Page 24 of Keeping Our Secrets

“I’m going exploring tomorrow, even if I have to hop on a bus to nowhere.”

“It can’t be that hard to get around over there. You should get one of those twenty-four-hour passes on those hop on hop off busses. At least you’d see some sights and get used to the area.”

“Yeah, I should try that. Maybe my mom or James would drive me to one of their main pickup points.”

“There you go,” she agreed. “So, on a more serious note, have you told your mom about the baby yet?”

“Not yet,” I sighed. “But the world is definitely trying to make me its bitch.”

In more ways than one.

She laughed. “God, you’re so dramatic.”

“Ironic is what it is,” I responded, leading up to the real reason for my call.

“What’s ironic?” she asked.

“My stepbrother,” I sighed, placing my hand over my eyes.

“Ooh, is he that hot? Don’t tell me you want to sleep with your stepbrother? Isn’t that kind of forbidden?”

“I’ve already slept with him.”

“What the fuck?” Her eyes lit up. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Nope.”

“Well, when you move fast, I guess you move really fast. How did you sneak that by your parents? Don’t they sleep just down the hallway?”

I blushed. “No, you’re not getting it. I slept with him before we moved here.”

“Where else could you have slept with him?” she waggled her eyebrows for effect. “Did you know him over here?”

God, I missed her already.

“I mean I slept with him in Paris. Jen, he’s the father.”

“You’re shitting me right?”

“Nope. Of course my luck would dictate that my new stepbrother is also the father of my unborn child.”

“Shit,” she started laughing hysterically. “Maybe you’re right and the world is really out to get you.”

“It’s not funny.”

“Sure it is.”

“Not at all,” I groaned. “What am I supposed to tell my mom? ‘Hey, mom, so you know how you thought I was studying over Spring? Well, I wasn’t. Oh, and guess what… you’re gonna be a grandma and your new stepson is the father.’ I am sure that will go over just perfect.”

I watched through video as she giggled and rolled around on her bed. I stopped talking, crossing my arms over my chest in annoyance, until she calmed down.

“That means your stepbrother is hot,” she gasped. “You should sleep with him again. It’s not like you can get pregnant twice.”

“Shut up,” I told her, worried that someone might hear our conversation. “Of course he’s hot, but I can’t think of him that way. Not anymore.”

Part of me thought about telling her I had slept with him again, but I couldn’t. If I said it out loud, then it would be real. If it was real, and it went sideways, then I could lose everything.

“What did he say when you told him?”

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