by Walsh, Chloe
I clenched my jaw shut, and gripped the edge of my desk, trying to ignore the very strong urge I had, to rip his fucking head off.
Fighting in class was one thing, fighting in Peterson’s class was a first class ticket to expulsion.
“Can I help you, miss?” Professor Peterson asked, frowning at Lee.
She blushed crimson as she clasped her hands over her stomach. Her coat hid the swell of her pregnant belly, but I knew it was there, and getting bigger by the day…
“Yes, I’m sorry to interrupt your class, sir, but it’s important. I need to speak to one of your students.”
There was a lot of shuffling coming from the seat next to me.
“Please be me, please be me,” the guy beside me muttered.
He was going get a fucking fist in the face.
Christ, the feeling of possessiveness reared up inside me.
I glared at the side of his face, but he wasn’t paying attention. His, and every other guy in the room’s eyes,’ were fixed on my girl.
What the hell was she doing here? Was she sick? She didn’t look sick? In fact, she looked pretty pissed.
Her eyes found mine and narrowed, in promised violence. I lowered myself further in my chair.
Yep, she was pissed.
Fuck if it wasn’t hot as hell though, seeing her all cute and flustered. Pregnant Lee had claws.
“I’m sure whatever melodramatic emergency you’re having, can wait until after my class. I don’t appreciate disturbances in my classroom, young lady.”
Oh, fuck no. He did not just talk to her like that...
I tossed my books and shit into my bag, without taking my eyes off Lee. I expected her to run out, or cry. She did neither.
Instead, she straightened her back and glared at Peterson. “While I appreciate your superficial ability at categorizing female emergencies, professor, I need to speak to my ‘baby daddy,’” Lee replied, using air quotations for the last two words.
Holy shit.
Did she just say that? Did I hear that right?
“Please don’t be me, please don’t be me,” muttered the guy beside me.
I snorted.
Peterson's cheeks pinked, as he gaped at her. Lee stared straight at him, unflinching, and I was so fucking hot for her in that moment. Wow.
Clearing his throat, he loosened his tie and looked towards the class.
“Okay, whichever one of you is responsible for this girl, out you go,” he ordered.
No one moved.
You could hear a pin drop in the room as every guy in the class paled.
I stood up slowly and grabbed my bag.
“Dude,” the guy beside me said. His tone was sympathetic.
I smirked.
If Lee was trying to get revenge, by embarrassing me, then she’d failed. I was proud. I’d never deny her.
There were a lot of loud whispers, and even some wolf whistles as I shuffled past the other desks in my row, and made my way down the steps towards her.
Her gray eyes were bulging, as she worried her lip with her teeth.
Why was she nervous? Did she think I was pissed?
I walked straight to her and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close to me. Her entire body was tense, and I couldn’t help but lean down and kiss her wet hair. She smelled amazing. Fresh air mixed with peaches and strawberry or some shit.
Glancing at Peterson, I smirked. “Excuse me Professor; my baby momma needs a word with me.”
Peterson’s eyes widened, then he shook his head slowly; clearly disappointed. “We’ll talk later, Kyle.”
“Looking forward to it, Larry,” I replied, holding the door for Lee.
*****
“Kyle, I’m sorry, I…I don’t know what came over me. I was angry about work, and Bruno’s leash…”
Lee looked green as she rambled on, outside of the Business building.
I smiled.
She looked incredibly fragile as she stood in the rain, oblivious to the fact we we’re getting soaked. Beautiful.
“I really am so, so…Wait, why are you smiling?” she asked, brushing her plastered curls back off her face.
My grin widened, and Lee’s frown deepened.
“Is there something funny?” she growled planting her hands on her hips.
It took a lot of my self-control, not to lean down and kiss that pout off her face. But I really didn’t want a repeat of the last time. I didn’t think I could handle another one of her rebukes.
“You’re adorable when you’re feisty, princess. I like it. I like it a lot.”
Her jaw dropped, her lips curving into a perfect circle before snapping shut.
“I’m not trying to be cute. I’m furious with you, you should be afraid.”
I made a half-assed attempt at masking my grin. But it was hard to wipe the dopey grin off me face. I was so fucking happy that she was here.
Angry or not, she was here.
“Oh, you scare me, princess,” I said. “You’re the only one, who has the ability to do that to me.”
I clasped her hand in mine. She pulled her hand away, and I pretended not to notice. Stung like a bitch though.
“And why is that?” she demanded, glaring at me.
“Because you’re the one person in this whole damn world who can hurt me,” I replied honestly.
It was the truth, and it seemed to stump Lee.
We stood a foot apart, in the pouring rain, staring at each other, and I swear, she’d never looked more beautiful. Her eyes were wide and soul bearing. I could read every emotion she was feeling in those gray pools.
“Come on,” I said, clearing my throat. “Let’s get you out of this weather.”
I placed my hand on her lower back and guided her across campus, to the coffee dock.
She didn’t shake my hand off this time.
*****
Lee
I was the world’s biggest jerk.
Whether I was annoyed or not, Kyle didn’t deserve to be humiliated like that, in front of a classroom full of his peers and professor.
