Page 83 of Broken

Danielle and I left the office suite together. We laughed and made plans to take Aine to the beach soon and spread Layla's ashes. I thought about inviting Kai along and asked if she was okay with Mia and Tess joining too. Mainly Tess.

We were in the parking lot, and almost to our cars when Eric came out of nowhere. "And here I thought he got the hint," Danielle whispered, reading my mind.

I groaned. I was not in the mood to deal with this. Why was he so persistent anyway? We fucked once and spent half a dinner together before the night at the club. Most guys would walk away without a second thought in his situation.

"Eric now is not a good time." My tone came across bitchier than I initially intended, but the closer he came to me, the stronger that Palo Santo scent of him got, and it didn't sit well with my stomach.

"I just want to make sure you're okay, Sinclair. You won't return my calls or texts." Eric stood in front of me now. My ears were ringing, and my head spinning. I couldn't explain why the smell of him made me so nauseous. I was pregnant with Aine the only other time my stomach acted this sensitive.

Oh, God. As the possibility hit me, I barely registered the argument between Danielle and Eric. She said something about him getting the hint. He argued that I owed him a chance to explain himself, and he never put anything in my drink. I believed him.

My heart raced, my head was pounding, and I barely heard myself speak.

"I believe you," I whispered. I might have been in shock. There was no way I could be pregnant. I used a condom when I slept with Eric in his office, and I used a condom when Kai and I slept together. Except...

Oh, Fuck. Oh, Fuck fuckety fuck. "I have to go." I went to push past

Eric, I needed to make it to my car, but he blocked me.

"Please, Sinclair. Will you listen? I don't want you to ruin my repu— "

Before Eric finished the sentence that would surely solidify him in the douchebag hall of shame, my stomach chose to respond to his overuse of body spray and send my lunch up and out and all over his pants.

Danielle laughed. "That's what she thinks of your reputation, asshole."

It was funny. But my stomach twisted in knots, and my anxiety decided then to make an appearance. "I told you; I need to go." I shoved past a shocked and disgusted Eric and got in my car and sped away.

A few minutes later my phone started ringing. Thankfully, it was

Danielle, not Eric.

"Babe! Are you okay?" She asked before I could say anything.

"I don't know. I need to go home. Sorry, love. I just, I gotta go." I ended the call and tossed my cell phone onto the passenger seat.

There was no way I could be pregnant. I distinctly remember Kai using a condom every time we slept together. Except. "Fuck" I screamed into the silence.

Every time we slept together when Kai came down here, we didn't use protection. Mother fuck! But I thought it was too soon for morning sickness. Was it too soon to take a test? It had been two weeks since we slept together at his hotel room here in town.

I pulled into the CVS parking lot closest to my apartment and googled "What's the earliest you can test for pregnancy" All the results said fourteen days from possible conception. A few also recommended not testing until the person misses their period.

I counted back to my last period. Based on when it ended, I should have started my period almost a week ago. I've been a few days late before. It wasn't a big deal, I told myself. But why was I so worried? Why did I feel like the best thing to do was to pack up my life, pack up my daughter's life and run away?

I felt so lost and alone as I walked into the pharmacy and bought myself a pregnancy test. The woman at the check-out counter silently judged me and watched me as I walked out. Sorry lady, been there, done that with the whole silent judgy shit.

I sat in the shower while I waited for the test results. I couldn't stop the tears that fell as I thought about all the ways I ruined everyone's life. All the ways I made mistakes and put other people's lives, their futures, in jeopardy.

The timer on my phone went off, and I took a deep breath before reaching out of the shower door and grabbing the little white stick from the counter. I closed my eyes and sent a silent little prayer up to whoever listened, begging for a negative result.

I told myself no matter what it said, I wouldn't run again. I'd give my daughter the stability and the family she deserved. Opening my eyes, I looked down and I swear my heart stopped.

The two pink lines in the result window said it all. No. This couldn't be happening again. It wasn't possible. Kai and I had been careful. So, fucking careful. I started thinking back to the time's Kai and I had sex. We used condoms, right? I asked myself.

I felt myself starting to panic. I counted back and I realized we hadn't used a condom since the first night we fucked, in my childhood bedroom. How could we have been so fucking careless? We weren't reckless seventeen and eighteen-year-olds. We were adults who knew better.

I never thought about getting on birth control because I always used a condom. I had always been safe, and smart about sex.

Terminating the pregnancy was always an option, but when I thought about that, I thought about what my life would be missing if I went down that road when I was pregnant with Aine. So, it was no longer an option.

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