the much-needed conversation in public. Or at all. So we slide into the Charger, settle into the leather seats, and brood in silence.

“Thank you.” Daphne wraps her lips around the straw again and now that I’m watching her do it, I’m all sorts of distracted by thoughts of those same lips doing that same thing to… something else.

“Not a problem.”

“I hate the way prenatals taste like freaking horse pills. Makes me gag every time I try to take them. I keep hearing these smoothies are good for you, but I mean, twelve dollars a day? Just for some stupid vitamins?”

“Worth every penny if it means keeping your baby safe and healthy.”

Daphne flushes and looks away. I scowl. She isn’t getting off that easily.

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

She sighs. “I don’t know. I mean, I wanted to.”

“But?”

“But I’ve only just found out myself. I’m still…” She waves her fingers in the air in a little circle. “Still trying to wrap my head around it, I guess. It still doesn’t feel real.”

“How far along are you?”

She looks down at the lid of her cup. “Four months,” she mutters.

I wince. Rub my jaw. Try to find the right words that aren’t How the FUCK did you think you could keep that from me?

“But you had a test in your purse.”

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