Unexpected (22 page)

I jolt straight up, causing the dull ache in
my head to become a pounding headache. I touch my hand to my
forehead and take in a deep breath as I count the days for my
cycle. Sure enough, I'm about a week overdue.

And I might be pregnant.

Chapter Thirty

–
Ryan –

On my way home, I grab a few things from the
store so I can make chicken noodle soup from scratch for Alina. The
canned stuff would probably be fine, but I want it to be better
than just fine. I'm walking up the sidewalk when I see Willa coming
out the door in a hurry.

She practically jumps when she sees me. “Oh,
hey, Ryan.”

“Hello, Willa. What are you doing here?”

“Oh, uh...” She looks at her feet, then back
up at me. “Alina asked me to get her something from the store. She
was feeling better, but didn't want to take chances, you know?” She
shrugs, brushing past me. “I've got to get going, so I'll catch you
later.”

“Okay,” I say slowly. “See you.” I scrunch up
my face and shake my head, letting out a sigh as I go inside. When
I go in the apartment, Alina isn't on the couch. “Hey, beautiful.
Where are you?” I put my bags on the counter and check the
bathroom. I find Alina sitting on the floor, her back against the
cabinet under the sink.

She glances up at me and gives me a weak
smile before looking back down. “Hey.”

I frown, squatting down to get to her eye
level. “Is everything okay? Willa was acting strange when I ran
into her outside.”

“The nausea is pretty much gone now.” She
presses her lips together. “But...”

“But what?”

She reaches down and pulls something out of a
paper sack. “But this.” She holds up a pregnancy test.

Holy shit.
My whole body goes stiff as
I stare at it, slack-jawed. “Oh.”

“It hit me today that I'm a week overdue for
my period.” She sighs, her shoulders slumping. “I called Willa and
asked her to get this for me so I can know for sure. So
we
can know for sure.”

I sit on the floor next to her and let out a
long breath. This is probably one of the last things I expected to
come home to. Regardless of what we find out, nothing will change
between us. With child or without, in sickness and in health...

Why does my mind keep jumping to marriage
with Alina?

The silence drags out to an almost
uncomfortable level that I have to break. I reach over to lift her
chin up. Her blue eyes stare into mine. “I'm here, Alina. I'll
always be here.”

She nods. “I know.”

I get up and let her close the door to take
the test. While I wait, I pace around the living room, a million
thoughts overwhelming me. The majority of those thoughts surround
Alina, wondering where her mind is at right about now. I may know
that
I'm
prepared for whatever the results are, but is
she
?

The door opens and I come over. “I set the
timer to go off when it's ready to check,” she says.

We both sit on the floor again, waiting. I
slip my hand into hers and she looks at me. “Hey,” I say, brushing
my fingers along her jaw. “No matter what the answer is, I'm ready
for it.”

“Thank you,” she whispers.

A few seconds later, the timer goes off and
she jumps. I squeeze her hand. “You ready?”

She shakes her head. “I have no choice,
though.” She picks the test up off the counter and looks for the
answer to our burning question.

One line. “I'm not pregnant,” she says. I can
feel the tension release in her body as she breathes out a long
sigh.

I lean over, pressing a kiss to her temple.
“Are you okay?”

“I think so.” She continues to stare at it.
“You?”

“I'm not sure how I feel about it,” I answer
honestly. “It's a...mixed emotion.”

“Yeah.” She huffs out a laugh. “I'm right
there with you.” She throws the stick and the package away in the
trash.

I take her hand and we stand up together. I
immediately wrap my arms around her and she sags into me, clinging
to my body with both hands. I kiss the top of her head. “We don't
have to talk about it now. It's been a long day and you could
probably use some rest.” I feel her nod against my chest. “Are you
hungry at all? I brought home makings for chicken noodle soup.”

“That sounds good,” she says, her voice
muffled by my shirt. “I think I need to lie down for a little bit,
though.”

