Page 29 of Wrapped Around My Heart
“Told you I brought everything,” she says sheepishly, still holding the box out for me to take from her. But I can’t move. Vivian leans closer, gently placing her free hand on my leg.
“Babe, you at least need to rule out the possibility. Maybe it is just a cold that’s fucking with your body. Which would be surprising, considering we both once had the fluandour periods and we were quite literally in hell. Still”—she extends the box outonce more and this time, I take it from her with a shaky hand—“you should take the test, just in case.”
“Will you do it with me?”
Viv raises a brow. “You want me to pee on a stick with you?”
I huff out a half-assed laugh and roll my eyes. “No, dumbass. I just mean?—”
“I know what you meant, Ari.” She takes the bowl from my lap and sets it on the coffee table before holding her hand out for me. “I’m right here with you. Wouldn’t be the first time I saw you pee. Probably won’t be the last.”
“Might be. Considering you’re moving in three weeks.”
“If you think for one second that me moving two states away means we won’t be all up in each other’s business, you’ve got another thing coming for you.” She helps me stand, then snatches up an unopened sleeve of plastic cups before following me upstairs to my bedroom.
I probably could have saved myself the hassle of going up a flight of stairs while on the brink of puking. But taking a pregnancy test feels like something that should be done inmypersonal bathroom.
Vivian follows me into my attached bathroom and hands me a plastic cup.
“Can’t I just pee on the stick?” I ask, dumbfounded beyond belief.
“I mean, yeah. But if it does come back positive and you end up wanting to take another for double confirmation, you have pee ready to go again instead of having to wait until you gotta go again.”
“Oh,” I say, shoving my sweats down, and sit on the toilet before taking the empty cup. After a few seconds of tense silence, I’m about to lose my mind. “Distract me. I need to think about anything else but what I’m doing.”
From the corner of my eye, I see her hop onto the counter as she starts rambling about how she plans to fit everything she owns into her hatchback. Her rambling distracts me enough to finally pee in the damn cup.
After washing my hands, I stand in front of the counter just staring at it.
A blue package fills my vision as Vivian hands me a test, already ripped open on one side. Sucking in a deep breath, I take it from her and go through the motions before putting the cap back on and placing the test face down.
The longer I stare at the test, the more my gut riots.
“Shit,” I mumble, barely managing to drop to my knees in front of the toilet. Thankfully, my hair was already secured in a messy bun on top of my head, so it’s one less thing to worry about.
Considering all I’ve managed to eat in the past forty-eight hours is a couple saltine crackers, I’m shocked that there’s even anything left to lose. What feels like an eternity of expelling a demon from my body, I sit on my floor with my back leaning against the bathtub.
“Well, on the bright side, time’s up,” Viv says and I crack open an eye to find her pointing at the test.
I hold out a hand, unable to get up or even say anything. Not that Vivian needs me to.
My best friend grabs the test, keeping her eyes on me and the test face down as she comes to sit by my side. The cool plastic meets my palm, and I don’t let myself think about it as I flip the test.
“Holy shit.” Viv says at the same time I say, “Oh fuck.”
The word pregnant fills the little screen. That’s all it takes for me to lurch forward once more and cling to the toilet like my life depends on it.
CHAPTER 12
Dean
“Dude, thank God, you brought her,”Landon says the second he opens the door at his parents’ house. He steps aside to let me and Cora in. “Mom was panicking because she forgot to text you about bringing her, but she made a special dog friendly treat.”
“I learned the first time I showed up without her that it was a mistake.” I laugh, bending down to adjust the Christmas harness I picked out for Cora and making sure the snowman charm hanging from her collar is straight. She sits patiently, her tail wagging quickly back and forth as she waits for my command that she can go.
My girl might only be five months old, but she is brilliant. We’ve been doing weekly obedience training classes, and she picks everything up on the first or second try. Sometimes I’m convinced that she has better self-control than me. The classes have only reiterated what I already knew—she’s the best damn dog ever. The only time she doesn’t listen to my command on the first go is when we’re around Arianna. I’ll try to tell her to sit or to come here, and Cora will immediately turn to Ari as if she’s asking for permission to listen to me.
And I’m not even mad at it. It just means that Cora adores Ari just as much as I do.
