Page 44 of A Little Secret

His eyes bulge, and his jaw goes slack. Like I’ve sucker punched him. Like I’ve blindsided him.

Welcome to the club, buddy.

Sobering, I tuck my hair behind my ear and take a slow step toward him to cut the distance between us. “I was surprised, too. Shocked, actually. Especially because I don't have any morning sickness or anything. I mean, it’s technically still kind of early for those symptoms, but…” I shake my head and try to focus. “Honestly, I wouldn't have even known if…if I couldn’t like, feel it.”

“Feel it?”

“Not like, literally. I’m not that far along.” I pinch the bridge of my nose and try to rein in my crazy. “I don’t know how to explain it, and I know I sound like a crazy person, but, I could just…tell.”

Collapsing onto the edge of the bed, he cradles his forehead in his hands. “Tell me you’re joking.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I know I have a wicked sense of humor, and my sarcasm is always on point, but I’m telling the truth.” I sit beside him, wipe my hands against myjeans, and tuck them under my thighs. “I’m pregnant, Drew.We’repregnant.”

Dropping his hands back to his lap, he sits up straighter and scowls at me, making me pull away. I haven’t completely lost my mind. I played out the possibility of himnotjumping for joy, but the animosity wafting off of him is the last response I expect, especially after I just walked in on him being all cozy with a girl he promised he’d stop hanging out with.

“What are you going to do?” he demands.

“Well, for starters, I’m going to tell you to stop looking at me like I shit on your welcome mat, thank you very much.”

“You can’t just show up here and tell me you’re pregnant?—”

“What would you have preferred?” I ask. “That I tell you over text?”

The blood drains from his face, and he shakes his head back and forth. “You can’t be pregnant.”

“Oh, I most definitely can,” I toss back at him. “I’m not sure if you remember or not, but it all went down in this very room if the math’s right.” I look around the bare walls and pat the center of his mattress like it’s a dog. “Right. Here.”

“Not possible.”

“Oh, it’s very possible?—”

“You shouldn’t have come.”

“Why?” I demand. “So you could keep lying about cheating on me with your littlefriend?”

“Says the girl who’s pregnant.” He jumps to his feet. “How do we even know if it’s mine?”

Throwing my head back, I release an unhinged laugh and stand up, too. “First of all, fuck you. I held up my end of the deal. The only reason Griffin’s here?—”

“Griffin’s here?” he balks.

“That’s what you’re clinging to?” Another enraged laugh escapes me. Seriously, I amthisclose to losing my last marble. “Yeah. Griffin drove me here because I had a seizure when I found out I was pregnant with your baby, and now I can’t drive for three months. I’m also babysitting Dylan’s devil child, and it’s not like they’ll let you fly with those, but that’s beside the point.”

Breathe, Finley. You can do this.

“Drew,” I murmur, “I came because I figured you have a right to know I’m pregnant. I came because I wanted us to…talk. Okay? That’s why I’m here.”

He stays quiet, staring at me like I’m nothing more than a stranger until, finally, his head shifts back and forth again, and he gives me a tight shrug. “Not sure what you want me to say.”

My eyes bulge. “Are you serious?”

“Fuck yeah, I am. What do you want me to say?”

“Well, for starters, you could say we’re going to get through this together and?—”

“What’s there to get through, Fin?” he demands. “Look, I think we both know things have been”—he scrubs his hand over his face—“kind of fucked lately.”

“You’re right,” I agree. “And after what I walked in on, I think we can drop the kind of, don’t you?” My throat constricts, but I swallow past it and step closer. “But this isn’t about us, Drew. Now there’s a baby involved, and?—”

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