Page 29 of Origins

This morning, when Sulien dropped me off, he was wearing a shirt that clung to every inch of his newly formed muscles, and I thought that would be the hottest thing I saw all day. But somehow, I was mistaken.

My jaw practically dropped at the sight of him covered head to toe in red and orange spandex.

“Quit staring at him like that. It’s gross.” Jack grumbled, and I was pleasantly surprised by the fact he didn’t take the opportunity to call Sulien a villain. Maybe he was warming up to him.

“Leave her be.” Rori scolded, and Jack flipped her off.

Sulien laughed nervously and looked away.

My gaze remained anchored on my boyfriend as he crossed his arms. Somehow, that made him look stronger—the last few weeks had almost been surreal. I knew certain supers built muscle quickly, but Sulien’s transformation seemed like something else entirely.

Every day, he felt a little sturdier, and his clothes fit a little differently, but I shrugged it off as me being dramatic.

“Quit looking at my sister like you want to get her pregnant,” Jack growled.

My brother was normally crude, and if it weren’t forthe positive pregnancy test earlier, I might have laughed it off. But, right now, his joke caused me to stiffen.

Rori shot Jack a dirty look, and I realized I didn’t want Sulien to be here a minute longer than he needed to be.

“Do you work tonight?” I asked.

Sulien shook his head.

“I was hoping you’d feel well enough to come home with me. You know, so we can get ready for the showcase… It’s purely professional.” Sulien looked directly at my sister as he spoke.

She gave him a knowing smile, and I wondered if I should tell him that Rori was probably the only person who would be okay with the fact that Sulien and I were dating.

That was probably a conversation for a different day.

“I’d love to.” Beside Sulien was my new favorite place to be, and I needed that today. “I just need to get dressed and grab a few things from my room.”

Pajamas, a phone charger, and clothing for tomorrow. At this rate, I probably should also get a few things to keep at his place.

Sulien nodded, his eyes staying on me as I got up and headed to my room. The one that I hadn’t bothered to change since my freshman year of high school. God, my parents were going to fucking kill me.

I tried to ignore that thought as I grabbed a drawstring bag from my closet. I stuffed my bag with the essentials before looking for something to wear today. As I undressed, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

My stomach had always been flat, and while I knew it was far too early for me tolookpregnant,thank God, there was an unexpected fullness around my middle. It was probably one of those things no one other than me would notice, but it was enough to make me self-conscious,especially because the first shirt I tried on did nothing to hide it.

Tonight, I was stealing one of Sulien’s shirts. And he wasn’t getting it back. That was the least he could do, considering this was half his fault. I took the shirt off before settling for a flowy sundress.

No sooner than I’d gotten dressed, a knock came at the door.

“I’m decent!” I called before taking one last look at myself in the mirror.

There was a looming feeling that, somehow, everyone could tell I was pregnant. And while I knew I was being stupid, that did little to alleviate the feeling of dread.

The door slowly opened, and Sulien peeked in, his eyes lighting up as they settled on me.

“You look nice…What’s the occasion?” He asked as he crept into my room and shut the door behind him.

If my dad were home, that action would have been enough to get Sulien killed. But I wasn’t going to ruin the moment. What was the worst that could come out of me being alone with Sulien? He’d already gotten me pregnant.

I shrugged. “I just wanted to be comfortable…Do you like it?”

“Do I like it?” He gasped as he stepped closer, resting a hand on my stomach as he pulled me closer.

The small gesture caused me to feel sick.

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