Page 50 of Risk

“Triple sure,” Kaden says, and I stare at him. “Because of the first test you’d already done.”

“Oh. Yeah.” A weak laugh escapes me. “So, obviously, they were all positive because we wouldn’t be here, having this conversation, if they weren’t. Oh, and Cam knows. I needed to talk to someone who had been through a similar situation.”

“I’m glad you had Lo and Cam to help you. I just wish it had been me here for you—to help, you know—but I understand why I wasn’t.” He stares down at his hands in his lap, and I know he’s going to ask something uncomfortable. “Do they know I’m the father?”

“Yes.”

His eyes lift to mine.

“I told Lo, and Cam guessed when I called and asked her for your address. Neither of them will say anything to anyone else until I do. Or we do.”

“Definitely we,” he emphasizes. “I don’t want to be an asshole and pushy here, but I want to be there when you tell Zeus thatyou’re pregnant with my baby. He’s my closest friend, and I owe it to him to tell him that I went there with you, being that you’re his sister. I get that you need to be the one to tell him, but—”

“No, you’re right. You absolutely should be there.”

“Thanks.” He exhales the word. “Have you seen a doctor yet?” he asks.

“No.”

“Then, that’s the first thing we need to do. Get you checked out by a doctor.”

“I know, but I don’t know of any baby doctors.”

“Well, find one. The best.”

“I can’t afford the best.”

I’m a student, doing a PhD, and I wait tables at a diner. Unfortunately, large amounts of money don’t randomly show up in my bank account. Although, if it were up to my older brothers, that would be the case. But they’ve done enough—paying for my bachelor’s degree and my master’s. They wanted to pay for my PhD, but I told them I was going to take out student loans to pay for it. I’d taken enough money from them already, and I want to be independent. I only hope I can repay them back for everything one day.

“I can afford it.”

“Kaden, no, I don’t want—”

“This is my baby too,” he cuts me off. “I want you both to have the best care. So, no arguments on this.”

He stares into my eyes, and I ignore the flutter I feel in my stomach. Probably just the baby. But can I even feel the baby move at this stage? See, I know nothing about pregnancies and babies. I can’t wait for that pregnancy book to arrive, which I ordered on Amazon while I was waiting in the lobby of his building, so I can start to learn about what’s happening with the little life growing inside my body.

“Okay?” he says to me.

“Okay.” I sigh.

We fall into silence, and usually, silences don’t bother me, but this one does.

“Do you want a drink?” I offer, getting up from the sofa. “I was going to make coffee.”

“Coffee’s good for me.”

“It’s decaf. I can’t drink caffeine because of the baby,” I tell him as I walk into the kitchen.

He gets up and follows me over to my tiny kitchen area. Standing on the other side of the counter, he leans his hip against it. “Decaf is good. I drink that mainly anyway because of the headaches.”

I reach and get cups from the cupboard. Put a decaf pod in my coffee machine that Lo bought me for my last birthday, set a cup under it, and get it going.

“You take milk? Sugar?” I ask him.

“Neither.”

“Well, I take both. The sugar currently in large quantities, so don’t judge me.”

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