Page 34 of Mountain Daddy

This can't be happening. I'm on birth control. The pill. I take it every morning like clockwork.

Except—

Fuck.

That week I forgot to pick up more. I said I’d do it later.

I never did. I got lazy. Tired. It wasn’t like I was fucking on a daily basis.

I bury my face in my hands. How could I be so stupid?

No pill. No condom. No brain cells, apparently. Of all the things I’ve fucked up, this one might top the charts.

One night of heat and I threw common sense off a rooftop. He made me stupid. Made me forget all except how he felt inside me.

The one time in my life I throw caution to the wind, andthishappens.

I need a test. Need to know for sure.

Half an hour later, I'm back home from the pharmacy. I run to the bathroom. Lock the door. There’s no one here, but he crawls around in my mind.

My hands shake so hard I can barely rip open the damn box.

The instructions might as well be in Sanskrit.

Wait three minutes.

Whatever.

My brain doesn’t work. I skim the pictures.

Pee on stick. Wait. Look for lines.

Simple enough.

The peeing part is easy. The waiting around? Not so much. For the first time in my life, I understand just how long three minutes can be.

My heart rattles around in my chest. Makes me sick. The test waits on the counter. I pace. Up and down. Up and down.

The bathroom’s too small for this kind of panic. Too quiet for the noise in my head.

I think about Nikolai.

About the man on the ground. The brass knuckles. The blood.

What kind of world would I be dragging a child into?

What kind of life?

Trouble will follow that man everywhere. He even fucks like he’s at war.

My phone buzzes. Three minutes.

I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and look.

Two pink lines.

Clear as day. Unmistakable.

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