Page 14 of By the Letter

“Who was it?” Bea put her hand on mine, leaning forward with keen interest. “And was it good?”

Patches of heat landed on my cheeks. “It was amazing, and…I don’t know. I used the app you told me about, the one connected to the club—”

“The club?” Clara’s brow furrowed. “Which club?”

Bea and I exchanged glances.

The three of us were quite different. Clara was thirty-seven, divorced, a mom, and an executive at a Fortune 500 company. Bea, an ultra-curvy, blue-haired goth babe, was a decade younger and ran her own small catering company. And I was…well, me. The quiet one with such extreme social anxiety, I was astonished I’d made and kept these two gorgeous friends.

As close as we were, Clara was now in a serious relationship with her boyfriend, Jake, and Bea and I were as single as humanly possible. Sometimes, there were things we talked about apart from Clara, namely our lack of sex lives and the dating scene. Although, Bea was the only one actually going on dates. From how skeevy the men she went out with were, it would remain that way.

That and the bean very possibly growing inside me.

Bea took over for me. “The Mile High Club. It’s a sex club with a corresponding app. You can talk to people with common…interests and meet them at the club. I told Shira about it a few months ago. I never thought the little minx would actually go through with it.” She squeezed my hand. “I have to say, I’m getting a little choked up here. I’d say I was a proud mama, but you know how I feel about kids—with the exception of Nell-belle and the little gummy bear growing in your belly.”

Clara pressed a hand to her forehead. “Slow down, please. There’s a sex club in Denver? And, Shira, you went to it? And had sex with someone?”

Bea wagged her honey stick. “Honestly, there are probably a few sex clubs in the city. MHC is the only one I personally know about, but evenIhaven’t been to it.”

Clara tried to school her expression, but the little line between her brows couldn’t be smoothed. “You met a man…and didn’t use a condom?” she whispered.

“Of course we used condoms,” I rushed out.

“Oh,multiple?” Bea grinned. “Good for you.”

“Itwasgood for me.” I sighed, the ghost of Wim still present if I moved my legs just right. “The last time, the condom broke. I know I should have taken Plan B, and I can’t even tell you why I didn’t, but it was dumb. Now, I’ve been nauseous for weeks, my breasts ache, and my period has gone on hiatus.”

Clara took my other hand. “That sounds an awful lot like you’re pregnant.”

I nodded. “I think I am.”

“Okay.” Clara straightened, her eyes going cloudy for a moment, then she launched into executive mode. “You’ve told us now, so there’s no more denial. First things first, you’re going to take a test. Once we have a definite answer, we’ll make a plan.”

There were a million questions still up in the air, but having Bea and Clara on my side made me feel so much better.

I wanted to kick myself for waiting so long to tell them.

We ended up at Bea’s house after dropping Nellie off with her grandparents. I’d taken three tests, and now we were standing in Bea’s bathroom, watching each of them change.

Pregnant.

Pregnant.

Pregnant.

“Wow,” I breathed, a bubble of panic working its way up my chest, escaping in the form of a maniacal giggle. “This is real.”

Bea wrapped her arm around my shoulders, and Clara stroked my back.

“It’ll be okay,” Clara murmured. “Whatever you decide, we’ll be with you.”

“Mmhmm. And you don’t have to decide anything today,” Bea added. “Now that you have the information, you can really think about it.”

I walked out of the bathroom and sank down on Bea’s bed, where her dog, Benjamin, was curled up. He lifted his head, raised one brow, then dropped it back to his paws, unthreatened by my presence.

My friends followed, sitting on either side of me. For once, I wasn’t nauseous. My thoughts were a jumbled mess, but I didn’t feel sick.

“I don’t know who the father is.”

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