Page 165 of The Catalyst

I roll my eyes. “Ugh. Men.”

He grins as he drives out of the parking lot and heads out of Grove Hill and toward downtown Houston.

* * *

What’sthe best way to hide my pregnancy from the Gray family patriarch? First, I have to visit an OBGYN far from Grove Hill and Nolan’s reach. I chose one so far out it's almost too far. Ninety minutes from my hotel seems far enough.

Ollie holds the door to the doctor’s office open for me, and I grin at the gentlemanly behavior of a man who is the opposite of a gentleman in every way possible.

We walk up to the admission desk and are checked in quickly as a girl around my age walks up to the lady behind the desk next to the one helping me.

“I’m sorry. We have no open appointments, and we do not accept walk-ins,” the older lady behind the desk says as the girl beside me pulls off her sunglasses. She looks exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes.

“Listen,” she mutters. I hate eavesdropping, but something about her has gained my attention. “The guy I had a one-night stand with last night didn’t use protection. The pharmacy won’t give me the morning-after pill without a prescription. I will pay cash to see a doctor for five seconds and get a prescription. I’m a nineteen-year-old college student, for god’s sake. Just please!”

My heart goes out to her. That can’t be easy. I’m only eighteen, but I’m not worried about getting knocked up. Iamknocked up. She must be so freaked out.

The receptionist gives her a nasty look before saying, “You should’ve thought of that before you spread your legs.”

Rage simmers beneath the surface, and I’m sure smoke is coming out of my ears.

“How dare you,” I growl at the receptionist as I move toward her, heat billowing off of me in waves. “You work in a medical office, and you have the sheer audacity to slut shame a teenager. Isn’t it against the law for a person working in the medical field to allow their personal or religious beliefs to affect the way they treat a patient? You just turned her away and treated her like shit because she’s looking for emergency contraceptives. It is her right to be able to take the necessary precautions. Would you say the same thing to someone who came in here looking to get on birth control?” I cross my arms over my chest, fuming at this old lady.

Respect the elderly? Screw that. She needs to show this girl the respect she deserves and a little compassion. If she can’t do that, she should retire and go home.

The receptionist blanches at me like she assumed I wouldn’t stand up for this girl. “This is a private matter, miss.”

“It stopped being private when you decided to be disrespectful and rude to this young woman when she’s only looking for help. She deserves an apology, and if pharmacies won’t give emergency contraceptives without a prescription, she needs an appointment. If you don’t cooperate, I’ll make sure to let the doctor know how horribly you have spoken to Miss…” I trail off before looking at the girl, who sends me a grateful smile.

“Becky Hodges.” She fills in the blank while clutching her purse to her side.

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” the rude receptionist starts before looking at Becky. “But, we do not have any appointments available. And all of our appointments for tomorrow have been taken. I suggest trying your primary care physician. Any doctor can write a prescription.”

The receptionist quickly slips away like she thinks I might launch myself over the counter at her.

“Thank you anyway,” Becky mutters as I turn to her.

“No problem. She was being a complete bitch to you, and I won’t stand for stuff like that. My name is Beth, by the way,” I introduce myself, and Oliver wraps his arm around my waist, holding me back against his chest.

There’s something that feels so untapped about him touching me in public. He understands that we need to keep things quiet…or, as Nolan put it, “discreet.” The only time we can be “out” and “affectionate” is far away from Grove Hill.

I can’t get enough of feeling like it’s okay for him to touch me. I really like the way he does it.

“And this is Oliver.”

He nods against my shoulder but doesn’t say a single word to her, but she doesn’t seem to be affected by his silence.

“It’s nice to meet both of you. Again, thank you so much for standing up for me. She’s like the fourth person to say that to me today. I don’t know what to do, but I gotta keep trying. I guess I’ll check more doctor’s offices and see if anyone has availability.”

I give her what I hope is an encouraging smile before grabbing her hand, and I squeeze her fingers in reassurance.

“Good luck.”

* * *

I askedOliver if he wanted to wait in the waiting room for me to be done, but he insisted on coming into the room and being present for this whole process. I have no clue what’s happening in his head, but I don’t have time to ask before the doctor enters the room.

I’ve already stripped down my lower half and sat down for the examination so, I’m not exposed to the middle-aged male doctor.

---