I sat numbly in my chair, waiting on Kyle to return from the counter with our order. I couldn’t keep my mind from drifting back to what he had said.
‘You’re the only one in this whole damn world who can hurt me.’
Kyle had a way with words. I couldn’t believe everything he said.
That was the rational side of my brain, thinking. My heart, on the other hand, was banging around frantically in my chest.
“I got you a decaf, because…Well, you know,” Kyle muttered, placing a cup of black, decaffeinated coffee in front of me.
I smiled as graciously as I could, eying his strong kick-ass mug of coffee.
Men had all the luck in the world.
“Thanks,” I muttered, adding a sachet of sugar to my mug and a good dollop of milk.
Kyle slid into the chair opposite me and picked up my spoon, to stir his coffee.
“So was there an emergency? Or were you just pissed with me in general?” he asked, unzipping his coat and tugging it off.
My gaze drifted down to the fitted black sweater he was wearing. The rain had soaked through his coat, and his sweater was molded to his chest, emphasizing every sculpted muscle…
“There was at the time,” I muttered, dragging my mind out of the gutter and my lowering my eyes from Kyle’s body. “Now I feel kind of stupid about it. I was over dramatic.”
He chuckled, and I felt his fingers nudge my chin upwards. “You’re pregnant, princess. You can be as overdramatic, as you want.”
His blue eyes were snaring me, and I had to look away or I’d be in trouble.
More than I already was.
“I need to go back to work, Kyle,” I urged. “I’m smothering inside the house. I have to earn a living. I have things to pay for; I have stuff I need to get for the baby.”
Kyle sighed and clutched my hand in his. “You don’t need to pay for a damn thing, Lee, not a penny. You�
��The baby, I will provide anything you both need. Let me take care of you, of both of you.”
I shook my head, at a loss.
He’d paid for enough.
Kyle had taken care of my hospital bills, and the letter that had arrived in the post the other day, confirmed that I now, miraculously, had medical cover and not the cheap kind either.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to say to that, Kyle.”
He clutched my hand tighter, stroking my palm with his thumb. “You’re not supposed to say anything, baby. This is what I’m here for. You know I have the money, I’ll pay for my responsibilities.”
“I’ll pay for my responsibilities.”
Disgust filled me. I jerked my hand away and stood up quickly.
“Wait, Lee, I didn’t mean that the way it came out.”
I shrugged on my coat, buttoning it quickly.
“I know what you meant, Kyle.” I wrapped my scarf around my neck with a vengeance. “Why don’t you just say, you’ll pay for your mistakes? That’s how you really feel. Well, I don’t want your money; I never have and never will. I am not Rachel. I was never with you, for what I could get.”
*****
Kyle
Someone should buy me a muzzle. Maybe then, I wouldn’t put my foot in my mouth so often.
“Lee,” I called out, chasing after her.
She quickened her pace, breaking into a run, she hurried across the quad.
Running away from me, again.
I caught up with her and clasped her arm. “Lee, baby, listen, I know you’re upset, but the ground is slippery. It’s too dangerous for you to be rushing off like that.”
She stiffened at first and then slowly relaxed.
“I’m sorry,” I coaxed. “Just let me take you home, okay?”
Nodding stiffly, she turned around. Her nose was red, her eyes watery.
“It’s a cold, I’m not crying.”
I cringed, but kept my expression neutral. She didn’t want me to know how she was feeling. I could read her like a book though.
Right now, she was feeling hurt, raw pain…and it hit me like a bulldozer to the chest.
“Well, let’s get you out of the cold, before you freeze.”
I took her hand for the second time, and for the first time today, she didn’t pull away.
“I’m so mad at you, Kyle,” she whispered as we walked, so quietly that I wasn’t sure, if she meant me to hear.
I squeezed her hand tightly. “I know, baby.”
When we reached the parking lot, I stopped and leaned against a shiny, black Mercedes Benz, as Lee walked past me.
Noticing I wasn’t beside her, she turned and frowned.
“What are you doing, Kyle? I’m pretty sure you could get arrested for touching that beast,” she warned, walking over and pulling on my arm.
I grinned sheepishly. “I probably could, if it weren't mine.”
Her mouth fell open as I opened the passenger door and gestured for her to get in.
Lee gaped at me, and I smiled.
It was cute, that she was so surprised I could own a car like this. I could own a car-lot full of them, and then some, but knowing she didn’t look at me with dollar signs in her eyes, made my heart swell.
She didn’t give a fuck about the money, and I hated that I had made her feel like I thought she did.
“Get in the car, princess.”
She sat in and I closed her door.
Hopping into the driver’s seat, I started the engine and pulled off.
“So you got a new car, why?”
I glanced over at her. She was fidgeting nervously. It didn’t settle well with me.
“I needed to change.” I hoped she heard the unspoken meaning of my words. “You look well today, princess. Are you feeling okay?”
I wasn’t sure what the correct terminology was, for complimenting a pregnant woman’s appearance, but she looked so much more than ‘well,’ and ‘good.’
Lee was sexy, undeniably, fucking sexy, and that swollen belly, knowing I’d done that? Well, that made her irresistible to me.
