Page 15 of The Music of Love

“You—you don’t care?” I ask, twisting beneath him so I can look into his eyes. “Cal, you’re a bigtime rockstar. I could get pregnant. What if–?”

With the kindest eyes I’ve ever seen, Cal runs a caring hand up my stomach and then kisses me softly on the cheek. “I know how it works, Reese.” He smiles. “And personally, I don’t see any problem with that happening.”

10

Reese

“Youwhat?”Sarah is looking at me like I just told her the greatest joke in the world, or I’ve lost my mind and need to be admitted to the psych ward—or both.

“Yeah, see? I told you I couldhandlehim,” I reply with the cockiest voice I can muster. It’s really not how I’m feeling about the way things went down between Cal and me, but I have to talk it up in front of her.

We’re in my bedroom, as the living room is still filled with racks of designer clothing, and I’ve just finished recounting the events of last night and my date with Cal. I spent the night at his hotel, but he had a bunch of business to get to today, so I came back to the apartment and ran into Sarah, who was just waking up and wanted to know everything.

“Handlehim, Reese? You didn’t justhandlehim, you…” Her voice trails off, and she twists her lips to the side. This is the first time in a long time I think I’ve seen Sarah without something to say.

“Yes?” I ask with a smile. “What did I do, sweetie?”

“Would you shut up? This is abig deal!”

“You think I don’t know that?” I ask. “I could be pregnant!”

“No shit!” Sarah lets out a weird-sounding sigh and takes a seat on my bed. Using a hair-tie from her wrist, she puts her hair back. “So…what are you gonna do?”

My jaw drops. Did I just hear what I think I heard? Ever since we’ve been friends, Sarah has always had some kind of advice for me, even if it’s not the greatest. Now she’s asking me what I’m going to do?

“Excuse me?” I ask. “What am I going to do? Isn’t thatyourjob to advise me–”

“Honey, I’m a dancer, okay? I don’t date rockstars, and I sure as hell have never been in the situation where I may have been getting pregnant by one, okay?”

“Okay, fair enough.” I nod. “But if youwerein my situation, what would you do?”

Sarah sighs and looks up at the ceiling. “Well, I don’t know. Maybe he really likes you and wants to stay with you, or maybe he’s just a reckless, irresponsible piece of shit and your kid grows up without a father, you know?”

Suddenly, there’s a loud knocking at the door. She glances over at me. “More gifts from your new boyfriend?”

I shrug. “Beats me.”

I get up and go into the living room. I’m smiling as I open the door. Another gift from Cal? What could it be this time? I really should calm down, though. I don’t want to turn into one of those girls who’s always expecting gifts from her rich, successful boyfriend.

Is he even my boyfriend? I mean, he sort of must be, right? After all, I might be pregnant with his child.

But when I open the door, I immediately know it’s not anybody delivering a gift from Cal.

Standing there, looking ratty and drunk, is Sarah’s ex-boyfriend, Justin.

“Is she here?” he asks.

“No,” I say immediately. There’s a good reason these two are no longer together, and I don’t need any more drama, especially this early in the day. “She went out.”

“When will she be back?”

“I don’t know. I’ll see you later, Justin–”

“What’d he get for you this time?” Just then, at the worst imaginable moment, Sarah comes out of my room.

Anxiety stabs me deep in the chest as Justin’s eyes fixes on my roommate. Sarah stops dead in her tracks when she sees him. A few seconds tick by, then Justin flicks his eyes at me then back to Sarah. “Can we talk in private?”

“Justin, I…” Sarah is always so confident, but Justin is the one guy who still manages to throw her off balance. They went out for just over two years, breaking up and getting back together constantly. It was only when she and I had a huge talk, which turned into a fight, that she finally broke up with him. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

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