Page 15 of Claim Me

“It’s not your fault,” Hunter insists.

“You don’t know!” I cry and back away. “I was so horny and wild. He got scared!”

“Scared?” Natasha asks, giving me a weird look. “What did you do?”

“I got naked and enjoyed his hot body. But it was fast and not romantic. Is that what he wanted?”

Hunter takes me by the shoulders. I expect her to shake some sense into me. Instead, she stares into my eyes.

“Indigo has wanted you for years.”

“How do you know?”

“Tack told me.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It was a secret.”

I open my mouth to complain about how friends don’t keep secrets. Hunter cocks an eyebrow, just waiting for me to say the words. I glance at Natasha and consider how we kept her whereabouts a secret from Hunter for two years.

Sighing, I nod. “Secrets are okay, sometimes.”

“Uh-huh,” she mutters. “Now, let’s calm down and wait to see the result.”

I nibble at my thumbnail while the minutes tick away. Outside in the backyard, the nanny entertains Jacinda and Hector. I imagine my girls at school. What will Kiera and Deirdre think about a baby? I’d been considering getting knocked up. My sister’s baby is so pretty. Both of my friends will have babies soon. Did I mind-control Indigo’s sperm to hit paydirt? Do I have that power?No, I do not.

“I feel like I’m going crazy.”

As Natasha eases onto the dark leather couch and tries to find comfort for her big belly, Hunter asks me, “Because of the test or Indigo?”

“Because he came to me and wanted me to see him and accept him. And I just thought he was hot and tasted so good and smelled great. He wanted something beautiful, and I made it cheap.”

Ashamed, I slide down the wall and cry against my knees. The regret has eaten at me no matter how much I try to distract myself.

Natasha tries to get back up to comfort me, but her belly gets in the way. Hunter walks past me into the bathroom. A moment later, she returns and reaches out her hand.

“You need hugs, and we can’t sit on the floor. Come to the couch.”

I crawl over to the expensive leather couch Bear bought years ago after Natasha ran off. He picked this big house with her in mind. Once she came back to town, he made his claim. Now, they snuggle up on this couch each night. I’m thrilled they found their joy together, but I also get admittedly jealous.

“Indigo is troubled,” Hunter tells me after she sits at my right side while Natasha snuggles on my left. “He wanted you but believed you were still hung up on Sync.”

“I’m not. I just miss the closeness we shared. I would have dated long ago if my foster brothers would let me.”

“Mostly, it was Indigo causing trouble, right?” Natasha asks. “Because he liked you and didn’t want you with anyone else.”

“Is that sweet?” I ask. “Can I think of his behavior as charming rather than infuriating and sinister?”

“Do you want Indigo?” Natasha asks.

“I don’t know. He ran away. If I saw him, I’d know what I felt.”

Hunter takes my hand and says softly, “Well, I think you might need to talk to him soon.”

“Because he won’t come back to the farm otherwise?”

“No, because your test is positive.”

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