“That's fine. It can always be reheated.” I
let her go and brush my fingers through her hair, cup her cheeks,
and kiss her forehead. “Get some rest.”

She goes to the bedroom and I go to the
kitchen to make the soup. I have trouble focusing on the task at
hand because I can't stop thinking about how close we just came to
being parents today. The idea of it terrifies me, but only at its
suddenness. I want children, I do, but Alina and I have been
together for only a few weeks, and known each other for less than
three months. It's a game changer for any relationship, but even
more so in such a new one. Especially considering the fact it's a
bond that would tie the two of us together forever.

There was something in her eyes tonight, a
conflict stronger than she had after our kiss against the barn. She
seemed relieved, but it almost felt like part of her
wanted
to see two lines instead of one.

I heave a heavy sigh. There's no point in
dwelling on it anymore. We have our answer and that's that.
Allowing the what-ifs to clog my mind is only going to bring me
down. Alina and I will talk about this when the shock of it wears
off. In the meantime, I'll just get back to the task at hand and
let it go...for now.

~*~

Alina sleeps for a couple hours. When she
gets up, I reheat the soup for her and we sit on the couch together
while she sips spoonfuls of it. She finishes the bowl, then cuddles
closer to me. “Are you going to bed soon?”

“Yeah, pretty soon. Were you planning on
staying up since you took a nap?”

“No...I want to go to bed with you.” When the
movie we're watching ends, I lift her in my arms and take her into
the bedroom. She laughs. “You didn't have to carry me. I can hold
myself up just fine.”

“Save your strength, beautiful,” I say as I
lay her down.

We climb under the covers and she curls up
against me. “Ryan?”

“Yes?”

“Could you hold me tonight?”

As if I could ignore her plea. “Of course.” I
pull her closer, holding her tight, stroking her soft skin with my
hands. “Like this?”

“Yes,” she says dreamily, relaxing into me.
“Exactly like that.”

Chapter Thirty-one

–
Alina –

After the pregnancy scare, I haven't been
able to stop thinking...about
everything
. Seeing the test
come up negative gave me a sense of relief, and yet it also filled
me with another emotion. It's one I haven't quite put my finger on
yet. The most overpowering thought, though, has to do with when the
scare came up in our relationship.

I love Ryan—there's no question there. But
what if I was pregnant? What would that have meant for us? We've
been dating for merely weeks. For such a hefty responsibility to
come up this early in a relationship could easily cause a strain
on
the relationship.

We haven't talked about it yet. Not that we
haven't had the chance in the last four days—we spend every evening
together and we sleep in the same bed. Plenty of opportunities to
discuss what happened, but it seems like neither of us is willing
to speak up first. Maybe he's still reeling over it. The look on
his face when he saw the pregnancy test proves that. But he was so
kind and loving the rest of the night and since then. This makes me
even more curious to see where his head is.

When Ryan goes back to work Tuesday, I call
Willa to ask what she thinks.

“Well,” she says, “it sounds to me like he
might be waiting for you to bring it up first.”

“That's possible, but he's not one to shy
away from outright asking me something if he wants to know.”

“True...true.” She pauses. “How have you been
since?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, how have you been acting around him?
Have you given him the impression that you
don't
want to
talk about it?”

“No. I...don't think I have.”

“Have things been different since
Thursday?”

Nothing has changed in our routine. We still
have our dinners, watch our movies, and cuddle in bed. “No, they've
been exactly the same.”

“Maybe falling back into how things were made
him think you just wanted to move on and forget about it.”

“I never thought about that.”

“Bring it up tonight. It'll be good for both
of you.”

I thank her for the advice and promise to
call back later. I'm about to get back to reading my latest book
when there's a knock on the door. I'm not expecting anyone, so I
glance through the peephole to see who decided to come over. To my
surprise, the person on the other side of the door is none other
than Victoria. I shouldn't open the door or bother acknowledging
her presence, but I ignore those thoughts and unlock the door.

She looks up as the door opens with a smile
that immediately fades when she sees it's me. She blinks a few
times. “Oh, I wasn't expecting you.”

