Page 106 of Just Shred

Guilt slides across his face. “Yes,” he rasps, not saying anything more.

“Don’t worry. I’m going to make this one easy for you,” I tell him. I’m lying through my teeth, but I don’t care. I need to get as far away from the man holding my heart in his hands as possible. I stare into his gray-blue eyes. “Just shred, Jesse, and leave me alone,” I tell him, getting in my truck.

He takes a step away, his mouth half open, with one hand fisting his hair. He doesn’t say anything as I back out of the driveway. Then he does come after me and grabs hold of the open window while he jogs alongside the truck. “Don’t go, Ace. Give me a minute to get myself together,” he pleads.

I can’t look at him, because when I do, I will not find the same love reflected in his eyes. So I speed away and don’t glance in my rearview mirror when I keep on driving. “Fuck,” I swear, slamming my hand against the steering wheel.

I drive aimlessly around town and wait at the side of the road until his Harley takes a left away from the house. I skid to a halt in front of the garage. Dad walks out with Layne in pursuit. Judging by the way they are wiping the grease from their hands, they have been working on the snowmobiles lined in a neat row to put into storage, just in time for the first rainstorm that’s predicted later tonight.

“Hey, kiddo, long time no see,” my father says, his eyes roaming over my body. He stops at my stomach. “Kid, you have—” He pauses, not finishing his sentence, staring at me frozen in place.

“Hey, Layne,” I say. He hugs me, and when he lets me go, his eyes dart over my body.

“Yeah, I’m fucking pregnant, and I found out two weeks ago when you guys were in Sturgis. Is Mom inside?” I bristle, striding past them.

“Yeah, she’s in with Angie,” Layne answers, blinking at me a couple of times. My dad’s mouth is hanging open.

“Great.” I stomp inside while they follow.

“Kid, what happened?” Dad asks, with Layne on his heels.

“Hey, Acie.” Mom hugs me tight and Angie waves from her seat on the couch. “What’s going on?” Mom asks, when my father comes barreling into the living room.

I hold up my hands before Dad rats me out. Layne sits next to Angie on the armrest of the couch.

“I’m fucking pregnant,” I tell them, taking off my leather jacket, and showing them my bump. My Bruce Springsteen tour shirt strains across my midriff.

Mom tries to hide her smile behind her hand.

I hold up my palms in the air. “Do not smile like that, Mom,” I warn. “I know how much you like babies, but this is different from Layne and Angie.”

She snickers and hugs my dad. Traitors. I walk into the kitchen with them, and Layne and Angie follow.

“How far along are you?” Mom asks. I open the fridge and peer inside, grabbing a coconut water I drink eagerly from the carton.

“Give or take sixteen weeks,” I murmur.

“Have you told the kid?” Dad asks. He tries to keep his voice level, but I hear his anger anyway.

Mom admonishes him. “Shush, Norm, let her speak. I mean, it’s Jesse’s, right?” She takes me into her arms and kisses my forehead before letting me go again.

“Yes. I don’t know, okay. He came by, and we had this huge fight, and I left, then waited for him to pull down the drive. You guys didn’t see him?”

Dad shakes his head. “We were in the shed on the opposite part of the property. “Did he start the fight, Acie, or you? If it was him, I’ll kill him,” Dad growls out.

“It was me, okay,” I shout. “I’m the one acting like an asshole for a change, but he didn’t take the news well.”

“Maybe because you were yelling at him, honey.” Mom chuckles.

“So not helping, Mom,” I growl out.

“The kid takes after me,” my father mumbles.

“That’s why I love you, Norm, even when you were acting like a spoiled snowboarder with starry eyes.” Dad grabs her and gives her a kiss.

Both Layne and I groan. “Please, can you two not?” we say, exasperated.

“I’m sorry, kiddo,” Mom says. “But I think you need to make up your mind. Keep being angry at the boy, or tell him how you really feel.”

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