Page 32 of Risk

I grab the paper instructions again and double-check it against the test. I mean, I got the test that saysPregnantorNot Pregnanton it, and mine clearly saysPregnant, so there can’t really be a mistake there, but still…

“No way this is happening to me.” I put the instructions and test on the bathroom counter and drop my head in my hands, breathing in and out. “I’m in the first semester of my PhD. I live in university housing, which is a fucking studio apartment! And work in a diner! I have student loans! I can’t have a baby. I just can’t!”

Okay. Deep breaths.

It’s going to be okay.

No.

It’s not going to be okay!

I’m pregnant with a fucking baby!

To a man who doesn’t want me. Who happens to be my eldest brother’s best friend!

Shit.

Zeus and Ares are going to be mad.

Lo will be okay—I think. He’ll probably be angry, but he’s my twin, so he has to be nice to me. It’s twin law.

And of course, Lo is the first person I call.

He is the only person I would call in this instance.

I’m close with all my brothers, but Lo and I shared a womb.

Yes, we wind each other up, but that’s normal with siblings close in age. Weirdly, Lo and I are closer now that we live apart. But irrespective of all of that, he’s my other half, and he is the only person I want to speak to right now.

I get my cell and hit Call on Lo’s number.

“Please pick up. Please pick up,” I whisper while it continues to ring.

I think it’s going to go to voice mail when the call connects, and Lo’s groggy voice says, “This’d better be good. I was sleeping.”

“Apollo.” My voice cracks on the use of his full name. I rarely, if ever, call him that.

“What’s wrong?” He sounds alert, and his tone is full of worry. “Are you okay?”

“No.” A tear leaks from my eye, and I brush it away.

“Is it Zeus or Ares? Gigi, Thea?” The panic is audible in his voice.

“No, it’s me, but I’m not hurt. Just…” A sob escapes me. “I need you.”

“I’m on my way. You at home?”

“Yes.”

“Give me thirty, and I’ll be there.”

“Okay,” I whisper.

TWELVE

At the sound of the buzzer, letting me know someone is at the main door, I clamber off the sofa, my legs stiff from sitting in the same position for too long, and stagger over to press the button to open the main building door without asking who it is because I know it’s Lo.

I’ve been sitting here since I hung up with him, staring at the wall, trying to hold all my emotions inside so that I won’t freak out and start panicking.

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