Part of Me: Friendship, Texas #3

by Magan Vernon

  I waited until Christy’s personalized plates were out of sight before I turned toward Johnny. “So...what was that about?”

  Johnny shook his head. “She tried to hook up with Scotty, Jay, and me last year when we first came into town. Jay was already interested in Lia at that time, and she basically wanted to sandwich herself between Scotty and me. No way in hell was I letting my balls touch another dude’s, so Jay and I took off and had to pick up Scotty like an hour later as he ran out to the front gate carrying his pants.”

  “Ew,” I muttered, wrinkling my nose but still smiling. At least Johnny had never hooked up with Queen Bitch.

  “Anyway, I should go. Probably see if the pool’s still open at the school and get a few laps in,” he said, removing his arm from around my waist.

  “You could come back to my house if you wanted. We could finish watching that movie or whatever,” I offered, thinking of a way to make my words sexier, but I was new at the art of seduction.

  “After all of that talk about wanting a relationship, do you really want to go down the road of us saying we’ll watch a movie then screwing each other’s brains out to possibly have your dad walk in again?” he mused.

  I sighed. I didn’t want to admit he was right, but he was. And if we did that, I’d just get myself in deeper with this guy. “Okay. Text me later then?”

  He offered a small smile. “Yeah. I can do that.”

  He gave me a chaste kiss on the cheek and mumbled a goodbye before walking to the parking lot.

  I watched as he walked away. Okay, I stared a lot at the way his blue jeans fit his ass but also hoped maybe he’d turn around. I could have stopped him too, but I didn’t.

  My heart and mind were conflicted on what I wanted from this guy. My last relationship was easy. We both were sexually attracted to guys and expected nothing from each other. I knew it wasn’t going anywhere and stayed in it because it was safe.

  But with Johnny Laughlin, nothing was safe, and maybe it was better if I kept my distance.

  Chapter 5

  Jay and Lia took a private plane back to California on New Year’s Day.

  I thought about texting Johnny to meet up but decided against it. If he wanted something, I figured he’d message me.

  And he did, a week later, while I was in the middle of my rhetoric class.

  I had literally just started my second semester at UT Dallas and didn’t want my professor to think I was one of those girls who stared at her phone during class, so I tried to ignore the vibrating in my jacket pocket, but it just kept going.

  Slowly, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and set it on the desk in front of my tablet before unlocking it.

  Johnny: Busy today?

  I looked up to make sure the professor wasn’t staring at me before I responded.

  Class.

  I figured a one-word answer was good enough, and I could get back to listening to the lecture.

  Johnny: Want to hang out after? I’ll be at the pool until about five, but maybe we can hang out after?

  I sucked in a breath. Okay, maybe he had thought about what I said and wanted a relationship. Or something. But did I want a relationship? Ugh. Boys and things were confusing.

  Uh, sure.

  I took way longer to come up with that response than I thought it would.

  Johnny: How about you come to my apartment? Seven? I’m over by TCU’s campus.

  A lump formed in my throat. Was this just a hookup? Maybe he thought I didn’t mean I wanted a relationship or that he could talk me out of it with a few orgasms. Whatever it was, all the thoughts were giving me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. That or maybe it was the Mexican food I had for lunch. I sucked in a deep breath and texted back.

  See you then.

  ***

  I’d only been to Fort Worth a handful of times, mainly to the stockyards to see the longhorns. I’d never actually been anywhere near TCU’s campus or to a boy’s apartment.

  Scratch that—a man’s apartment because Johnny Laughlin was all man.

  I went home after classes and changed into a matching pair of bra and panties. I also reapplied some eye shadow and lip-gloss. Fully aware I had already given him the whole “we’re not just hooking up” speech, I decided if things progressed, I didn’t want to be caught wearing one of my old, torn up pairs of underwear and a sports bra.

