Page 14 of Savage Reign

I shook my head. I couldn’t bring myself to think about that right now.

I pushed through all of that and moved on autopilot. I grabbed my purse and walked outside, making sure the door was locked behind me. This motel was worse than the one I had stayed at in New Orleans. For one thing, it was in the middle of nowhere. I was surrounded by dirt and more dirt. About a mile down the road, there was some construction going on, and perhaps a decade or so from now, this place would be filled with buildings and people, but right now, it was barren.

And probably why I had been able to stay hidden for so long.

The only people I had interacted with were the people who lived here and a few people staying nearby who all looked like me—like they were running from something or someone.

I tend to keep to myself most of the time, and since I barely left my room, nothing had happened. I hoped to keep it that way.

The walk to the bus stop took longer than it should, mostly because I was tired, and the sun and humidity did nothing to help me. I swiped away the fine sheen of sweat that coated my forehead once I got to the lone pole with a bus stop sign and no seat. I squatted down on the dirt road and looked down at the line of ants crawling near my foot.

I didn’t know how long I sat there, but the rumbling of the bus engine got me out of my thoughts, and I stood up and waited for the bus to come to me.

The door opened, and I silently paid, looking around the nearly empty bus, and moved all the way to the back.

The ride back out to the nearest town took about twenty-five minutes, and with no phone to distract me, I had nothing to dobut look out the window and think about my situation. I almost had myself convinced that I wasn’t pregnant by the time the bus pulled up to my stop. And then I got off and took in the bustling of people filled with life, and I nearly hyperventilated right there in the middle of the street.

I forced my legs to move to the closest drugstore, the cool air doing wonders for me as I went in. I grabbed a shopping basket and looked around for some toiletries that would last me the month. I saved the pregnancy test for last. I stood there in the aisle and just stared at all the options, not knowing which one I should choose. Fuck, but what did I know about buying a pregnancy test? What if it was too soon to tell, and I got a negative result back, only to find out later on that I was, in fact, pregnant?

I took in a deep breath and tried to push out the nonsensical tirade of thoughts bouncing in my head and grabbed three different kinds. One of them was a two-pack, so that was four pregnancy tests. The more, the better, right?

I moved to the cash register. The guy behind the counter looked to be a few years younger than me. He had mud-brown hair that fell heavily down, framing his face, adult acne on his cheeks, and bright blue eyes.

He seemed bored with his job.

“Did you find everything you need?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yup.”

I watched as he started checking out my things.

He looked like he spent most of his free time at the gym, and there was something about his eyes that seemed to harden from cynicism that made me think he’d seen too much, knew too much. He paused when he got to the pregnancy tests, looked up at me, then back down and checked them out without another word.

Was he wondering how many bad choices I must have made in my life to get to this point?

Could he see how badly I didn’t want to be pregnant?

We didn’t say anything as he bagged my things, and I paid.

I quickly grabbed them from the counter after shoving my change back into my purse and walked out of there. I was looking down at the floor and not paying attention when I bumped into someone by the door.

I nearly stumbled back, but strong arms came out and stopped me. “Sorry,” I said, looking up at clear green eyes.

The man’s eyes widened, his hands wrapped around my biceps tightened marginally. I frowned at him.

“I said I was sorry. You can let me go now.”

He let me go as if I had burned him.

I shot him a strange look and walked around him and to the door. I didn’t know what made me do it, but I turned around and looked at the man. He was looking at me, his face pale, as if he had seen a ghost. Perhaps I reminded him of someone he knew. Maybe that person died. I didn’t know, but it was still rude of him to be staring at me like this.

I glared at him, and he shifted uncomfortably on his feet, looking away from me.

I shook my head, shaking off that weird interaction.

I made my way to the bus stop and waited. I should probably look for food, but at this point, I just wanted to lie down on the bed and go to sleep for a while.

I had been more tired than usual. I could just order pizza for dinner… again.

---