Page 24 of Hooked On Them

“I’ve been exhausted, my boobs hurt, I nearly vomited multiple times today, and I can’t remember the last time I had a period because of my IUD, but?—”

“Whoa, slow down.” Paige grabbed my hands. “You have an IUD, and you use condoms, right?”

I cringed. “Yes, but what about when you factor in two condom-covered penises rubbing against each other in the same vagina?”

Paige’s eyes widened to alarming proportions. “I’m going to need you to back up and explain that statement immediately.”

I covered my face with my hands. “Remember the charity dinner on the yacht? I may have ended up with Carter… and Dominic. At the same time.”

Paige’s jaw dropped. “Dominic? As in Garrett’s brother? Dominic as in the hockey player who gives you grief at every practice? That Dominic?”

I nodded miserably.

“Holy shit, Nora. That’s… wait, you had a threesome and you’re just now telling me this? What kind of best friend are you?”

“Can we please focus on the potential crisis growing in my uterus?” I pleaded.

“Right, sorry.” Paige pulled out her phone. “Let me just...”

I peered over her shoulder to see her searching for “effectiveness of condoms during double vagina penetration.”

I groaned, letting my head fall back against the cabinet with a thunk. “I can’t believe this is happening right now. And with a player? This is not good, Paige, not good at all.”

Paige scrolled for a few seconds. “There’s not a lot of research on this specific scenario, but there is information about using two condoms on one dick, which increases the risk of condom failure due to friction between the latex.”

“So two dicks rubbing against each other...”

“Could potentially have the same issue.” Paige looked up from her phone. “But it’s still really unlikely, Nora. You have an IUD. You’re probably coming down with a cold or something.”

“The IUD that I just had replaced before moving here. What if it’s defective? Can you look up if there have been any recalls? What if it’s still in there and the baby swallows it? Or, shit, doesn’t it cause?—”

“Okay, let’s not catastrophize.” Paige’s face suggested she was doing exactly that too. “I have some pregnancy tests.”

“You have pregnancy tests lying around?” I asked incredulously.

“When you have three partners, you keep emergency supplies on hand. Stay here. I’ll be right back.” Paige stood and disappeared, leaving me alone with my spiraling thoughts.

If I were pregnant, whose would it be? What would I do? How would this affect my career? I’d worked so hard to be taken seriously as a female coach in a male-dominated sport. A pregnancy, especially one with paternity questions involving one of my players, would be a complete disaster.

Paige returned a few minutes later with a blue box and handed it to me. “Here. Probably nothing, but at least you’ll know for sure. It should still work even at night, but there’s a second one too to retake in the morning.”

I took the box with trembling fingers and shooed Paige out. I read the instructions and followed them exactly.

The three-minute wait felt like three years, and I paced the spacious bathroom, avoiding looking at the test resting on the counter. Was I ready to be a mom? I hadn’t given much thought to it, considering I was allergic to relationships.

Financially, I was able, even if the father didn’t want to be involved in any way. But emotionally? I sometimes still felt like a teenager even though I was a month away from being twenty-nine. I shouldn’t get ahead of myself; the test wasn’t even done doing whatever magic it did with my pee.

As if on cue, my phone timer went off, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I approached the test like it was a bomb about to detonate, only looking with one eye at first, but then the other flew open to make sure I was seeing what I was seeing.

Two pink lines.

Pregnant.

* * *

Morning arrived with all the subtlety of a hockey puck to the face. The nausea hit me as soon as I opened my eyes, and I barely made it to the bathroom before emptying what little remained in my stomach from last night’s dinner..

This couldn’t be happening.

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