  My stomach was still all sorts of twisted. That was the last time I bought Mexican food from a vendor who couldn’t pronounce jalapeno correctly. It probably also had to do with my driving to a man’s house. A man I’d had sex with many times who would want more sex and possibly that was it. Was this how prostitutes felt? Were they always this worried about getting naked? Not that I was whoring myself out for Johnny, but a relationship with a lot of sex, or whatever we were doing, was making me sick.

  Or something was, at least. I probably should have called for a rain check, but then I was afraid he’d never call again. Then I’d be back to square one.

  The address Johnny gave me was near the zoo and a country club. For some reason, I expected something grander, like a fancy high-rise condo or something. Like the one Lia showed me that Jay bought in LA, and it was amazing. Rumor was country superstar Eddie Justice formerly owned the thing, but Lia couldn’t confirm the penthouse condo was owned by the crooner.

  Johnny’s apartment complex looked like every other apartment or hotel complex I’d seen with its beige exterior and four floors of windows with small balconies off a set of screen doors.

  I pulled up to the building number Johnny had texted me then parked before pulling my phone out. I checked my hair, fluffing the unruly locks one more time. I didn’t have time to straighten it, so I had attempted to put the curly mess into a half ponytail to keep it from looking like a giant fro or a Brillo pad.

  I’m here.

  I texted, and immediately, a door on the second floor opened. I looked through my front windshield and saw Johnny’s long legs clad in a pair of gray sweatpants before his broad chest and then smiling face came into view.

  “Don’t stare at him, Sofie. Let him know you’re here for more than just sex,” I told myself as I got out of the car.

  “I hope the GPS got you here okay,” Johnny said as I made my way to the sidewalk.

  “Yep. No problems.”

  I followed him up the stairs then he opened the door immediately to the right, ushering me in before he closed the door behind us.

  The apartments weren’t much to look at from the outside, and the inside was no different. With a small kitchen directly to the left, a narrow pathway with a tiny kitchen table, and a living room with a plain beige couch and a large TV on a plain brown stand. There weren’t any personal pictures or anything that gave me any insight into the guy.

  “I know you said you weren’t hungry, but I just got back from the pool, so I picked up chicken and biscuits from this place on the way home,” Johnny said, walking toward the table that separated the kitchen and living room.

  My eyes widened. This wasn’t just chicken and biscuits. This was three big buckets with a bunch of side buckets and a gallon of sweet tea. “Uh, I know you swimmers burn a lot of calories, but this seems a bit excessive.”

  “Well, even though you said you didn’t want to have dinner with me, I was sort of hoping this would be enough for both of us, so I’m not just the guy stuffing my face in front of you,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck as he leaned against one of the chairs around the wooden table.

  My stomach flip-flopped just taking in the smell of chicken and biscuits. I didn’t want the salsa and taquitos from lunch to come up on the beige carpet, so it was better not to test it.

  “Uh, I’m not hungry right now,” I lied, keeping my eyes on the floor instead of looking at his chiseled face. The man had a freaking dimple on his chin. It was the kind of thing they put on men in romance novels that made women drop their panties.

  “Fine. If we aren’t going to eat dinner, I guess I’ll
just put my face in something else,” he said.

  Before I could wrinkle my nose and respond with a snarky comeback, I was off my feet with Johnny’s arms around my waist and the stubble on his jawline grazing my cheeks.

  I squealed as he walked forward slowly through the living room. “What do you think you’re doing? Put me down!” I protested.

  I might have said the words, but I’d never been picked up and carried like this except maybe when I was a toddler. But as a toddler, it wasn’t with the same intent or lust that Johnny had.

  He walked with me until the walls changed from a beige to a light gray color and I got the view of a dresser and mirror with a reflection of Johnny’s very nice back and the bed.

  Before I could say anything more, Johnny slowly set me down, his mouth covering mine as we leaned back together on the soft comforter.

  I took a deep breath, inhaling the hint of chlorine still on his skin, but there was something else. Something that threatened a reappearance of the taquitos all over his nice comforter.

