Page 60 of Spike's Perdition
I go back inside, ignoring all the faces staring intently at me, and make my way to the office. Megan follows, shutting the door behind her.
I focus on my computer screen, but I can feel her eyes burning into my skull.
“Just say it,” I spit out.
“You’re gonna meet him, aren’t you?” she says with no judgment.
“I told him we could talk. In public,” I stress.
“Uh-huh,” she mocks. “Afraid to be alone with him? You do realize you can’t get any more pregnant, right?”
I throw a pen at her. “I don’twanthim, Megan.”
“Okay,” she draws out. “You can lie to me, but don’t lie to yourself.”
I flinch. “How can you say that after everything he’s put me through?”
A small smile plays on her lips. “Babe, think about it. You’re both to blame for this situation.” I open my mouth to argue, but she continues before I can get a word out. “Yes, you’re pregnant and hormonal, but girl, you two have chemistry. That night at Purgatory when you danced with him, I knew then that something electric was brewing between you both. You’re stubborn when you’re pissed off. I get that. And you have every right to be with all that’s happened, but honey, so does he. You kept this secret at first out of anger, which has had a snowballeffect, and after everything that’s happened, he still wants to talk to you.”
I close my mouth as her words sink in. Megan’s right, but I’ll never admit it to her because her head will get bigger than it already is. If I told Spike about the baby the night he came to my house, this might have all been avoided.
Or maybe not becauseAubreyis still a factor.
“I’ll be back later.” I give Megan a quick hug.
“Good luck,” she calls out to me as I’m rushing out of the building.
I walk into Dob’s Diner an hour later and spot Spike in a booth. My mouth salivates as the smell of greasy fries hits my nose. The waitress stops at our table after I slide in across from Spike.
She’s holding a pad of paper and a pen. “What can I get you?”
“Double cheeseburger, extra fries, side salad with ranch dressing, double chocolate shake, and an iced tea, please.”
Spike snickers as the waitress writes down my order before she asks him what he wants. “Same thing, but no salad or shake.”
“No problem, I’ll bring your drinks out shortly,” she says.
After she walks away, we stare at each other for a moment before either of us speaks.
“I’m sorry,” we both say at the same time.
“I’ll go first,” I offer, and he waves for me to continue. “I had every intention of telling you I was pregnant the night Skye gave you my number, but when you called… I couldn’t deal with your hatred and the fact that you called me an uptight bitch. When you showed up at my house later, I was so pissed at you for talking to me like I was dirt. I didn’t feel you deserved to know.”
“Ivory, I…”
“Let me finish, please,” I plead. “I went for my first ultrasound and saw the baby’s heartbeat, and all I could think about was him and how unfair it was for me to keep this fromyou. I vowed right then and there to make it right. Aubrey or Glitter, whoever she is, followed me and told me lies about you being her old man. Then Skye and Cece told me you don’t have an old lady… is that true?”
“That’s true,” he verifies. “I’m not in a committed relationship. If I were, I never would’ve slept with you, I swear.”
“That’s what they said,” I admit. “After I found out the baby needs surgery after he’s born, the guilt ate at me, and even though I promised Aubrey I’d never tell you, I knew you had a right to know.”
Spike’s mouth tightens. “That when she threatened to have you fucking killed?”
I gulp. “Yes. Megan and Eric made me realize that it could all be an elaborate lie fabricated to keep you to herself. I was going to call you that day, but we ran into each other while I was running errands.”
“How’s the baby?”
I tell him everything Dr. Wilde explained to me, and what would happen after he was born and how long he would be in the NICU after. I don’t gloss over any details.
