Page 120 of Wicked Deceit
I run a hand along my stomach in awe as tears spring into my eyes, overriding the panic pulsing through me. There’s a life slowly growing inside me, and I don’t have anyone to call to talk me off the ledge. Usually, I call Zepp. He’s my voice of reason, the man with a plan, and everything in between. But I can’t talk to him right now. Not about this. I need someone else sensible, someone else to tell me that I’ll be okay. Closing my eyes, I grumble because I know the perfect person to call in this situation, whether it makes it better or worse. I pull out my phone, dialing the one woman I probably shouldn’t trust with this information, but I do anyway.
“Hello?” Callie, my sister, asks out of breath. I make an indescribable noise through the phone, halting her following words. “Did you just say what I think you said?!” she shrieks in happiness, spouting off a few more words so loud that I have to pull the phone away from my ear until she settles down.
“Callie,” I grumble, setting the phone next to my ear again, hoping she won't screech.
“Oh, my God! This is amazing! The twins and Violet need a new cousin! Gah! They’re going to be so excited! And Mom! Have you told Mom? Wait—have you told anyone?” By the time she’s done shouting her excitement, she’s breathless and panting through the phone.
“I’m currently in the house alone, skipping a class, might I add. But uh, it’s nine tests, Callie. They’re all positive. And no, I haven’t told anyone yet. Should I text them? What the hell should I do?” I whine into the phone, earning me a chuckle in return.
“Deep breaths, Squirt,” she says, laughing at me. “I remember when I told Dex, I was fucking terrified. I mean, we’d been together for three years, and I still thought he’d tuck tail and run away.”
I frown. “Uh, not helping. There are four of them! God, they’re going to flip their shit. This is our senior year! I can’t be fat and waddling!” I hiss into the phone, trying to listen to the noises from the rest of the house, and come up empty-handed. They should all be away from home for at least another twenty minutes or more—hopefully more so I can prepare myself for the inevitable meeting.
“Pfft, cool your jets, Kace. I have never in my life seen people have what you five have. You guys are like special little unicorns to each other. They love you so friggin’ much, it makes me want to puke sometimes.”
I run my hand down my face, pushing off the bathroom counter. “Fair point. But what if they don’t want it? He/she? What if we—” I swallow the lump in my throat, reigning in my emotions.
“I think your irrational hormones are already settling in. You’re jumping to some wild conclusions. You’re the sun to their universe. They literally revolve around you. They bought you a house for your eighteenth birthday. I mean, who does that? Amazing men, that’s who! They’re going to drop to their damn knees and love you and that baby. God, I hope it’s only one,” she mutters through a dramatic sigh.
“Fine,” I huff. “You actually make sense, sometimes.”
She snorts. “Sometimes? I’m older and wiser and—Oh hell no. Owen! Oliver! You had better put those markers down!” I pull the phone from my ear as she hollers some more at her twin boys, who do nothing but cause havoc on everyone and everything around them. Paybacks are a bitch, I guess. Shit. There better not be twins inside of me. I’m so screwed if there are, especially between the possible fathers and me. Fuck, we’re in so much shit. I run a hand over my stomach, praying to the little bean inside me that they won’t cause too much chaos when the time comes.
“I swear, my twins are demons disguised as tiny humans! They just—Kaycee, they wrote on my walls, and their diapers are MISSING! I swear—” she whines into the phone with a sigh. “I have to make sure they don't write their names in poop. Again. Keep me updated, though, okay? I can’t wait to spread the news! K, love you, byeeee!” She sings into the phone with what I can only assume is a giant grin on her lips.
“Calliope,” I grit. “Don’t tell anyone — not yet, please.”
“Pfft, no. That’s your job to tell Mom and Dad!" A shuddering breath pushes through her nose.
“Okay. Love you,” I whisper, getting the exact words in return.
Setting the phone down on the vanity, I lean against it and take deep breaths to ground myself. Shit, I should have asked her more questions. What do I do now? I mean—I have to tell the guys. But how? Do I make a big production of it? Or just step up and say, ‘Can you pass the potatoes? Oh, by the way, you’ve all got some mighty strong sperm. I’m pregnant.’ When do I need a doctor? Now? Later? Crapppppp.
I lean my head back against the mirror with a hammering heart. Who knew this would be so difficult?
I yelp as the bathroom door bursts open, pounding against the wall with such force that it distracts Seger as he looks at the wall for damage. I bunch the tests in my hands behind my back in a fucking panic and try not to look so obvious when he turns to look at me with his eyebrow raised.
“What the hell, Seger! I could have been pooping or something,” I shriek, shifting the tests in my hands again. Yeah, this is smooth, so fucking smooth. Sweat beads on my brow when he cocks his head, examining me from head to toe, and purses his lips.
Don’t be so damn suspicious. Just pee and get out.I think to myself when Seger steps forward with a swagger in his step.
Please don’t let him see them yet. I need time to process this whole pregnancy thing for myself.
He snorts, smirking at me strolling toward the toilet. “Ah, Angel, we know when you do that. The door is always locked, and you watch TikTok for like forty minutes on the loudest volume.”
My cheeks heat as I glower at him. “Well, I was alone,” I huff, shifting my weight from foot to foot. “I could have left the damn door unlocked or something.” I squeeze the massive amounts of tests in my hands, counting down the seconds until he’s gone.
Seger snorts at me again, ignoring my sass. “Sorry, Angel Baby. I had to use the facilities. Got the guys downstairs. We are going to watch old games and strategize for the new season. Plus, I had to see what you were up to.” He smirks back at me like he knows. God, he fucking knows something. Shit, he always sees through my shenanigans, and this one is way too big for him to see through. I swallow hard when he returns to the longest pee in history, I shift my foot again, and my heart falls into my butt.
One innocent tiny test scuffs to the floor with a loud clatter, and my eyes bulge from my head as I stare at it. So innocent. So life-changing. And it’s on the floor, in plain sight. Crapppp. I’m frozen where I stand, limbs trembling. My heart pounds against my ribs, harder than it ever has before. I’m more scared now than I’ve been since I woke up in the hospital four years ago with no memory of what happened.
Please don’t see it. Please don’t see it.
Yessss! Thankfully, Seger doesn’t notice the noise. I quickly stomp on it, scoot it closer, and conceal it under my foot. I leave my foot over it as he strolls my way with that same smirk resting on his lips and narrowed eyes.
“Well, you guys have fun,” I squeak, holding my body as still as possible so he goes away without another word.
Play it cool, Kace. You’re as cool as a damn cucumber sweating bullets in the middle of summer in the garden. Shit. I’m so not cool right now. Maybe I should tell him I have gas or something, and he’ll go away and leave me to my business.