  I tried to swallow it back, but the deeper Johnny pushed me into the pillows, the more the floral scent surrounded me.

  Johnny pulled back, hovering over me. “Is everything okay? Is this about our conversation from the other night? I mean I thought this was kind of a date with dinner, and I even rented a movie Lia said was good. I mean, you know, to take it slow or whatever we’re doing here.”

  “What?” I asked, trying not to think about the rising bile in my throat.

  “You’re making a face when we kiss. I can totally feel it. Do I need to take a shower? Shit. I knew I should have taken another one here and not just at the gym. Man, I’m really messing this up.”

  I shook my head then took in a big gasp of the unappealing scent again. I grabbed the pillow next to me, put it to my face, and inhaled the overwhelming smell of lavender. I swallowed hard before throwing the pillow to the side and tried not to upchuck over everything. “I don’t think I’m a fan of your laundry detergent. Or maybe I’m sick or something...”

  I couldn’t look at his face as I slowly shifted. He got the hint and sat up, letting me get off the bed. “I think I should go.”

  “You don’t have to. We can go sit on the couch. I can put in that movie,” he suggested, following me as I darted out of the room and into the living room.

  My stomach was still whirling, and I would not start something then throw up on his man parts.

  “I should go. I may be getting the flu or something, and I don’t want you to catch it and have to miss practice,” I muttered, heading toward the front door.

  Johnny put his hand on mine just as I got it to the doorknob. “If you’re not feeling well, you don’t have to leave. I wouldn’t want you to drive and get sick on the road.”

  I offered a small smile but didn’t meet his eyes. “I’ll be fine. I’ll text you when I get home, okay?”

  I didn’t look at his face to see his reaction as I opened the door, leaving behind one of the sexiest men I’d ever known. He wanted me in his soft bed, but I couldn’t give in to him because I was too busy dry heaving on the side of the highway.

  Chapter 6

  I was too mortified to see Johnny again.

  We texted on and off throughout the day, and he sent me many pictures of him in his Speedo or his Speedo on the floor next to him. But I was still suffering from some kind of bug, and it was knocking me on my ass.

  It took everything I had just to get through the school day then go home and nap until dinnertime. After two weeks of thinking I had either the flu or a vitamin deficiency, I sucked it up and made an appointment with Student Health Services.

  After my classes were done for the day at two, I grabbed a coffee at the bookstore coffee shop then made my way to Student Health, trying to stay awake long enough for my appointment.

  By the time they called my name to go back to one of the exam rooms, I had finished my coffee and was still trying not to fall asleep on the uncomfortable exam table.

  I thought I would just have to wait for a doctor or nurse practitioner to swab my throat and give me a Z-Pak or something, but instead, the nurse who brought me back, handed me a small plastic cup.

  “Um, do you want me to spit in this?” I asked, staring from the nurse to the cup.

  The nurse offered me a small smile. “That’s for a urine sample, honey. We just want to rule out pregnancy and any other possible infections. You’ll follow the directions on the door across the hall. Put the sample in the little metal drawer behind the toilet when you’re through.”

  “Pregnancy and infections? I can’t be...”

  I stopped my thought, and my eyes widened with realization.

  Did Johnny and I use protection on Christmas? Did the condom even work on Christmas Eve? Did he finish? Was that that convulsion thing he was doing with his eyes rolled back in his head? When the hell was my last period?

  “Honey, are you okay?” the nurse asked, knocking me out of my daze.

  “Yeah...fine...I think...” I said, slowly standing up and making my way toward the bathroom.

  I followed the directions then went back to the room and waited for what seemed like forever.

  Pregnant.

  Could there really be a bun in my oven?

  I was a tiny girl, and I’d never been on birth control, so my periods were all over the place. When Lia lived in Texas, I always knew mine was coming around the same time as hers, but since she left, I couldn’t remember when I’d last had one. And if I were pregnant, that would leave no one but the swimmer, who wasn’t sure he wanted a relationship with me, as the father.

