Page 51 of Screwed

“No, Flynn is heading over to Gavin’s and I think Teller is joining them. Or maybe he’s on call tonight and is headed to the fire station.”

I nod and turn onto her street. Her driveway is empty so I’m guessing that Flynn has already left. We park and climb out as Lyla and Sutton both pull up. Hudson climbs out and starts to grab some take-out bags from the back seat and I follow after Madelyn as she unlocks the front door.

“It smells amazing,” Sutton says as her and Lyla help Hudson carry in all of the food.

My stomach flips and I dart toward the bathroom just in time to throw up the few bites of sandwich that I had for lunch.

“Should we take the food outside?” Sutton asks and I shake my head.

“No, I’ll be fine in a minute.”

I splash some cold water onto my face and wait for my stomach to settle before I head back out to join my friends.

“I’m so sorry, Iris. If you can tell me what is causing the nausea, I can take those dishes away.”

“I really don’t know. It feels like it’s something different every day,” I admit.

He looks over to the food and I know that he’s going to offer to take it all away so I say something before he can.

“It will pass in a few minutes. I’ll be fine.”

He nods and kisses Lyla goodbye.

“You’re not staying?” I ask and he shakes his head.

“I’ve got to get back to the restaurant. Let me know what you guys think of the menu,” he says.

He waves as he heads out of the front door and we turn back to the food.

“Where should we start?” Madelyn asks and she’s practically licking her lips.

“I think this bag was the appetizers,” Lyla says and I take a seat at the kitchen table as they start to split up all of the food.

“Are you going to eat?” Sutton asks me and I shake my head.

“No, not right now anyway.”

She nods and takes the seat next to me then pushes her plate farther away from me. She gives me an apologetic look but I wave her off.

“It’s okay. It’s starting to pass already.”

Madelyn and Lyla join us and they start to eat and talk about the menu but I know that that won’t last long. I take a few deep breaths through my mouth and then grab a water bottle out of the fridge. It looks like they’re done with the appetizers and when I sit back down, they turn to me.

“How are you feeling?” Madelyn asks.

“Tired, nauseous… stressed out.”

“Have you seen Arlo since the other night?” Sutton asks carefully and I shake my head.

“Not up close. Just as he was coming or going from the bar.”

“I’m surprised that he hasn’t tried to talk to you again,” Lyla says and she seems upset that he hasn’t.

I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t feel the same way sometimes. I want him to fight for this thing between us but I guess that I thought that those feelings had more to do with the baby hormones.

“He tried to wave at me the first day but I pretended like I didn’t see him,” I tell them.

“So, you still haven’t told him that you’re pregnant with his baby then,” Sutton says and I answer her even though it wasn’t really a question.

---