Page 24 of Play the Game
“So, theChoicesweatshirt you were wearing when I saw you this morning was…”
She sighs heavily. “A twisted sort of irony?”
I let out an honest to god laugh. “You’re a weird one, Rhodes.”
Her lips quirk up on one side. “I know.”
I test us both out by taking her hand in mine, waiting until she looks at me to speak. “Believing in choice means believing that every pregnant person gets to make their own. Not a partner or a doctor and definitely not a politician who couldn’t identify a uterus if he was literally looking at a labeled picture of a reproductive system. There’s no moral superiority to making one choice over another. Wear the sweatshirt, Rhodes, with no irony at all, twisted or otherwise. You believe in choice, and you’re making a choice. That’s the whole damn point.”
She stares at me for a long moment. “That makes me feel…oddly better.”
I feel a shot of warmth, like I achieved something by helping her. I shove that to the back of my brain to contemplate later. Much, much later. Sitting back against the wall across from her desk, my legs stretched out alongside hers, I study her. “So, what happens now?”
She huffs out a laugh. “I have no fucking idea. I guess I should probably make a doctor’s appointment or something.” She pauses, and I can see the gears turning in her brain, emotions playing over her face like she’s arguing with herself over something. “Would you maybe, like, want to come with me? You don’t have to,” she says quickly. “But I don’t want you to think I’m leaving you out or anything.”
The way she says it feels less like she doesn’t want to leave me out and more like she’s telling me she doesn’t want to go alone, and that understanding burrows right into my chest. “Just tell me when and where, Rhodes, and I’ll be there.”
When something that looks a whole lot like relief crosses her face, I know I made the right call. Then in a split second, relief is replaced by panic. “Oh my god! I just realized I’m going to have to tell my parents I’m pregnant.”
Oh, holy shit. Because, same. My mom is going to freak thefuck out, in theOh my god let me do all the things and buy all the things because I’m going to be a grandma except why aren’t you giving me a daughter-in-law to go with the grandchild?kind of way. It’s going to be a real journey.
“They won’t be happy for you?”
“I sincerely doubt it,” she mumbles. Then, as if nothing happened, her face clears of all emotion and she stands up, gripping the edge of the desk like standing made her dizzy. “I have work to do, so I’m just going to get to that.”
I stand too, watching as she pulls herself together. It’s admirable, really, seeing her flip so quickly from vulnerable to badass. “You sure you don’t want to go home? You were fast asleep when I found you in here.”
“All the more reason to work now. I had a power nap, so I’m all good. I assume you have work to do too, so you can go do that. I’ll let you know when I schedule the doctor’s appointment.”
“Actually, I was heading out. My sister-in-law is releasing a book tomorrow, and my brother is throwing her a little family book party like, right now.”
“Oh my god, I would kill to be at a Hannah Evans book party.”
“Want to come?” The words are out of my mouth before my brain catches up.
“To your family party? Um, no.”
I shrug, feeling…disappointed maybe? This day is a real minefield of emotion.
“You’ll get to know them all eventually. At some point we’ll be sharing a kid.”
“Oh, holy hell,” she mutters. “A kid. With you. What the actual fuck is my life right now?”
“Rhodes, I literally could not agree more.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
COOPER
Pulling open the front door of the brownstone where I live with my brothers, I bypass my first-floor apartment and run up the stairs, heading for the rooftop patio. There’s no real need for me to be running except that I can’t seem to stop. It was like I used up all my calm in Evan’s office, and as soon as I left her, the implications of all of this started hitting me like bullets shot out of a gun. It felt like I could dodge them as long as I kept moving.
Except now, as I reach the door to the roof, there’s nowhere left to run. I’m red faced and sweaty, my dress shirt wrinkled and hanging out of my pants on one side. I’m sure my hair is a mess, and my heart thunders in my chest.
Shoving open the door to the crisp October night, I freeze, my eyes darting around the roof, taking in the surprised faces of my family and Hannah and Jo’s older sister, Hallie, and her husband, Ben, who must have flown in for Hannah’s book party. They’re all looking at me like they’ve never seen me before and honestly, I get it. I feel like an entirely different person than I was an hour ago.
This is the upside down.
“Cooper, are you okay?” My mom steps forward, her face full of concern.
