Page 61 of Broken

Cutting the engine, I threw open my door. “Izzy! Wait!”

She ran up the porch steps, and I bolted after her. “Izzy! Wait, please!” She paused, and my heart felt like it could beat again. I pulled her against me when I reached her, wrapping my arms around her upper back as she tucked her face into my chest. Her arms stayed limp at her sides.

“Look at me.” I pulled back, tipping her chin up with my finger, finding so much fear and rejection swirling in her emerald depths. “I just…I needed a minute.”

She swallowed, her voice wavering. “And now?”

“Shit, I don’t know.” I ran a hand back through my hair. “I’m still in shock, I think. I haven’t processed. You’ve had longer. I had thirty seconds.”

“You said no.”

“Did I?” I frowned.

She nodded, her features crumbling.

“I don’t even remember. I swear. Just. How? When?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just realized that I might’ve been last night.”

“Did I hear you say you want to keep it?” I asked, trying to wade through what she said in my truck. My stomach dropped at the thought.

She nodded. “That’s my only choice. I thought about it all night, Tucker, and it’s the only decision I can live with. If that means it’s over for us, I get it, but I can’t give up this baby.”

She pressed a hand to her middle, and fear lurched over my heart again. But this time it wasn’t just about a baby. It was about losing her.

I shook my head, grabbing her neck to cup the sides of her face. I stared down into her eyes, needing her to see what I felt. “If that’s your decision, then that’s what we’ll do. But don’t ever start to talk like we’re over.”

Fresh tears leaked down her cheeks. “Even now? With this?” She pressed harder against her middle. “What about all of our dreams?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I just can’t lose you. You’re everything, Izzy. So, if that means having a baby, I’m in.” I leaned down, and she threw her arms around my neck as I swept her up in a toe-curling kiss.

I was terrified. Scared shitless. But I’d do this for her.Withher. Because without her, I was nothing.

“Good news, Tucker. I don’t have to cut your dick off,” Annie greeted when she walked in with Jet. Izzy and I had gone inside, doing more kissing than the talking we’d planned to do. I rolled off of Izzy and sat up, and she curled against my side in the middle of the couch.

“Glad to hear it?” I wrapped an arm around her shoulders as Annie and Jet took their usual spot in the oversized armchair. Jet adjusted her legs over his lap, frowning between us.

“Why does it feel like I’m missing something?”

Annie, Izzy, and I exchanged looks before I looked at my best friend.Like ripping a Band-Aid off.“Izzy’s pregnant.”

Jet stilled, an expression on his face like it didn’t compute. “You’re kidding.”

“No, babe. He’s really not.” Annie gave him a look, confirming it was true.

“I– Wh– What? This can’t be happening.” He dropped his head into his hand against the arm of the chair, still staring at us in disbelief.

My thoughts exactly, buddy.

“It is.” Annie squeezed his arm above his cast. “Izzy took a test last night. She might’ve found out sooner if she hadn’t thought she might have something seriously wrong with her.” She shot her sister a look, and Izzy rolled her eyes.

“I’m sorry if I didn’t jump to pregnancy right after we went through everything with Daddy. We’ve been careful. I’m on birth control. We’ve used condoms all butonetime.”

“Once it all it takes,” Jet deadpanned.

“Yeah, well. Lot of good it does to point that out now,” I tossed back. “And like she said, she’s been on the pill.”

“So, what are y’all gonna do?” Jet asked.

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