Page 18 of Good Girl and Grinches

He takes a slow, deep breath. “So now you know, Babygirl.”

Uhh…Know what?I consider asking, but I look into his eyes and understand that he doesn’t want to say it. He wants me to be his first. And it’s impossibly hotter to hear him use that nickname now that I’m certain he was dreaming about me.

His phone buzzes, bringing reality to the forefront. We glance at it on the nightstand. Ghost. Do they have cameras in here? How would he know to call? We’re so busted.

I wiggle but he won’t let me go. “I’ll call him back.”

My chest tightens. I push harder and get out of his hold, turn to him, and say, “I want to be your first, but I was out of line. We made a promise to Ghost and Ruckus.”

“We don’t have to tell them.” Desperation laces his words.

I get out of bed. “Do you think there’s a possibility that we can end up together?”

“Do you want that?”

“I’m worried about your bosses—”

“They don’t matter if they’re going to meddle in my personal life. I’ve wanted you for so long.”

My heart sinks even though I’m doing the right thing. “Then we can’t start this on a lie.”

Only a few more days and we can all be together.

Eleven

Sabrina

A few days later, another girls’ night out is a welcomed excuse to leave the house. I need to finish painting my nesting dolls.

I park a couple of stores down from the paint-your-own-pottery studio. Most of the shops are closed and there aren’t any creepy guys darting around corners.

My nerves have mostly settled after second-guessing the little stunt I pulled with Flame. And instead of exploring that he might want me to call him Daddy, he’s been holed up in his office.

He swears he’s busy analyzing a bunch of data Ghost and Ruckus sent over and tracking down details. They can’t waste any time figuring out if the details lead to Ty.

The only exception was that he offered to drive me tonight, but I don’t want to be the reason he wastes time.

Plus, Ghost and Ruckus are supposed to get home tonight while I’m gone, and Flame wants to talk to them without me, first. He promised we’d have sex tonight, even if we have to keep the relationship quiet for now. It’s a lot.

Jasmine, Betsy, and Naomi walk up at the same time as me, and I should be thinking about how they’re doing, but all I can think about are Flame’s words:I’ve wanted you for so long.

Then Jasmine’s sudden rush to the bathroom hones my focus. With the three of us rushing after her, things escalate quickly. Betsy pulls pregnancy tests out of her purse.

Why does she have those? My head is spinning. Could she and Jasmine be pregnant?

“We can take them together,” Betsy tells Jasmine.

Jasmine waves the test stick. “Not the kind of bonding I was hoping for tonight. I’ll put my faith in my birth control pills and wait two days. Anyone else need it?”

Nervous glances pass between all of us. Any of us could be pregnant. The Christmas Cherry Auction isn’t just perfect for kicking off relationships. A lot of babies happen, too.

“Truth be told… I have a test at home,” I say, shocked at how easily I lie. Why? The answer doesn’t take long to surface. There’s zero percent chance I’m letting them talk me into taking the test right now. All of my weird symptoms aren’t so mysterious. Crap.

Naomi makes it clear that we need to know if Jasmine’s sick or pregnant. Good thinking. She obviously thinks clearer in stressful situations than I do. My big contribution is washing the sinks with soap after Jasmine and Betsy set their pregnancy test sticks on them.

Then it’s time to finish painting my nesting dolls and pretend I’m not freaking out. With the smallest two left, I’m able tominimize the patterns from the larger two. The smallest one is nothing more than a few blocks of color, which is a good thing because the fact that I may have basically turned into a nesting doll is weighing too heavily on my mind to handle anything elaborate.

Putting the finishing touches on, I take the dolls to the counter where they’ll finish them in the kiln.

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