Page 33 of Risk

Because I know that freaking out won’t do me any good. It’ll just make things worse. My feelings and emotions will heighten, making my situation seem bleak. So, I just sat and waited for Lo to get here, trying to quiet all the thoughts and fears in my mind. I could also be in a state of shock.

But it’s okay because Lo is here now, and he’s a great listener. After I talk to him, then I’ll be able to rationalize it all in my mind. I’ll be able to get all my thoughts in order and know what to do.

Well, that’s the hope.

I unlock the door and open it, waiting for Lo to appear.

And he does a moment later. He comes bounding up the stairs. His dark hair is overgrown and messy, and he looks like he’s wearing yesterday’s clothes—and knowing my twin brother, he probably is.

How my baby brother is ever going to comb his hair, dress himself in a suit every day, and go to court to defend people once he passes the bar is beyond me.

It still boggles my mind that my laid-back, chilled-out brother is going to officially be a lawyer soon.

“You look awful,” he says to me, stepping through the open door and wrapping me in a hug.

I sag into him. The scent of my brother is like home, and it’s the only place I want to be right now because my brothers equal a safe place where nothing and no one can hurt me.

“Thanks. You too,” I mutter, my voice muffled by his jacket.

He chuckles as I release him and shut the door.

“You want something to drink?” I ask, ever the polite host.

“No, I want you to tell me what’s wrong.”

I stare at him for a beat, and then I go over to the coffee table, pick up the pregnancy test, and walk it over to him.

I hold it out for him to take, which he does.

He stares down at it and then back to my face. “This yours?”

“No. I found it on the street and brought it home.”

He lifts an annoyed brow.

“Of course it’s mine.” I sigh.

“So, you’re…pregnant.”

I exhale another breath and wrap my arms around my midriff. “Apparently so.”

He looks down at the pregnancy test he’s still holding. “Did you pee on this?”

“Of course I did.”

“Fuck’s sake, sis. Gross.” He walks over and drops the test back onto the coffee table, and then he goes in the kitchen and washes his hands.

“God, it’s just a little pee. Not like you’re going to get pregnant from it. Speaking of that, can we please focus on that fact? Because I’m about five seconds away from freaking the fuck out!” My voice rises an octave with each word.

Lo finishes drying his hands on the kitchen towel. “Are you sure you’re pregnant?”

I give him a look. “We both looked at the same test,” I say in a droll voice.

“Yeah, I know it says you’re pregnant, but there was this girl at Penn State who thought she was knocked up by one of my buddies, Brody—you remember him.”

“No.”

“Sure you do. You met him a few times when you came to stay with me. The football player. Dark hair. Had a total hard-on for Ares—”

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