Page 52 of Classroom Confessions

Another growl. “Fine. I’ll wait so you can rest. You sound exhausted.” His tone shifted, turning careful and almost loving. “Sleep well.”

Until tomorrow, the day when I potentially tore my life to shreds and turned theirs upside down.

25

COLE

David’s message played in my head all night, and by the time Rebecca pulled into the driveway, I’d imagined every possible scenario for what she might want to tell us. It had to be bad, considering she wanted us all together.

David and Ethan paced behind me, both with their shoulders hunched and heads lowered like they might charge the door at any second. Rebecca opened her car door and stood. She looked pale, and the sight of her rippled through me in waves of alternating concern and adoration. She’d brought light and color to my life. Finding out Carrie was her stepmother was a blow I’d never seen coming, but it changed nothing about my feelings.

Sweat glistened on her forehead, and she held the back of her hand over her mouth while raising her chin and staring up at the blue sky.

What was that all about?

“She’s here.” I yanked the front door open, not willing to miss a second of her presence.

David and Ethan turned simultaneously and fell in behind me. The three of us created a barrier between Rebecca and the door, so I turned and pushed them back. “Stop lurking. You two are acting like a couple of Mob bosses.”

“Something’s wrong.” David palmed a hand over his chest and around to the back of his neck. “She’s pale and her hands are shaking.” Concern took him over, and he pushed past me, jogging toward Rebecca.

Well, at least I knew he’d gotten over the whole Carrie incident.

I followed David and held out a hand to Rebecca when she reached the steps. “Come on inside. Do you need anything to eat? Drink?”

She shook her head and somehow managed to pale further. I’d never seen such translucent skin and it sent shocks of worry tingling in my fingers.

“Can we sit down?” Her hands shook, and she knotted them over her waist.

I guided her to the couch with a light touch on her elbow and sat on the coffee table in front of her. Our knees brushed, and her leg rested against mine instead of pulling away.

“What’s going on?” Ethan asked the question in all of our minds, but his tone lingered more on the worried side than the accusing one I’d expected.

Silence descended on the house. I’d never thought the place was chilling before, but a draft swept over my skin and Rebecca shivered, pressing her lips tightly as she inhaled a deep breath and held it. When she let it out, we all leaned forward. “I don’t know how it happened.” She picked at the hem of her shirt, plucking at a string until it unraveled. “I mean I know, but I don’t know.” Her hands batted at the air like she might smack the words away.

Clouds covered the sun outside and sent shadows scurrying across the floor.

Ethan flipped on the overhead light, bathing Rebecca’s sallow skin in a yellowish hue.

“What don’t you know?” David sank onto the couch beside her, staying close but not touching her. “Why did you call me last night? Why did you want me to wait before talking to Carrie?”

She took another deep breath, this time closing her eyes. “This is harder than I thought.”

“Just tell us.” I patted her knee. “Whatever it is, we can handle it.” I shot a look at David and Ethan that warned them not to fuck this up.

“I’m pregnant.”

The words hovered in the air with enough tangibility that I tasted them. The pups I’d been fostering whined from the next room, but the sound buzzed in my ears as I blinked at Rebecca. No wonder she’d looked on the verge of throwing up when she arrived.

David froze, his body stiffening. Ethan took a step back. Our ranks were obliterated with those two words.

Sound came in slow increments. First my thudding heartbeat, then Rebecca’s jagged breaths. She held her hands together over her stomach, her eyes wide with enough fear that I almost drowned in them.

I couldn’t help—and didn’t want to stop—the smile that tugged my lips wide. “That’s fantastic.” I pulled her forward into a hug and locked my arms around her back. “I’m sorry you were so scared to tell us.”

I’d always wanted to be a father, to the point I’d considered adoption and almost every other method of having a child. But this, to have one with Rebecca, it caused something hot and fierce to burst open inside me and spill out.

She clung to me, the side of her face nestled into my shoulder and her breath warm on my neck. “You’re not mad?”

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