“Likewise.” I give her a once-over and notice
she colored her hair a dark shade of brown. If she had that hair
color a couple months ago, Ryan probably wouldn't have been as
willing to step inside the shower with me. That realization cracks
me up and a giggle slips out.

Victoria narrows her eyes at me. “What?”

“Nothing.” I press my lips together to cover
up the amusement. “Why are you here?”

“I came to see Ryan, but I've obviously come
at the wrong time.”

“You have. He's at work.” This is something
she would know if she'd bothered paying attention to Ryan as a
person to begin with, but I don’t waste time telling her this. It
would be like talking to a brick wall.

“I see.” She sneaks a peek inside and makes a
face. “Are you living here?”

“Yes.”

“Like permanently?”

“Yes.”

She lets out a huff of annoyance. “So, what,
are you and Ryan seeing each other now?”

An outsider would probably believe I must
have had low self-esteem to be friends with Victoria. I may not
have liked stepping on toes or making waves, but I wasn't a
doormat. And I'm still not a doormat. I look her directly in the
eye, head held high. “As a matter of fact, we are.”

Victoria takes a step back. “No...you're
not...” She lets out a laugh, shaking her head, but when she sees
I'm serious, she sobers up. “What? You stole my boyfriend?”

“No, sweetie, that's what
you
did. It
turns out your betrayal led me to something even better.”

Her nostrils flare. “Drew and I are meant to
be. I knew it from the moment I met him.”

“If that's the case, then why didn't you just
tell me?”

She crosses her arms. “Because I didn't want
to lose you! And I still don't want to lose you.”

I close my eyes and rub my temples with my
fingers. “So you decided to wait several weeks to 'make amends'
with me?”

“Drew said it would be best to give you some
space. It sounded like a good idea at the time.”

I sigh. Drew always liked to postpone serious
talk as long as he could. It's the reason behind the length of our
relationship. Drew was the master of telling someone what they
wanted to hear to prevent any real discussions. “Is there a reason
you're here to see him?” I ask, my patience dwindling.

“I came to apologize to him.” She pauses.
“But since I have you...I'm sorry. Maybe at first I wasn't, because
I was so wrapped up in everything, but I realize now how much I've
hurt you. I'm sorry for sleeping with Drew. I wish...I wish things
had happened differently. That he and I had met before you met him.
Then everything could go back to normal.”

Her apology sounds sincere, it really does.
But it doesn't change anything, because the trust is gone. If she
is sincere, I may as well put her at ease. “Apology accepted. Is
there anything else you need?”

She blinks at me. “That's it?”

“What do you want from me, Victoria? We were
best friends and you slept with my boyfriend behind my back. It's
not like I'm going to forgive and forget, then go back to the way
things were. I've moved on. I've made new friends. I've—”

“Fallen in love?” she finishes for me. “You
wouldn't be in love if you knew that he—” She covers her mouth
before she finishes her sentence.

I narrow my eyes at her, wary of what she was
about to say. “If I knew that he what?”

She swallows, glancing around at everything
except my face. “I didn't want to tell you, but I need to.” She
lets out a long breath, then finally meets my eyes. “Ryan knew
about us.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Ryan knew about us. About Drew and me. He
called me out on it one night and I admitted it to him.”

My muscles tense. That makes no sense. It
couldn't possibly be true. “I don't understand.”

“Here,” she says, reaching into her purse.
She pulls out her phone and taps it a few times, then holds it out
to me. “Look, here's the text he sent me.”

I read the message.
We need to talk. I
caught you and Drew looking at each other tonight with bedroom
eyes. Is something going on between you two?

Victoria says, “He didn't care that I was
with Drew. He and I weren't exclusive, so he didn't care.”

I fold my arms over my chest. “No. Ryan
wouldn't have been okay with that.”

“He was.” She slips the phone back into her
purse. “He only put on that show for your benefit. It obviously
worked to his advantage because he's got you wrapped around his
finger without even trying.”