Jace paused and pinned me to the spot with an intense stare. Seeing his regret openly etched into the lines on his face broke my heart.
“Are you sure it’s mine?”
I nodded. “I’m sure. I haven’t been with anyone in the last couple of months, so there’s no doubt.”
“Shit!” he whispered. “I, uh… I just need a moment.”
Without further explanation, he stormed from view with the pregnancy test still clutched tightly in his fist.
The front door opened, then slammed closed, leaving me sitting in deafening silence. Leaving me more alone than ever with nausea beginning to rise again.
After rushing for the bathroom and panting through another round of vomiting, I slumped against the wall. I dried my mouth, then half-heartedly chucked the paper at the open toilet bowl. Exhaustion swept through my bones, imploring me to lean my head back and close my eyes for just a moment.
* * *
I jolted awake when hands gently shook my shoulders. Hushed tones urged me to wake while trying to manoeuvre me out from the narrow space between the toilet and hand basin. I attempted to bat the hands away. They captured my forearms and dragged me to my feet. My mind finally caught up with my body as I found my footing and I clung to the arms of the person I least expected to see.
Jace.
I searched his pale face. “What are you doing here?”
“Helping you.”
The relief made me sag against his body. Jace tenderly lifted me into his arms and carried me to my room. He gently laid me on my bed and left without a word, returning a short while later with a glass of water and a damp facecloth. He wiped my brow while looking me over with an expression pinched with concern.
I closed my eyes to shield my heart from the intimate gesture.
“You don’t have to be here, Jace. You’ve got a date to get to. I don’t expect anything from you, only that the baby…” I couldn’t say anything else before emotion clamped in my throat.
“Date can wait,” he murmured as he sat beside me, pulling me up for a hug against his solid chest.
God, it was reassuring. Grounding. And exactly what I needed. We clung to each other—for how long I didn’t know. Until my tears dried, at least. Until his heaving chest slowed, and until I felt like I could tell him what was bothering me the most.
“I’m really scared.”
He squeezed me tighter, but didn’t speak until he was ready. “Same here, J. I’m scared shitless. And I’m sorry for walking out just before. I panicked. I stillampanicking. Fuckin’ hell.” He shook his head slowly, moving from side to side on top of mine.
“How the hell did we end up in this mess?” I mumbled into his shirt.
The bastard had the gall to chuckle. “Well, I don’t know how much you remember, butIremember—”
I pulled out of his embrace and glared. “Don’t say it. It was only meant to be a night of fun. We weren’t meant to end up in this situation.”
A heavy sigh left his mouth. “If I could go back and change it, I would.”
Bile burned its way up my throat and I blinked back a surge of tears. Rolling over, I put my back to him so he couldn’t see my trembling lip.
“Do you regret sleeping with me?” My question came out weak and dejected.
“J,” he said softly, full of remorse. “It wasn’t my intention to hurt you or make you feel responsible for my actions. And we’ve been through this; what we did was fucking stupid, and while I don’t regret it per se, I do regret not being more careful.”
“You’re the same age as Darren, aren’t you? Twenty-eight?” I asked, already knowing the answer because they both had a birthday recently.
Jace hesitated at the change of subject. “Yeah. And you’re…?”
“Twenty,” I mumbled into the pillow, praying I wouldn’t have to repeat myself.
“Twentyyyy…?” The word drew out as if expecting another to follow.