Page 72 of Pucked and Pregnant

Okay, what else is close?

There’s a new deli down the block called King Kosher. It’s nearby, and my stomach doesn’t seem opposed to the thought. I pull up their website and place an order.

Ready in ten minutes. Perfect.

There’s usually a line out the door at that place but seeing as it’s mid-afternoon I guess I caught them between the lunch and dinner rush.

I’ll give it five minutes then head out. Surely I can focus on this spreadsheet for five minutes.

Or not.

The quiet of the office only makes my thoughts seem louder. It’s the perfect opportunity for my worries to stage a takeover .

What if Iampregnant? There are quite a lot of signs pointing in that direction,toomany of them, actually. It would be foolish of me not to get a test at this point.

I could be overreacting, but buying the test might get the little voice in my head to shut up. I just have to figure out how to do it without anyone noticing.

What if that little stick says positive? Do I see this through?

The maternity leave at Pro Rink is actually pretty good, but I just got started at this office. The team, minus Travis, is finally working out the way I want them to. If I go on leave, the office culture Grace and I are trying so hard to create could all be gone by the time I get back.

That’s the least of my worries, though. There is a handful of paparazzi still interested in me. They know my schedule, showing up when I arrive at work and when I’m heading home.

Although they are mostly trying to get information about Max now that they know I’m his sister. Every time I leave my house or work, I’m peppered with questions from people determined to get dirt on him.

That’s not to say they’ve lost interest in my love life. Just last week,Spotlight Secretspublished an article about a hickey I forgot to cover up.

The only reason the guys and I have been able to keep things under wraps so far is because of how careful we’ve been. Our plans for meeting up have more safety checks than a rocket launch.

What happens to me if I am pregnant and they notice the baby bump after a few months? They would be obsessed with who the father is.

I don’t know if I could handle that kind of media frenzy again, especially not in that condition. Just the thought of it makes my hands start to shake. My mouth is dry and I feel as if the room just got smaller, like there is a cluster of reporters crowding me already.

Don’t do this here. Not at work. The last thing you need is Travis, or anyone else for that matter, seeing a chink in your armor.

My stomach rumbles. I look at the clock and immediately feel too many things at once.

On the one hand, my body is thrilled that it’s sandwich time, like it wants to skip excitedly the entire way to the deli.

On the other hand, I’ve just spent five minutes working myself up into a panic over something that might not even be happening to me.

I let out a frustrated sigh.

Maybe the walk will do me some good. I’ll be able to get out of my own head and move my body. Plus, I’ll be coming back with food which will hopefully help me focus a little better.

There’s also a corner store right next to the deli. If there aren’t any press following me, I’ll grab a pregnancy test. Just the thought of getting a definitive answer eases my mind a little. Tomorrow morning the matter will be settled one way or another, and then I can decide what to do.

After the sandwich and a quick trip to the store, the rest of my day gets easier. I finish my report and successfully ignore the two guys with cameras outside when I leave.

Part of me wants to take the test as soon as I walk in the door but the more rational side of my brain knows I’ll get a more accurate result in the morning.

So the question now is how to fill my time, and my mind.

Normally, I’d send a message in our group chat, asking the guys to come over, but the coach is hosting some type of team bonding event tonight. Initially, I’d been bummed about it but now I’m kind of glad that they’re unavailable.

Things have been going so well lately. The last thing I want is a possible pregnancy to send things back into chaos. The fight they’d had before we came up with this arrangement had bled over into practice. If they don’t stay in line, it could cost them the game next time.

If they were to found out there’s a chance I could be pregnant, they might start fighting again. Scratch that, they will start fighting again. They’d be all over me, insisting on figuring out who the father is so that person could step up and do the right thing. Truth is, there’s no way of knowing that until the baby comes and we can do a DNA test.

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