by Sophia Gray
The evidence is piling up, and I don’t even look at the cranky waitress when she sets the water and the juice down at our table. “So you threw up, you missed your period this month, and you’ve been moody? Is that it?”
Kristelgives me the same kind of glare the waitress did earlier. “Are you actually for real? Don’t you knowanything? I’m sitting here, scared to death, and all you can ask me is, ‘is that it?’” She shakes her head and looks away from me. One of her hands swipes through her platinum hair, and I can see her jaw growing tighter. I honestly have no idea what to do, and that’s a very new feeling for me.
“About women, yes… about pregnancy, not really.” I figure now is as good a time as any to be honest.
When she looks at me, the glare is gone. “Neither do I.” She sounds defeated. One of her hands releases mine and lays across her flat stomach. She stares down at it and swallows. All I can think about is how much I want to taste the hollow of her throat or slide my face against that silky hair of hers.
“You look really nice today.” The words sound awkward. I’m not good at this at all, and I’d much rather have her pinned underneath me with my cock inside of her. It doesn’t matter where. For me, that’s always been the easiest option. There’s a reason I don’t commit to women; there’s a reason why relationships have no place in my world.
“Thank you.” She glances at me, but she still looks scared. “There’s one more thing…” Her chest rises and falls beautifully with the deep breaths. “I took a pregnancy test this morning.”
My heart starts to pound. I lean toward her. “And?”
“And… it was positive. I have it in here… in my purse somewhere.”
As she pulls away to open her purse, I grab her by the wrist. “Kristel. Wait.” I feel her pause. “If it really is positive, what do you want to do?”
“I don’t know.” Her wrist pulls away, and I watch as she opens her bag and pulls out a paper towel; something is wrapped inside it. I barely breathe when the paper towel is opened to reveal the pregnancy stick.
The color, I’m sure, drains from my face; it’s positive. “Holy shit, you weren’t kidding.”
“No… I wasn’t.” She shifts into the back of her chair, and her hands fold protectively around her body. I’ve never seen her like this, but I can’t actually blame her.
“Are you going to give up the baby?” The question feels like a kick to my stomach, but I make sure to keep my face as neutral as possible.
“I really want to… but I don’t know if I’m ready. I’ve just started college, and I’m living on student loans. To be honest, I’ve never even considered if I wanted a child or not. I don’t even know what I want to do with my life. And I’ve just joined…” She catches herself. “I’m with you now. I’m part of your family. The last thing I want to be is a hindrance or someone who could compromise what you have.” There is a long break between her words, and I think she’s done talking until she asks me, “what do you want to do?”
I press both of my hands against the top of the table and look beyond Kristel into the café. People come and go from the little place; they have no idea about the immense conversation happening right next to them. “I don’t know. But Kristel… a baby?” I shrug and even cringe slightly.
Her hands rake through her hair again. She stares down at the table and grips the roots, and I can tell that she’s fighting hard not to cry. I don’t think she wants to show any weakness. “I know. I know. Getting rid of it seems like the most logical thing to do, but it’s a life. It’s growing inside me right now. You and I were once just like this.” Her hands go to her belly and splay there.
“Do we have to decide right now? Right this instant?”
“No. But we have to figure out something soon. My parents are going to be moving into their new house in a few days, right after the weekend. Their place is close to my college, so I won’t be able to keep this from them for long.”
“Isn’t that a good thing, though?” The lightbulb starts going on in my head. “You could just give the baby to them and they could raise it. You could keep going to school while you train with us.”
She smiles at me, but it’s far more sad than happy. “That sounds like something out of a dream, Andre. And it will never happen. If I have this baby, it will be on me to take care of it. You won’t be able to with everything that you have to do. I’ll have to give up everything. And I have no idea if it would be worth it.” She sits up taller and sips at her water. “I probably sound like the most horrible person in the world.”
“No, you don’t. But we have a few days to figure this out. And we’ll decide together. We can spend the weekend at my house. There’s no one else around for miles. It’s nice and quiet, and no one will bother us. Here’s my address.” I scribble my address and my phone number down on a piece of paper and hand it to her.
“And when my parents move into their new house after the weekend?” She raises both eyebrows at me as she takes the paper.
“We’ll talk about that, too.”
When Kristel stares at me, I can tell she’s not telling me something. In actuality, she’s probably not telling me a lot of things. “What?”
“It’s my dad…” Her hand is wrapped around the glass so tightly that I can see her knuckles. She doesn’t look scared, though.
“Okay… what about your dad? Is he going to come after me with a baseball bat or shoot at me with a shotgun because I knocked up his daughter?” I want to laugh, but I hold it back. “What is he, a cop?” My voice is playful and drenched with sarcasm.
She holds onto the glass tighter before slowly setting it down on the table. Her head tilts to one side, and she stares intently at me. “Yes. He’s a cop.”
