Page 164 of Faking It With the Small-Town Bad Boy

pee, and then head downstairs to make sure nothing is going on

down there that I should know about. I’ll just poke my head around

the corner and make sure he’s asleep on the couch, but first I head to

the bathroom, finishing my business and hoping the toilet flushing

doesn’t wake her up.

When I stick my hands in the sink to wash them, something else

comes into view. I pick up the little blue and white stick, my body

going cold at the sight of two pink lines in the small window.

When did she take this?

My hands shake as I check the little window a second time, then a

third.

“This doesn’t make any sense…”

I keep the test in hand, walking into the bedroom to see her sleeping.

It’s like she doesn’t know, or she just didn’t want to tell me. Why

wouldn’t she tell me about this? Even in the dark, I find her birth

control packet, and when I see how far behind she is now, my gut

tells me she wasn’t expecting this at all.

And if she doesn’t know, she’s not going to believe it when I tell her.

I tuck the test into my pocket for now, trying to wrap my head

around this information as I head into the hall. When I peer around

the corner, I’m surprised to see Ryan on the couch like he said, but

he’s still sitting up, hands clasped firmly before him while he’s in

deep thought.

I kick my feet as I come down the stairs, seeing him sit up straighter

at my arrival. Sitting down in the chair across from him, I can see the

glint of sunlight in the distance. It shines just barely over the caution

tape in the field, held up by posts that surround the tree Leah loves

so much.

Or better yet, loved.

He gives me an exasperated look, one that reads worse than some

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