Page 56 of The Heavier the Doubt…

Just as I was ready to head back to campus, I heard the sounds of a car pulling up, glad that I was done with my mental breakdown before some stranger wondered if I should be committed. Even though I knew that I had to look awful, at least I wasn’t in mid-meltdown, and I would take what I could get at the moment.

However, when I turned to see the newcomer, my stomach dropped as I recognized Hunter’s car, and there was only way that he could have known that I was here.

Kenzlee.

So, like a deer caught in headlights, my ass remained planted on the bench, waiting for him to come to me. My heart thumped in my chest as I watched him get out of his car, and if my child came out looking like a Finley, then I was going to have to ward off the females with a stick when he got older. Even if I ended up having a girl, that brown hair/hazel-eyed combo was a pretty one.

I didn’t say anything as Hunter quietly took a seat next to me. We both stared out at the lake, and I wasn’t sure what he was feeling, but I felt like he could probably hear how hard my heart was thrashing around in my chest. His nearness had a way of turning me into a confused puddle of emotions, and I still had no idea how we’d gone from being just friends to this craziness. Back in high school, I hadn’t felt an ounce of interest or jealousy when he’d go out and hook up with some random girl, never seeing him as anything more than just a friend. However, now, the idea of him with someone else bothered me enough to make me nauseous.

Or maybe that was just morning sickness.

“Kenzlee called me,” he stated, finally speaking.

“I figured,” I muttered. “She’s the only one that knew I was here.”

“Apparently, you have questions that only I can answer,” he went on. “So, ask them, Alexandria.”

I let out a shaky breath, my stomach threatening to turn on me. While I did have some questions, I had no idea where to start, and I was woman enough to admit that some of the answers might wreck me. In a world of uncertainties, I wanted guarantees, and if that wasn’t proof that I was losing my mind, then I didn’t know what was.

“While I’m not blaming you for a mistake that I also made, if you weren’t too drunk to consent that Friday night, then how did you forget the condom?”

My hands were shaking.

“It wasn’t the alcohol,” he denied. “I’d just wanted you so badly that grabbing a condom hadn’t occurred to me. I’d never been that swept up in a girl before, so I guess you could say that I just hadn’t been thinking straight.”

“What about the second time that night?”

“Same thing,” he answered. “After feeling you wrapped around me like that, a condom hadn’t crossed my mind the second time, either. In fact, had you not insisted on one the other night, I never would have put one on.”

“Even knowing what it could mean?”

While his answers had me close to having a heart attack, I was still finding it hard to imagine that Hunter Finley could have wanted me that badly. I’d always just been Alex to him. Flattering as it was, I still had my doubts because he was Hunter freakin’ Finley.

“Alexandria, you’re not just some random piece of ass that I hooked up with one weekend,” he said, finally looking over at me, but I kept my head facing the lake like a coward. “We’ve been friends for years, close friends this past year. Being with you doesn’t scare me, Alex. While ruining our friendship might worry me, being with you doesn’t scare me at all.”

“Dating me and becoming a father are two very different things, Hunter,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, they are,” he agreed, still looking at me. “However, I’m not scared of doing either of those things. I’m not some spoiled rich kid that doesn’t understand responsibility, Alex.”

That had me finally looking over at him. “That’s not what I’m saying, Hunter.”

“Then what are you saying, Alexandria?”

“This is going to be very hard, and I just don’t want to ruin the rest of your life by deciding that what I want is more important than what you want,” I told him, feeling like an idiot for not having this conversation earlier. It felt good to finally say the words.

“You have no idea what I want, baby,” he said softly. “You’ve never asked. You’ve just been assuming on your own this entire time.”

“What do you want?” I finally asked, my chest feeling tight with all the possible answers that he could give me right now.

“I want you to tell me that youwantto have this baby,” he answered, and my body jerked with the incredible relief that was coursing through my soul right now. “I want you to tell me that youwantto be with me, pregnant or not. I want you to fucking marry me if you want to know the truth.”

I choked out a teary laugh because I couldn’t help it. “I’m serious, Hunter.”

His brows rose. “And you think that I’m not?”

He looked so serious that I could hardly believe it. “Do you know how many people get married only because they got pregnant? Those marriages never work out, Hunter?”

“If we were only getting married because we got pregnant, then I’d agree,” he replied. “However, I was ready to marry you even before you told me that you were pregnant, Alexandria.”

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