Page 23 of Break Out

“You’re right, but you don’t know who he is.”

I gave a feeble shrug. “I haven’t tried to find him yet.”

“You said you never got his full name, just his last name. He’s not from here, and he wasn’t ever coming back. I don’t see you tracking him down. You’re going to do this all on your own? That’s scary as hell.”

I nodded. “Yeah, but at this point, it’s too soon for me to make any firm decisions. Deep down, I can’t see myself giving a child up for adoption, either.”

She nodded and we were silent for a while. Then she said, “Your whole life’s gonna change.”

I stared at the watercolor print on the wall. “Yeah, but it’ll be good… I think.”

“Your job might decide—”

“Pretty sure there are laws about that sort of thing, Lex.”

“Daycare—”

I found myself growing defensive. “You think Aunt Abby or Trixie won’t help me?”

She put her hands up in surrender. “No, no, they would all pitch in, but… they’re in Jacksonville. Where are you gonna live?”

That was a problem. I didn’t want to move in with Mom and Dad… hell, my younger brother Bobby hadn’t even moved out yet. Though he was away at college. The cost of rent was outlandish in Jacksonville – all over really, but the news had reported Jacksonville was tracking much higher than other cities.

I pressed my head back into the throw pillow. “I can’t make a decision today.”

Alexandra used a gentle tone when she spoke. “You can’t wait too long either, Mony.”

Damn, this was tough.

“One more thing since I’m playing the voice of reality.”

“Oh, boy. What now?”

She exhaled a silent chuckle. “If you used a condom, and you’re preggers… you need to get tested.”

I nodded. “Yeah, you’re right about that, too.”

This conversation drove home how Alexandra was mature for nineteen… soon to be twenty. It likely resulted from Aunt Mallory and Uncle Cal’s age when they had her. It still felt like she was my little sister, but it beat having this conversation with my mom.

I groaned.

“What?” Alexandra asked.

“I have to tell my parents. This is going to be so embarrassing.”

Chapter 5

Payout or Bloodshed

Steel

Torque leaned against the bar in the clubhouse common room. “I hate to bring it up, but we should figure out how the hell Josie got in your room.”

I sat on a barstool next to him and shook my head. This had been the first day thoughts of Simone hadn’t assaulted me the moment I rolled out of bed. The last six weeks, I’d had dreams about her. If that wasn’t bad enough, the craziest shit brought her to mind – and we’d only spent maybe twelve hours together.

“Hello… cat got your tongue? You got thoughts on this?” Torque demanded.

“How she did it doesn’t fuckin’ matter. It’s done and it’s never fuckin’ happening again.”

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