Page 3 of Zac

“Because I’m pregnant.” She shrugs and I slowly release my hold on her, stunned. Yeah I’ll go with that. Shocked, stunned, my fucking legs wobble beneath me. “So this isn’t something I can just pretend didn’t happen. I wish I could, but it’s not going to just go away.”

ChapterTwo

Presley

Zac stood before me silent, his mouth opening then shutting like he had something to say but the words wouldn’t come out. My chest grew tight and I turned to find I’d shocked everyone in the room. All of them sharing looks, but none of them saying a word. I was the outsider, I’d shown up and now I was ruining the life of their brother.

I’m the bad guy.

Finally, I grab my jacket and purse, and start for the door, needing to get out of here. Stepping outside, I breathe in the night air and dig in my purse for the keys when I hear the door open behind me.

“Pres,” Aurora’s soft concerned whisper washes over me like a cold chill.

She is the only family I’ve got. My life isn’t sunshine and roses. I don’t have a parent I can call; they are both dead. I don’t have a cool aunt, because that would be Aurora’s mom and she is a cold bitch.

Aurora is all I have.

She is the last person I want to disappoint. I’ve always looked up to her, but I don’t think she knows how much she means to me.

“I fucked up again,” I confess, without turning around to look at her. If I see her I will lose it and I am barely hanging on as it is. “The girl that can’t seem to get it right but can get knocked up like that.” I snap my fingers. “I’m as fertile as a rabbit. Here I am rolling through life fucking up right and left along the way.”

“Zac is not Grant,” she says and I take a slow calming breath feeling myself crack a little more.

“I know he’s not.” Grant is an asshole, a worthless, heartless abusive asshole. “But he is a guy. They are all the same.”

“That’s not true.” For the first time since she joined me outside, I turn and look at her.

“Yes, it is, they all lie, they all cheat and they all— forget it.” I like to believe that Jace won’t hurt her, but with my track record, I’ve never had a man not hurt me in some form. I can’t reflect my past experiences on her, it’s not fair. “I need to go.”

“Where are you going?”

“Home.” I take a step back to gain some distance. “I never should have come. I’ve already made a mess of everything, it’s what I’m good at Aurora, you know it and so do I.”

As I walk away she hollers out for me, but I don’t turn back. Instead I climb into my car and cry all the way home.

Not knowing what will happen next but fearing that everything was about to blow up in my face.

When I put my key in the lock and twist the handle I am met with the smiling face of the only man that I can trust.

“Momma,” Grayson screams out, jumping up and rushing toward me. Catching him mid jump, I scoop him up and pull him tightly to my chest. Kissing his cheek, he giggles and hugs me in return.

“How’s my favorite guy?”

“Hungry.” He wiggles and I lower him to the ground looking up at Lauren, his sitter. She smiles, pointing to the plate on the counter that’s barely been touched.

“He wants,” she mouths the word cookie, “but he knows he has to eat dinner first.”

“Gray, buddy.” I kneel down getting into his line of sight. “You love mac n cheese and chicken. Why didn’t you eat your dinner?”

“I need dessert.” He crosses his arms over his chest, pushing out his lip.

“Dessert is after you eat all your food.”

“No.” He leans in, bringing his face closer to mine, a determined look on his face. “Rora says dessert is whenever you feel like having it, and I feel like having it now.”

I want to laugh, and of course Lauren covers her own mouth with her hand. How can I not when Grayson is looking at me so seriously channeling our favorite person? It’s true, Aurora has said that, and up until now I never thought of how that could pose issues for me. She has a sweet tooth, always has, and you’d never know it looking at her. She is one of those that can eat a pound of sugar and never gain a pound. Me, I sniff a cupcake and go up a pant size, it’s unfair.

“When you are an adult, you can choose dessert anytime you want, but unfortunately, that only works when you are older.”

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