  Those thoughts swam through my head until a tall woman with raven-colored hair walked through the door, carrying a tablet and no-nonsense look on her tan face.

  “Sofie White?” she asked, but it was more of a statement

  “Yes. Um. That’s me,” I said, shifting from one side of my butt to the other as I sat on the exam table.

  “We ran your urine for the usual tests, and we did find a bit of a urinary tract infection, as well as some other results that I’d like to discuss with you,” she said, taking a seat on a rolling stool.

  I sucked in a deep breath. Maybe it was a UTI and chlamydia. I’d be stuck with chlamydia or whatever disease Johnny gave me for the rest of my life, but that would probably be better than carrying his Amazonian child. The guy was at least a foot taller than I was and probably a hundred pounds heavier. Carrying his Viking baby would definitely cause some problems for my small frame.

  “Sofie, I wasn’t able to look much at your file, but after seeing the results of the urine test...” She trailed off, folding her hands on the tablet.

  Oh, good, that sounded more like a disease than pregnancy.

  I just blinked at her before the doctor sighed and responded. “Sofie, the pregnancy test came back positive. I’m recommending we do a blood test just to double check, but I would also need to refer you to an OB for follow-up. Would you like me to get you a referral? We can find someone who can get you in as soon as possible.”

  “Yeah. Okay,” I said, not looking up at the doctor’s face but staring at my stomach. My stomach wasn’t sticking out at all now, but I knew it would be soon. Something was growing inside me, something I never expected. And now, I had to figure out what in the hell I would do.

  ***

  The doctor made an appointment for me with an OB in Rockwall on the following Monday. It was almost a month to the day since Christmas, so if something was inside me and this was not just a false positive, I would be about four weeks along.

  I spent most of my spare time doing online research, and false positives were a very rare occurrence but still a possibility. And until I found for certain from the OB, I wasn’t going to tell anyone. Not Lia. Not my dad. And certainly not my possible future baby daddy.

  The OB’s office was inside a larger medical complex and had a small waiting room on the first floor. Black and white pictures of pregnant wo
men lined the walls, and a talk show played on some TV. A very pregnant woman sat half-asleep on a very uncomfortable looking leather sofa while two young children played with some wooden toys by her feet.

  I hadn’t thought much about having kids. I knew most girls dreamed of their weddings and future husbands, but when I thought about guys, I mostly just thought about how attractive they were and maybe what they looked like naked. I didn’t think about the future. Hell, I didn’t even know what I would do with my communications degree when I was done with school.

  When a bright-eyed nurse called my name, I followed her back to a small room with another exam table. She pulled a small gown from a drawer then sat on a wheelie stool. “Okay, Sofie, in a minute I’m going to have you put on a gown and the doctor will be in to examine you, but first, I just have a few questions.”

  “Okay,” I replied, sitting down on the exam table.

  “Can you tell me the first day of your last period?”

  “Uh, I’m not really regular, but I think the beginning of December?” I replied.

  The nurse typed that up on her tablet. “Okay, and I see you were referred by UT Dallas Student Health Services with a positive urine test and blood test.”

  “Yeah. Uh. That’s correct.” I fidgeted from one side to the other. I didn’t know how many questions she had, and part of me wanted to get this all over with but another part of me wanted to keep stalling if possible. I wanted this all to be a hazy dream or a mistake. Something that wouldn’t keep me up at night, wondering what the future was.

  After answering more questions on my health history—that I was sure I had already answered online like the lady who made my appointment told me to do—the nurse finally left, and I had to get naked and into the paper-thin gown.

  I sat with nothing between my ass and the paper on the exam table, waiting for the doctor to examine me. With the exception of family members or a babysitter changing my diaper when I was a baby, this doctor would be the third man ever to see my lady bits.

  A knock came at the door then an older man with a full gray Santa Clause-esque beard entered the room. “Hello, Sofie, I’m Dr. Stiller,” he said, extending a burly hand.