“Yeah, I’m doing well. I still get morning sickness sometimes, but it’s less often, than before. Apparently, it eases up for some women during the second trimester, so fingers crossed.”
She was still getting sick? Was that normal? Fuck, did she need a doctor? Jesus, I was clueless.
“And the baby?” I asked quietly, hoping like hell my voice stayed even.
She sighed happily. “Yep, he’s great. Dr. Ashcroft is really happy with him.”
My eyes jerked to Lee. “It’s a boy?” My voice came out all high and pitchy.
“No, I don’t know the sex, that’s just my own prediction. Cam thinks I’m having a girl, but he feels like a boy, to me.” She rubbed her bump. “It all makes a lot more sense now.”
I looked at her. “What does?”
She clasped her hands on her lap, twiddling her thumbs. “Why I was sick so much, before the miscarriage,” she said quietly.
I nodded, unable to answer her verbally.
I hated that word. Miscarriage. It didn’t mean enough; didn’t voice the gut wrenching, soul shattering feeling of purloined life. How could one word, define the stolen, loss of human life?
But what Lee said, made a hell of a lot of sense.
She’d been sick, vomiting on and off for months before the miscarriage. If I’d had half a brain, I would have guessed she was pregnant, or at the very least, considered that she could have been.
The first night I’d made love to her, I’d been careless, and had ended up taking her virginity, as well as getting her pregnant.
I hadn’t used a condom.
Not that I was regretting getting her pregnant, just the fact that I should have protected her.
I’d known better, she hadn’t.
I’d been rough with her, too, thoughtless and I had acted like a total fucking idiot afterwards. I’d been so wrapped up in my warped sense of duty to Rachel, so petrified of my feelings for Lee, that I’d let her down, in the worst imaginable way.
My jaw ticked, as I nodded towards her belly.
“I am so sorry, Lee. I should have known something was wrong with you. Should’ve figured it out before you…Before that happened. I should have fucking been there with you.”
I heard her sharp intake of breath and I focused on the road, waiting for her to answer.
I hoped I’d sounded calm. The last thing I want to do, was to upset her again, but she deserved an apology, and I owed her one.
She was silent for such a long time, that I thought she was going to ignore me, but then, she reached her hand towards me.
Her hand squeezed my knee, and that small gesture meant more than a thousand words.
I watched as a single tear slipped down her cheek.
“I don’t blame you anymore,” she whispered. “I know it wasn’t your fault.”
I didn’t realize how important it was for me to hear those words, until they came from her mouth.
I released a sigh, more like a choked sob.
Fixing my gaze on the road ahead, I blinked away the tears that were filling my eyes and covered her hand with mine, holding on for dear life.
The silent absolution that passed between us, was so simple, yet so profoundly comforting.
CHAPTER SIX
Lee
I was home two months-two freaking months-and Linda still hadn’t rostered me back to work. I’d tried on numerous occasions to sway her, but she was standing over Kyle’s orders.
It was an absolute joke.
Loads of pregnant women worked to full term. I was only twenty-eight weeks; I had plenty of time before the baby came, and an even pathetically larger amount of time to waste.
Being cooped up in the house like I was on my last legs, was not winning Kyle Carter any brownie points.
I spent most of my days cleaning the house, and vacuuming up dog hair.
I was bored out of my mind
and lonely. I was also incredibly, irritated with my housemates; all three of them, no exceptions.
Derek was being his usual smart-assed self, and I swear, if I heard one more ‘preggers,’ or ‘got milk,’ joke come out of his mouth, I was going to lose it.
I knew his jokes were good natured, but at seven months pregnant, I didn’t have my usual patience with him.
And Cam’s mood swings were impressive, to say the least. If she wasn’t smothering me, cooing over me like a mother hen, she was screaming her head off at Derek, and accusing anyone who came within a ten mile radius, of something outrageous.
Cam was behaving as if she was the one with the pregnancy hormones, and I was actually beginning to find her suggestive comments about mine and Mike’s friendship, both gross and offensive.
Cam and I had been friends our entire lives, and in all my life, I had only ever been with Kyle. She knew that.
So, for her to imply that I was messing around with Kyle’s brother, while carrying his baby, showed how much mass she had in my moral fiber.
Just two nights ago, when I got back from dinner with Mike, she’d practically accused me of cheating on Kyle, with him, which I found ridiculous for two reasons.
The first being the fact, that I wasn’t with Kyle in the first place, therefore, even if I was seeing Mike-which I wasn’t-it wouldn’t constitute as cheating.
And the second; Mike had mentioned to me, that he was seeing someone, which as far as I could gather, was getting pretty serious. Mike still wouldn’t tell me who his girlfriend was, but my money was on the new girl in house-keeping he spoke about.
The other night when we grabbed a bite to eat at a diner downtown, Mike had droned on and on, for over a half an hour, about how funny this Karen girl was, so I figured she was a prime candidate for his heart.
She’d started working at the hotel around the time I had my miscarriage, which, conveniently, was around the same time Mike started dating his mysterious lady.
I was secretly delighted that he was into her so much; it made our friendship so much easier, less controversial.