I stare at her for a long time; I can’t seem to find the words.
“He’s a cop,” she repeats. Her shoulders are rolling back, and she sits up straight like she’s about to get yelled at; she could be right.
“What did you just say?”
She steels herself some more; even her eyes are narrowed. Kristel is ready for anything at this point; I can see it all over her face. “You heard me. Twice.”
“What. The. Fuck? Kristel, what the fuck?!” I’ve lost my cool in the blink of an eye, but I don’t care. “Your dad is acop?! You couldn’t have told me this a month ago when we met? I gave you my family and you repay me with this? What the fuck is wrong with you?”
People are starting to stare, and Kristel gets up. “There’s nothing wrong with me. Is there something wrong with you?”
I snort and let out a laugh; it sounds hollow. “Do not test me, Kristel. Not now.”
“How about later at your house then?”
I can’t even utter an answer before she gets up and storms off. After she turns around a corner, I look around at all the people who have their eyes on me. “Show’s fucking over.”
Un-fucking-believable. This whole time her father was a cop. I grind my teeth and haul myself to my feet. The glasses, just like everything else, piss me off just by being there. With a snarl, I smack them over. Water and juice flood across the table, and the two glasses clatter to the pavement. One of them cracks up the middle while the other one shatters into pieces. I have to decide, as I stare down at those broken glasses, which one I want the relationship with Kristel to be: the one that can be repaired or the one that shattered completely.
Chapter Eight
Kristel
The day after everything went wrong with Andre. I sit in my dorm room at 6 a.m., and I know I should still be asleep. The entire night has been absolutely wretched, however, and I’ve maybe gotten three hours of solid rest. I feel like a real-life zombie. Across from me and looking just as tired is Danielle. She won’t stop yawning, and her hands rub almost continuously at her eyes.
“I haven’t seen you in forever, girl, and I totally love you. But what’s so important that you need to wake me up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday?”
I hold my breath and bite d
own on my bottom lip. “I’m pregnant.”
Her eyes snap open wide; I’m pretty sure I just woke her up more than any coffee brand ever could. “You’rewhat?! Kristel! What?!”
“Shh, keep it down! I don’t want everyone in the whole college to know!”
She claps a hand over her mouth for a moment and nods, and it almost looks like she’s going to hyperventilate. “Kristel,” she whispers in a softer voice. It’s muffled because her hand is covering her mouth. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.” I pull her hand away from her mouth. “I’m completely serious.”
“Who? How? When? Where? What the hell?”
“Andre… the biker guy from the club. You remember him? You and Wendy went off with Will and I… yeah…”
Her eyes widen like dinner plates. “Holy crap! Kristel! I know you had sex with him, but ababy? What the hell are you going to do with a baby? You’re just starting college and he’s… well… he’s…”
“Andre. I know. Not exactly ‘dad’ material. And I’m definitely not ‘mom’ material. I’m supposed to be spending the weekend at his place to talk about it, but we got into this giant fight when I told him about the baby. Not that I really blame him, but he should have some say, too, right? He’s part of this as much as I am.”
Danielle snorts. “Hardly. Who’s going to go through all the morning sickness and all the mood swings and all the cravings and all the labor? If you keep this baby, it’s going to be nine months of absolute hell. That’s what my mom told me anyway. But hey… I turned out okay.” She lets out a laugh and touches one of my arms. “But in all seriousness, you shouldn’t let him chase you off like that. Maybe he thinks he’s a big, bad manly man, but you’re Kristel Bryce, damn it!”
“It’s not that he chased me off. I actually walked away from him.” I sigh and lean against my headboard. “It’s just… I don’t know if I want him to be a part of this or not.”
“Then why do you think you told him about the baby in the first place?”
I watch my best friend carefully. Deep down I know the truth, but I can’t tell her about the Black Knights. Even though I’m not sure where I stand with Andre, I still feel the need to protect him and the rest of the group. They’ve become more than just a way to get back at my parents for being so overbearing. In a lot of ways, they’ve become my new family.
“I have no idea.” My answer is a lie, but I even convince myself that it’s true. “I think I got freaked out by the whole thing and he’s the closest one to it.” I shrug and take one of her hands. “I should have come to you first, though. I’m sorry.”
Danielle gives me an encouraging smile and gives me a quick, but warm hug. “It’s okay. Really, I totally understand. But now you need to buck up.” She taps under my chin and flashes me a grin. “And get your butt over to his place.”
“Right now?”
“Yep, right now! At 6 in the morning! Don’t you think he deserves it for being an ass?”
I giggle softly. “What makes you think he’s an ass?”
“Because I know you. And I know you never would have gotten into it with Andre unless he’d done something inappropriate.”
“Thank you.” My voice softens, and I lean closer to her so I can wrap her up in a tight hug. “He was kind of an ass. Shouting and yelling at me in front of everyone. I think he scared the waitress pretty bad. You know the little one at the Pony Brooke Café?”
