Page 24 of Dubious Secrets

I frown, and he kisses the tip of my nose.

“Please try to control your stress for our baby, okay?”

Blowing out a breath, I know he’s right, but it’s not as easy as just turning it off. He kisses my mouth once before pulling away.

“It’s been a minute since you ate. I’ll make you some food and then leave. Why don’t you do some work? At least then Mary won’t find it suspicious you didn’t come with me.”

I smile. “Look at us, professional liars.”

“Secret keepers.” He winks and gets off the bed.

“What are these?”

I look up from my laptop, eyeing the pink bottle in my sister’s hand as dread explodes in my chest. Without a thought, I tug down my sweatshirt and it draws her attention. She yanks me out of bed, sending my snack and laptop to the floor, and I let out a cry as I stumble to my feet. Mary drops the prenatals and bares my stomach to the room before staggering back with her hand over her mouth.

Ryker crashes into the doorway, his eyes bouncing all over and taking in the scene. I rub at where she grabbed me, and his eyebrows furrow when he catches the movement.

“What’s going on?” he asks. The hesitation and concern for me in his tone does not bode well.

Mary slowly turns her head to him, tears forming in her eyes as she picks up the bottle of vitamins again. “Is it yours? Is my sister carrying your fucking baby?”

“Wait. If you’d just let us explain?—”

She throws it at him with a screech, and he blocks it with his arm as she turns to me. I stumble back a step, my arms covering my stomach. Her eyes drop to it before she squeezes them shut andshakes her head. I don’t think my sister would seriously hurt me, but I’m not going to chance it. Ryker walks closer, pushing me to climb onto the bed as he stands before Mary.

She shakes her head again and blows out a breath. “Explain then. I’d love to hear this.”

Ryker and I exchange a glance and he clears his throat. “It was an accident. The first night she needed something from our room, and I thought she was you… and it just happened.”

Mary’s lips press tight and she stares at him with a blank expression before her eyes drift to me. “And you didn’t think to correct him? You just laid there and took it?”

My cheeks flush with heat. “His hand was covering my mouth.”

She barks out a hollow laugh and nods. “Yeah, he does enjoy that. Okay, so say I believe this bullshit story. Why not just tell me the next day?” Her fists are curled at her sides and tears spring up in her eyes.

“I begged him not to. I was afraid you’d kick me out, and I’d just got you back,” I say.

Mary’s eyes shut briefly and her throat bobs with a swallow. “And when you found out you were pregnant?”

“We found out a couple of days before you got the traveling contract…we didn’t want to ruin that experience for you,” Ryker interjects.

Her chin tilts up and she levels us with an exasperated stare. “Ruin that experience? And you didn’t think coming home to my sister’s belly blown up like a balloon wouldn’t do that?” Mary’s eyes narrow as she looks at me. “And you, really? You decided to keep it? I know Ryker would let you do whatever you want, he’sa good guy like that. Loaded enough to pay child support too. So what? You decided ‘hey no big deal, I’ll just have a kid with my sister’s boyfriend’ even though you barely graduated high school, have no job experience, no money. Hell, you’d be on the streets if you didn’t move in?—”

“That’s enough,” Ryker’s stern voice has Mary standing taller, but he continues anyway. “We understand you’re upset, but we feel bad enough. Stress isn’t good for Stassie, and?—”

“I don’t give a fuck what’s good or not for her. How dare?—”

“I do!” Ryker shouts, interrupting my sister again. His hand swings to me, pointing out my stomach. “That’s my child, and I fucking care. And you know what, I care about Stassie, too. So I think we should take some time?—”

“Oh my god. It wasn’t a one-time thing. You guys kept fucking,” Mary blurts out, her hand covering her mouth.

How could she possibly know that? My heart beats an uneven rhythm in my chest and I’m frozen, unsure what to say or if we should lie.

Ryker’s breathing is a little ragged as he stands still in front of me.

Mary nods once, looking between us. “You can’t deny it, can you?”

When her eyes meet mine, I drop them to the bedding. What is there to say? The proof of what we’ve done is growing in my belly.

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