Page 84 of Fade (Fighting Fate)

Listening to his footsteps getting closer, I knew I couldn’

t put it off any longer. It was now or never.

He appeared in the doorway slowly, hesitantly, his gaze wary as it met mine.

“Amy . . . ”

I tried for a smile. I think I might have succeeded. Maybe. “Hey.”

He glanced around the room before his gaze came back to me again. “Are you okay?”

My mouth suddenly felt like a desert. I licked my lips, trying to calm the rising nerves in my stomach. Nodding, I drew in a steadying breath. “I’m getting there.”

My mind scrambled, searching for the right words to get this over and done with. I wanted to just blurt it out and move on, but something was stopping me. Shit. Why was this so freaking hard?

Questions flashed in the depth of his eyes. He knew me well enough to know something was up.

I sighed and shifted on my feet. “I . . . uh . . . There’s something you should probably know . . . ”

The little crease between his brows deepened for a brief moment before wariness took over. “Okay. ”

It took longer to form the words than I was hoping. My mouth opened and closed a few times, no sounds coming with the effort at all. I hated that I was having to do this when I hadn’t even had the chance to say it out loud to Daniel. It felt wrong.

Straightening my shoulders, I sifted through everything that was swirling around inside me, drawing on the strength Daniel had shown me I’d always possessed.

“I just thought you should know that I’m pregnant. You’re going to be an uncle.”

Ryan stood there, his gaze searching, shock and disbelief waging a war in plain sight. I swallowed, wishing I could just leave him standing there and run away.

The little crease between his eyes deepened. “Are you sure?”

His question confused me. It seemed like an odd response to me. I answered with a nod.

The knot at this throat bobbed as he swallowed, then his mouth opened like he was going to say something, but, like me earlier, nothing came out. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides, and his gaze started to move around the room like he was searching for something but couldn’t remember what it was.

“This can’t be right,” he mumbled.

I frowned. “What?”

He turned, his gaze piercing me. “Does Daniel know?”

I didn’t understand his response. Something about it sent little warning signals off inside my head. It just didn’t seem right. “Yes, he does.”

A short, humorless laugh burst from him. “Don’t tell me. He’s ecstatic.” Turning away from me, I watched him rub his forehead. “Fuck.”

“Ryan?”

He spun around to face me, his lips curling up into a bright smile. It unsettled me more than his earlier reaction.

Ryan threw his arms outwards and stepped forward. “Congratulations!”

Instinct told me to step back away from him. I really didn’t want him to touch me while he was acting so weird. But I managed to hold my ground. His arms wrapped around my shoulders, and he gave me a quick soft squeeze before releasing me and stepping away again.

The same plastic smile molded his lips. “When are you due?”

There was no way I was going to be able to play this game. I was way out of my league. “Ryan,” I said, a hint of a warning in my tone.

He sighed, but his exterior was still wrapped in plastic. “It’s fine, Amy. You just caught me off guard. You seem to be doing that a lot lately, but I promise, I’m good with it. I’m happy for you. For both of you.”

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