Danielle lets out a chuckle. “Oh, man. She must have thought she was under attack by Sasquatch or something!”
We both burst into laughter. “The image! Oh my God, the image! Danielle, you are simply amazing, you have no idea. Now I reallydo have to get over to his house. Like, right now!” With a sensation of determination in my mind, I hop off the bed and dress quickly. I pack a small overnight bag with some essentials and tie my hair into a bun. There’s no time for make-up, but I doubt Andre will care. We’re probably just going to end up in another fight again anyway.
“Okay!” I nod to myself and reach for the phone. Danielle grins.
“I already called a cab while you were busy packing. They said they’ll be here in about five minutes.”
“Thank you. You’re the best!” I give her another hug. “When I get home, I’ll tell youeverything, I promise!” I flash her a quick smile before I turn and leave the dorm room. The walk down the hall and out the door takes me less than 30 seconds. By the time I get outside, there’s a cab waiting for me.
“Okay…” I open the door and slide into the passenger seat. “I can do this…”
Andre’s house is different from what I imagined. It’s small and simple on more land than I can fathom. As I listen to the cab rolling away from me, I just stare at the expanse of grass and trees that spread outward from the cabin-like home. There are no fences anywhere that I can see, but I think I hear the sound of bells in the near distance. Does he have cows? After I give my head a shake, I walk up the wooden steps and stop in front of the door. “Hello?” I rap my knuckles on the door and strain my ears to listen for anyone inside.
All I hear are the bells.
I square my shoulders and knock on the door again. “Hello? It’s Kristel.” I knock harder. “Andre!”
The sound of feet shuffling comes from inside. I hear a mutter, but I can’t make out what has just been said. Locks on the door click and clack, and then it opens. The Black Knights leader is standing there in his boxers with tousled black hair and unshaved scruff on his face. His eyes are narrowed, and they squint at me as though I’m some mysterious stranger he’s never seen before.
“Kristel? The fuck are you doing here?”
“You know why I’m here. You invited me, remember?”
“Your dad’s a fucking cop.”
“Stop fucking swearing at me.” I make sure to add some steel into my voice. He might have that quiet authority thing going, but I know I can hold my own.
He stares at me and goes quiet. “Yourdad… is acop.”
“You said that already. In fact, you said that a whole bunch of times yesterday at the café, too.” I take a step closer to him; there’s no way I can back down now. “I want to be honest with you, Andre, but if you’re going to throw a tantrum every time you hear something you don’t like, then what’s the point? How did you become the leader of the Black Knights if you can’t control yourself? Huh?”
“Kristel…” There’s a dangerous edge in his voice. “You’re really starting to piss me off.”
“Well maybe you’re pissing me off, too. This is important, Andre, and you’re all caught up on the fact that my dad is a cop.”
“Fuck, I wonder why? I’m a fucking criminal! And now, so are you! You put everyone, yourself included, in danger. And all of that could have been avoided if you’d been honest from the start.”
He’s trying to drag me around in circles, always going back to the cop thing. I can’t let him. “I came here for the baby. Forour baby. You said we would come here, and we would talk about it. Remember that? Or does my dad being a cop trump the fact that there’s a life growing inside of me? How much does it matter that you’re half responsible for that life?”
He goes so quiet that I can hear the bells in the distance again; they’re getting farther away. Without a word, he turns from me and walks inside. I ease out a slow breath and can’t help but feel as though I’m walking into the den of a beast.
Everything inside is very clean. There are neat piles of laundry on a couch, and the kitchen looks spotless from where I’m standing. A set of wooden stairs leads up into what looks like a loft, and behind the stairs I see two closed doors. The floors are wood, and so are the walls, but I can’t tell if this place is a real cabin or if it’s just made to look like one. The lights are simple and beautiful, and they cast a warm glow across nearly every space.
I kick my shoes off and drop my bag down on a small table close to the door. My eyes shift to Andre and watch him as he walks up the stairs. He vanishes into the shadows;
there aren’t any lights on up there. My gut tells me I should stay down here and wait for him to come down; part of me, though, doesn’t think he’s going to.
With a small swallow, I find the steel I used against him at the Pony Brooke Café and walk toward the stairs.
Chapter Nine
Andre
Kristel’s words shocked me. I don’t know whether I want to hit her, fuck her, or kick her out of my house. If I can get my head on straight, maybe I’ll do all three in order. Then again, I’ve never hit a woman in my life, except in training. I sit down on my bed, and the warmth of it under me is a comfort. Rather than the usual blankets, the bed is covered in a massive grizzly bear skin. I reach over and stroke one of the ears before I let myself fall back onto it. All I want to do right now is curl up and go back to sleep, but there’s one hell of a woman with one hell of a problem downstairs.